How do you market your blog?
Twitter is starting to really take off as a way to grow your social network and (subtly) promote your blog, but is there a danger of twitter accounts being hacked? and if so, what damage could the hackers do?
Today saw what is believed to be one of the first public auctions for a twitter account on eBay, with Andrew Baron offering @andrewbaron for sale. As of the time of this writing, the current high bid is $465 and he has actually increased his followers from 1397 to 1436 (presumably those watching to see what happens).
I think it is pretty clear that there are significant marketing benefits in having a large following of people interested in what you have to say (that’s exactly what Twitter provides) and for that reason, it shouldn’t be a surprise that marketers would place significant value on a Twitter account that closely matches their target audience.
All discussion aside as to whether you think this is a good idea or not (there has been plenty said on this already today, see Techcrunch and Chris Brogan for some examples), but I think we also need to take some time to raise the issue of ‘Tweet Jacking’, or spammers hacking our Twitter accounts and posting the occasional message to our followers, trying to pass it off as us.
Why do I think Tweet Jacking could become a problem?
It’s not something that I’ve seen discussed, but I get the feeling that we are on the verge of a very serious threat, and here is why:
Now, I’m not taking a shot at any of the Twitter tools already out there and I’ve seen no evidence that Tweet Jacking has actually happened yet, but we’ve got a situation where many Twitter users are testing out the new Twitter Tools as they show up, and many of these tools will be coming from untrusted sources that we are relying on (in good faith) to not store our passwords or use that information in any other way.
That worries me - does it worry you?
It should.
I think it’s time to give a little thought to how secure your Twitter password is, and to whom you’re giving it out to. What would be the repercussions if someone else started posting to your Twitter account - or worse changed your password and stole it altogether? How would it affect the strength of your Twitter community? could it damage your brand reputation?
I don’t think it will be long before we start hearing more about Tweet Jacking, don’t let it happen to you.
…and while you’re at it - don’t forget to follow me on Twitter!, you can find me here: @martyj
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
Follow me on Twitter
...or on Friend Feed
Here are my latest updates:
I *think* the only tool/app I’ve given my twitter password to is Twhirl… which should be pretty safe, but you’re right - there are new little apps popping up like crazy at the moment, definitely a concern.
Yeah, Twhirl is the only one I’ve entered my password into too.
Fortunately there are a lot of twitter tools out there that don’t require you to divulge your password, but I doubt it’ll be long before we see some try to get that info and use it fraudulently… maybe I’m just being paranoid, lol :)
[...] Do we need to worry about ‘Tweet Jacking’? - The value of twitter accounts has been established… protect yourself from hackers. [...]
What are these things actually useful for, though?
I think marketers are interested in Twitter accounts because each follower has essentially given you permission to communicate with them, however personally I don’t think the main value of Twitter is direct marketing (although that obviously still forms some part of it).
I wrote about my views on why sites like Twitter are important here: http://marketing-seo.com/social-networking/online-social-networking-websites-for-bloggers.html
Main things I get out of my Twitter account:
1. Networking with some amazing people
2. Know what people are talking about, know where the conversations are… makes coming up with new blog posts on current hot topics incredibly easy.
[...] talked about one potential privacy issue relating to 3rd party Twitter apps last week in my post: Do we need to worry about ‘Tweet Jacking’, today further information has surfaced about the dangers of unintended consequences from 3rd party [...]
[...] TechCrunch, Jennifer Navarrete, Rice Blogger, Tame Bay, Steve Saylor, IZ Reloaded, PatPhelan.net, Marketing-SEO.com and Ewan’s Musings. You can also trail the symposium here against top of top of [...]
[...] TechCrunch, Jennifer Navarrete, Rice Blogger, Tame Bay, Steve Saylor, IZ Reloaded, PatPhelan.net, Marketing-SEO.com and Ewan’s Musings. You can also follow the discussion here on Techmeme. Posted in Twitter [...]