‘Gosh, Stacy, There’s No Way @Twitter Could Spot All These Fake Accounts’

Posted on | September 14, 2013 | 67 Comments

Honestly, I wouldn't mind having 12,000 fake spambot followers if they were programmed to re-Tweet me once in a while.

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 14, 2013

Excuse me for belaboring the obvious, but I’ve gotten pretty damned fed up with certain “friends” making excuses for Twitter’s inability to stop this influx of spambot accounts. So say hello to Patsy Moen (@MsGiovanna__Sto), Zakary Greenfelder (@Chet_Senger_967), Kirsten Stiedemann (@Conroy_Evan7897), Myrna Schulist Sr. (@MissNia_Kulas__), Annamarie Eichmann (@MrsGerhold_Cory) and Laurie Lehner (@Block_Lia_1657):

Honestly, I’m trying to maintain a sense of humor about this:

Y'know, maybe if we had "Fake Followers Friday," where all the spambots gave me a #FF shout-out.

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 14, 2013

I'm tempted to send a DM to one of my 14,000 fake followers: "Hey, you're kinda sexy, for a spambot."

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 14, 2013

The problem is that the ease with which these spammers have gamed the system — creating a simple algorithmic software program that auto-generates thousands upon thousands of these fake accounts — exposes gross negligence by Twitter personnel that degrades the quality of the network, and this is highly relevant now that Twitter is seeking to take their product to the public capital markets:

Last December, Twitter announced that it had more than 200 million active users — people who used the service at least once a month.
A few months later, CEO Dick Costolo told employees he expected to get to 400 million users by the end of 2013, according to people familiar with the company. . . .
One factor that may have thrown off Twitter’s growth targets from earlier this year has been spam. The company went through a significant campaign to get rid of bogus accounts earlier in the year, people familiar with the company said. That effort was successful enough that it ended up shrinking Twitter’s true user number.

Big headlines for the big news:

A Short Post, a Big Splash: #TwitterIPO
— New York Times

Investors expect Fed to tap brakes
— Twitter going public —
Goldman scores top underwriting spot
— Politico

Twitter Files for Initial Public Offering
— Wall Street Journal

Yet the same week they announced their IPO, we discover Twitter can’t stop the cheesy spambot program that generates thousands of accounts like Dr. Miller Pacocha (@BoehmPierce_296), Miss Demetris Heaney (@DrMetz_Dewitt__), Jermaine O’Conner (@Nader_Zackary45), Blanche Tremblay (@MrsHauck_Gertru) and Mr. Greg Hudson (@Shanny_Batz6276):

Even as spam accounts flood onto Twitter, however, the accounts of actual human beings are suspended because of phony “abuse” claims:

@markguinn Exactly: @Twitter can't stop spammers creating tens of thousands of fake accounts. But suspending real users? EASY! #tgdn

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 14, 2013

Since 2011, at least, conservative activists have complained about “Twitter gulag,” the repeated suspension of accounts prompted by multiple bogus abuse reports from leftist thugs who systematically target their Republican-leaning antagonists. The fact that there is now a Twitter Gulag Defense Network (hashtag #tgdn) to warn users and assist conservative activists targeted for suspension, tells you all you need to know about the ineffectiveness of Twitter’s policies.

"These fake accounts are all generated by the same algorithmic software … formulaic and predictable" http://t.co/sDXGSUxx32 #tgdn

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 13, 2013

How many $100-an-hour programmers does Twitter have on its payroll? How many hours would it take for such a programmer to identify the source of these spambot accounts? And how many more hours would it take to write a code that blocks the spammers?

OK, so once Twitter’s programmers identified the source and blocked the program, how long would it take for a $150-an-hour attorney to write up a criminal complaint against the spammers, documenting the fraud, and to deliver that complaint to the FBI? See, this isn’t just a “terms of service” violation, this is deliberate systematic electronic fraud — a federal felony under various statutes — and until the perpetrators are indicted and prosecuted for their crimes, there is no real incentive to discourage anyone else from doing the same thing.

Twitter needs to get serious about this problem, and my “friends” need to stop telling me that this isn’t a serious problem, because I’m well past the point of tolerating such bullshit advice.

War on @twitter Spam Accounts: TURNING IT UP TO 11! http://t.co/sDXGSUxx32 | | @instapundit @ali @marklangford @delbius @support

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 13, 2013

@DanRiehl Heh. I've passed the "mad as hell" stage and am now into full-on frothing maniac phase. @instapundit

— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 13, 2013

 

TELL @TWITTER @SUPPORT TO STOP THE BOTS!

 

PREVIOUSLY:

• Sept. 12: Dear @Twitter Security: Kill These Fake Accounts (Real People RT, Please)
• Sept. 12: Can @Twitter @Safety Prevent This?
• Sept. 13: Crime Is a People Problem: Why @Twitter Must Prosecute Fake Account Makers
• Sept. 13: Will @Mueller_Moriah2 Buy @Twitter IPO Shares? Will @MrDeondre__Huel? How About @MsBernhard__Mer?

 

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