I don’t know how many of you are on Twitter, but there are two ways to communicate with people on it. You can either tell the entire world what you’re having for lunch, or you can DM (Direct Message) someone privately what you’re having for lunch.
For example, you would DM someone if you were having, say, hamsters in a red wine reduction sauce, which while good for bragging about your new Paleo-Primal diet, is not so good for that whole public image thing.
And just like every privilege out there (e.g. driving, streaking, murdering, etc), plenty of other people in the world are abusing it and ruining it for the rest of us.
There’s a very popular direct message I often get from various unsuspecting souls whose Twitter account has been raped and pillaged and used for evil. This activity is called phishing (pronounced “PHISH-ING”).
It is baiting you to click on a link where they can then rape and pillage you as well. It’s annoying and obvious and I’m sick of wading through them to get to actual real messages from real people who have something real to say. The other DMs I ignore are those “automatic” ones you get as soon as you follow someone who then immediately wants something from you. Like buying their book. Or checking out their website. That’s all just noise to me and it is totally ignored by me.
So anyway, the latest bait is the following message:
“Hey Someone Is Making Very Bad Things About You… www.some link to get jacked.com”
Now, in America, I would expect that link to take me to a cooking or DIY home improvement website where someone, no doubt, is making very bad things about me.
I don’t know about you, but whenever I look up a recipe or how to do something, I want to see a good example of it, not some ill-advised disaster, so this message doesn’t attract me. Unless, of course, it’s Cake Wrecks or something.
Plus, if someone really wanted to make very bad things about me, they could do it in my comments section. Actually, some people already have (I’m talking to YOU crazy first-time visitor who goes off half-cocked because she doesn’t know a joke when it squirts in her in the face and honks at her, but anyway…)
What was I talking about?
Oh yeah, Twitter rapists. They are sucking the life out of me.
Has anyone coined the term “social media vampires” yet? If not, then it’s mine, but you can use it.
image source: Flickr
Someone “raped” my twitter account then. Does anyone know how to get it to stop?
I don’t know. I doubt it. The best we can do as victims, is to have a strong password. And a rape whistle. 😉
I got that stupid phishing scam in my inbox a few times and knew it was a scam. I’m thinking, “What the hell is this?! Kindergarten? Ooooh someone’s saying bad things about me! I’m telling!” Pfft. Eff that.
In a short two words: Scammers suck. ‘Nuff said.
Scammers suck BIG TIME. And big things. Whatever that means.
I hate those dang messages. At least they could try to get the language down right. Sigh, I call them delete before reading messages.
You’re a wise one to simply ignore them.
So far, my Twitter hasn’t been maltweeted, but I do get some interesting private messages from strangers on Facebook now and then. “You have a wonderful and charming look of which every man must appreciate the good creature of the Almighty.” and “I must say that you are an epitome of natural beauty and I would like to
know you better and I hope to be your very good friend. Since the first
time I saw your picture here on the face book I find it hard to forget
you.” and “I hope you are enjoying your life at the great age!”
That last one made me wonder. Great age? Great advanced age? Sweet talker, for sure.
LOL! I get those creepy ones too, sometimes…ick. And “maltweeted”? I love that word. Did you make that up? Awesome.
Laying here in bed laughing my way through a coughing fit. I’ve had those stupid messages, but I’ve made so much bad about myself already that I figure it can’t be interesting and just hit the old block and report spam buttons. 😀
Oh, I hope you’re not sick. If you are, I hope you get well soon! And good for you to know already to just hit the spam button!
Email SPAM is bad enough– that’s why I don’t Tweet and Facebook. I’d be throwing my phone across the room all the time out f frustration 🙂
Hang in there.
xo jj
Ha! I wonder what percentage of thrown phones are angry ones. All of them, I guess. Why else would you throw a phone?
Ugh! totally-super-annoying.
I know! Jerks.
It really pisses me off that people have nothing better to do than screw with other people’s lives online.
As I type this, someone has hacked my Twitter account…. ARGH!!!!
Damn social media vampire!!!
Gotta go fix it.
Man, that sux, Lorie! I was just talking to someone yesterday whose account got hacked. But now you know, don’t click on those links!
I keep getting that message on Twitter, but I’m told that somebody is saying something bad about me. Now I’m disappointed. I want someone to make something bad about me. Like… salacious dioramas or naughty mosaics.
And I will agree that automatic DMs are the worst. “Visit my blog!/Buy my book!/Follow my cat!” DMs get an automatic unfollow from me. It’s so lazy it’s insulting.
I’ve gotten many variations of the phrase, including the one you mention, but “making very bad things about you” is my favorite. Hey, is your handle a Star Trek reference, by chance? Not Star Trek, but one of those spinoffs, oh shoot, which one was Captain Janeway on?
Yeah, back when I had to decide on a roller derby name it was one of the first I came up with. I am a HUGE Star Trek: Voyager fan. A lot of people don’t get it, but when someone gets the reference it makes my day. 🙂
Thankfully no such issues…yet.
I haven’t been hacked, but others have and they are the ones sending me messages.
Social media vampires. Margaret, you’re a genius!
Thanks, Nicky. Let’s start a genius club. I’m thinking you should be president, though.
This post has left me all atwitter … 😉
You’re so silly, Sparky! 🙂
I have not yet heard the term “social media vampire” yet, but I have heard of getting “Facebook-fucked.” I’ll incorporate both of those into my everyday vocabulary.
“Facebook fucked” is a good one too. I’m guessing they can’t say that on television though.
It helps if you disable all your third-party permissions to your Twitter account. Hackers are the herpes of the internet. I get a crapload of crap on my book website, but seldom much elsewhere. I guess I’m just not very interesting. I mean, not like a nanny goat in panties. That’s kinda hard to top.
“Hackers are the herpes of the internet.”. That was beautiful, Jayne. My account hasn’t been hacked yet. I’ve heard it’s easier if you have too easy of a password, but I don’t know all the facts.
” Hackers are the herpes of the internet.” BEST ANALOGY EVER!
Agreed! I wish I’d thought of it. That’s way better than vampires in this instance.
I don’t really tweet since I am not a bird and if people start making bad things out of me that WOULD be bad.
It would mean I took a trip to the butcher :: shiver::
Yikes! Perish the thought, Pricilla!
I don’t Twitter but I like many others are gettin’ a Malware warnin’ for some (no all) who try to comment. ‘Sure has shot me comments to thunder and loaded my email with freaked out readers!
Booger…I like many others notified Blogger, Google and Shabby Blogs (that’s where it say the infected stuff is comin’ from.
I personally can go on any site that’s havin’ this problem and get in fine…go figure?
Yep…my blog’s been ‘raped’!!! heeehehehe!
God bless and have a super day….void of spam and other techie grimlins!!!
Why do so many people have to be such killjoys, getting in our way of just trying to have fun. I’m sorry your blog has er, been taken advantage of. Let’s go kick their behinds already!