You know your friends well enough to know the language they will use and content they are most likely to share. You can also probably discern the same for the majority of your Twitter followers.

When you get a spammy DM (direct message) similar to the one above, stop it right away. 

Take these two actions:

#1 – Do not ever click on the links – despite your curiosity.

#2 – Advise your friend to change their password – via a channel other than Twitter.

Many of us do not check our DM’s. Nevertheless, not wanting to miss an important message, my Twitter settings are adjusted to receive email notifications of DM’s.

More than one spammy message from the same user is usually an indication their account has been hijacked.  This means that in addition to you, they are spamming all or most of their followers – and they usually are not even aware of it!

Do them a favor and take the time to send an email or message via another channel to to change their password.

What I have seen some do is send a message (sometimes an angry one) back to the user via Twitter. This only encourages the hijacker, while also increasing the chances of your account getting hacked.

This happened to me about 4 years ago when I was managing the Twitter channel for an association event. How embarrassing is that?

Fortunately, one of my colleagues gave me the heads up via an email and I was able to rectify the situation. I posted an apology to my followers, while also acknowledging my appreciation for the good turn of my friend.

Help your friends and followers stop Twitter DM spam. They won’t forget it, and they’ll likely return the favor.

Everybody wins.

Twitter is a remarkable channel for sharing your message, and extending your influence and circle of friends. How are you helping to keep it clean?

Leave your questions and comments in the box below – and feel free to share with your community.

Until next time, reach out to me on Twitter,   Jeff