Twitter Viruses (Part 2)

Last week’s post was dedicated to my experiences with Twitter viruses, which come in the form of DMs’ (Direct Messages).  If you read it, you might remember that two of these messages had caused me to react in a wholly irrational manner.  The messages were: lol ur famous now (link). And You even see them taping u (link) that’s nasty Over the course of the last week I have received yet more of these malignant messages. In addition to the aforementioned examples, I have received instances of: Rumour about you (link) And Somebody is posting nasty updates on their twitter about you (link) Towards the end of last week, I had become familiar with these messages and in an effort to assist my Twitter friends; I was contacting them to warn them that their accounts had been hacked.  These efforts were met with appreciation, which encouraged me to continue with this course of action. Saturday morning – A beeping signifies the arrival of a Twitter message.  Leaning forward in my chair I pick up the iPhone.  The message is a DM from a Twitter follower; I have never previously had the pleasure of communicating with.  The message reads: I know I can count on u, my lovely Twitter friend to review my new book with 5 ★s on Amazon  (book name) +(link)

Assuming that no one would have the audacity to ask someone they have never even communicated with, to review a book that they have never even heard of, let alone read, I assume it is a virus and fire off a quick tweet warning this unfortunate that their account has been hacked.  Moments later a response arrives:

His response:  Hey Guy,  I’M not a VIRUS. (Link)  LOL

My response:  I disagree! I then promptly block the person and report them as spam.  Reclining back in the chair once more, I am disappointed that I am still failing to recognise DM viruses and also somewhat shocked by the request.  A request that if granted could potentially result in the book in question getting an improved rank on Amazon, in addition to innocent prospective buyers being provided with false information. If this peculiar Twitter etiquette were mirrored in everyday life, it might be the equivalent of nodding to acknowledge a stranger and then taking this as an invitation to ask them to hide contraband for you, or provide a false alibi to the police. The first two chapters of my book, Charles Middleworth, a humorous tale of the unexpected are available for free.  Click on the link below to view: CharlesMiddleworth(ch 1-2)

5 Comments

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  • I agree with you about Twitter viruses – they are a nuisance. I have had my own account hacked a few times too. It’s usually an indication that you have been hacked when lots of people start to unfollow you for no apparent reason. The majority of people don’t tell you if they receive strange DMs, which is unfortunate. Instead, they just unfollow.

  • Very funny article. These viruses are a problem. I got one from Ricky Gervais calling me a stupid twonk. Has to be a virus.

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