Has an influx of auto-DMs ruined your day more than once? Ever respond to an auto-DM thinking there was a real person there, only to be ignored and reduced to just another faceless Twitter account? It’s time for this injustice to stop! Join me in commemorating May 2011 as Anti-Auto-DM Month and let’s work together to finally put an end to auto-DM abuse!
Auto-DM abuse has been a persistent problem. A few years ago, people were blogging their brains out about their seething hatred for auto-DMs. Even after all the complaining, and one popular auto-DM service provider throwing in the towel, the main auto-DM dope man – SocialOomph – headed by my new arch nemesis Dewald Pretorius, is still offering the service.
While you would think auto-DM abuse would have died down since then, especially considering the backlash, I know first hand that it is still an issue. A sampling of auto-DMs currently in my Twitter inbox:
“Hello, Thx for Follow, If you looking for Affordable SEO Services – I provides complete SEO @99$/month. contact us today”
“I would like to thank you by suggesting the powerful tools and tips for internet marketing you will find at <link>”
“Hi! Pulse Card is looking for US based providers like you! Free sign up & free leads <link><email address>” (I live in Canada.)
This one was my favourite:
“Hey Opticon We are your Web Design and Development Partners <link>” to which I answered: “Great! I’m an SEO copywriter and I’d love to chat about working together.” No response.
What these auto-DM offenders don’t realize is that their automated messages are not only annoying the recipient, but also likely losing them followers and jeopardizing any business connections they’d hoped to make. It’s a lose-lose situation. I have yet to see any evidence in support of the effectiveness of auto-DMs for bringing in business or helping achieve any goal other than annoying people.
My question: does the owner of SocialOomph know that his service is still being used for evil? Why can’t he step in and put an end to the misery once and for all? And why doesn’t Twitter, which has several other anti-automation regulations, block the auto-DM function?
So far, only band-aid solutions have been offered. Pretorius suggests simply unfollowing the sender, or opting out of receiving auto-DMs, putting the onus on the innocent recipient to stop the abuse. This is not fair! Let’s get rid of pesky auto-DMs once and for all!
How You Can Help
Throughout the month of May 2011, I will be encouraging folks who share my sentiment regarding auto-DMs to sign a petition, which will be sent to Pretorius (and copied to Twitter headquarters) in hopes of swaying him to disable the auto-DM function of his service. There are several ways you can get involved:
• SIGN THIS PETITION to disable the auto-DM function
• Share the petition on Facebook and Twitter and encourage friends who agree to sign and spread the word
• Send your thoughts to Pretorius directly through Twitter @dewaldp, and use hashtag #endautodms
• Send your thoughts to @Twitter and use hashtag #endautodms
If we work together, we can put a stop to auto-DM abuse! Don’t let me down, dear citizens of the Internet!
Sincerely,
No, Opticon & The Deleter, an influx of auto-DMs, “ruined a day”, seriously? I have trigeminal neuralgia.
I am just another faceless Twitter (facebook, WordPress, Quora, Linkedin, and so on) account, and people are still blogging their brains out.
Web at Large, I computer-stumble and my staff is me, with nothing to sell.
We can put a stop to auto-DM abuse! If we work together, we can put a stop to direct-mail intimidation of senior citizens, adding recurring credit card charges!!
Optimistic results.