SocialToo Dumps Auto DM Support
One of the biggest complaints we hear from Twitter users is the increase in Twitter auto direct message spam. You know, those "thanks for following me" DMs that include a link, almost as an afterthought, offering you a free gift, the ability to earn a ton of cash, or the opportunity to check out a new product. Well, we're a bit sick of them too.
Apparently, SocialToo CEO Jesse Stay feels the same way. Last month SocialToo users were given the option to turn off auto DMs from other SocialToo users; today, Stay announced SocialToo is completely disabling auto-DMs.
"Based on my statistics, while a small percent of you are using auto-DMs for legitimate business reasons (for instance, sending instructions to followers if you are doing an online promotion that includes following the Twitter user as part of the promotion), over one-third of you sending automated DMs have some sort of URL in your message to followers. The remaining majority is just sending simple thank you's, which while I think are truly genuine, are now being ignored by most people that receive them," Stay noted on his blog this morning.
While SocialToo was not the only service that provided auto DM support, it was one of the two main providers of this functionality. TweetLater still offers auto DM if you must have it, but if you too are sick of them and want to disable auto DMs, take a look at Jack Bastide's post on opting out of TweetLater.
Many of us have been inundated with auto DMs and so a huge thank you to Jesse Stay for leading the fight against auto DM spam. If you want to join us, why not send him your thanks via Twitter.
Update:
Also of interest (thanks Louis Gray) is that SocialToo is working on a filter of sorts for other auto DM services.
"If you provide your Twitter username and password (this is required because other services require it - it will be via OAuth in the near future) and check the box, "Turn off automatic Direct Messages from other services?", we'll set you up to block DMs from as many services that do this as we can, automatically."
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Of note, SocialToo will also block auto-DMs from the TweetLater service, so even TweetLater users might be interested in migrating over to get out of the mess that is auto-DMing.
Thanks for the great post, Lidija. Just FYI, if users would rather not deal with TweetLater we'll opt you out of TweetLater for you. In fact, we're working to opt you out of any service that enables such a feature if you don't want to receive these auto-dms. Just sign up, provide your Twitter username and password, and check the box to block the DMs. It's just one more service we provide.
Thank you for doing this Jesse. It truly does keep Social Media and Twitter more social. Automatic messages are not true interaction and I appreciate that SocialToo is no longer supporting automatic direct messages. Cheers - Liam Vickery.
Louis - Thanks for pointing that out - I've updated the post to include it.
Jesse - You're welcome. Brilliant effort and kudos again!
I believe that twitter's new API limits may have played a role in this.
This is GREAT news. Thanks for passing it along.
@Brickandclick on Twitter.
Thanks for the update.
This is GREAT news. Thanks for passing it along.
Get rid of Auto DM's because it is insincere and impersonal!
What a supcalifragilisticinsecuresimpltonwayofthinking.
Hello - You have reached the offices of Social Media Experts Anonymous. Please leave a detailed message and we will return your call promptly. For more info about our services please visit us the web @ www. I can't tell you the address because it would be considered SPAM .com Thanks again for calling.
Who would have thought all the Social Media "Experts” would be “so long sighted” as to say HEY don’t use a Twitter Answering Service because it is to insincere and impersonal. I definitely want to buy your book now.
Those of us down on earth who realize it is literally impossible to reach out personally, to every single one you cybernetically bump into in a sincere way also realize that anyone who suggests that you should or even could obviously doesn’t do realtime business and is spending way to much time doing the socializing part of social networking.
Ever actually try to hold a meaningful business based chat with 160 characters? You end up telling someone to IM or email or call or something ANYWAY.
It sounds like a lot of people have been brainwashed by the corporate geniuses at Linked In who thinks networking means you should only connect to people you KNOW or better yet who think self promotion is shameless.
WARNING
People who thought this great service was SPAM – do not read any further.
My name is Ryan E. Poole - I approve this message.
You can auto follow me @ http://www.twitter.com/powerpoole
If you dare ;)
P.S.
Anyone know of another service that still allows Auto DM's
Please DM me insincerly or otherwise
ROTFLMBO
Like I have said before, as awful as an automated thank you may seem, if you only follow people for the value in their Tweets auto DMs would not even be a problem.
Auto following and auto following back anybody and everybody is opening up your DM stream. You are giving permission to all you follow to DM you!
Would you sign up for a gardening newsletter in the hope they will in return sign up for your super car newsletter?
Would you go sign up to every email list anybody that is on your mailing list controls?
Auto following and following back is less genuine than an automated thank you message. Do you honestly believe anybody following more than 100 tweeps, will even see your tweets?
Well as I currently neither auto follow back, nor auto DM, I am either totaly ignorant or completely genuine. I will leave that for my followers to decide.
HINT: Stop following back, or be prepared to receive tweets from these people.
For Twitter automation i've got to say Twimbo from iq143.com was one of the easiest to set up and one of the more intelligent bots.
It only took a few minutes to set up and it's currently priced low for early adopters. My traffic has doubled since using it and I now have a great following on Twitter. I've even had new paying customers as a result! Winner.