Twitter changes

A lot has changed since I wrote Twitter Goldrush a year ago (to the point that I just removed the link to Twitter Goldrush from my signature line, because I need to redo it significantly):

Twitter just sent out an email outlining their new terms of service - which may affect how some Warriors do business on Twitter.

My main takeaway from this - when I first joined Twitter I followed 2000 people in one day. I now would recommend following only a couple of hundred in a day, to be safe.

FROM TWITTER'S TERMS OF SERVICE PAGE: Accounts engaging in the activities specified below are subject to permanent suspension.

* Serial Accounts: You may not create serial accounts for disruptive or abusive purposes. Mass account creation will result in suspension of all accounts.

* Name Squatting: You may not engage in name squatting. Accounts that are inactive for more than 6 months may also be removed without further notice. Some of the factors that we take into account when determining what conduct is considered to be name squatting are:

the number of accounts created
creating accounts for the purpose of preventing others from using those account names
creating accounts for the purpose of selling those accounts
using feeds of third-party content to update and maintain accounts under the names of those third parties
*Invitation spam: You may not use Twitter.com's address book contact import to send repeat, mass invitations


*Selling user names: Unless you have been specifically permitted to do so in a separate agreement with Twitter, you agree that you will not reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade or resell the Services for any purpose.

Where "Services" is defined as follows: Your use of Twitter's products, services and web sites (referred to collectively as the "Services" in this document and excluding any services provided to you by Twitter under a separate written agreement) is subject to the terms of a legal agreement between you and Twitter.

*Malware/Phishing: You may not publish or link to malicious content intended to damage or disrupt another user's browser or computer or to compromise a user's privacy.

*Spam: You may not use the Twitter service for the purpose of spamming anyone. What constitutes "spamming" will evolve as we respond to new tricks and tactics by spammers. Some of the factors that we take into account when determining what conduct is considered to be spamming are:

If you have followed a large amount of users in a short amount of time;
If you have followed and unfollowed people in a short time period, particularly by automated means (aggressive follower churn);
If you repeatedly follow and unfollow people, whether to build followers or to garner more attention for your profile;
If you have a small number of followers compared to the amount of people you are following;
If your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates;
If a large number of people are blocking you;
The number of spam complaints that have been filed against you;
If you post duplicate content over multiple accounts or multiple duplicate updates on one account
If you post multiple unrelated updates to a topic using #
If you post multiple unrelated updates to a trending or popular topic
If you send large numbers of duplicate @replies
If you send large numbers of unsolicited @replies in an attempt to spam a service or link
If you repost other user's content without attribution.
If you have attempted to "sell" followers, particularly through tactics considered aggressive following or follower churn.
Your account may be suspended for Terms of Service violations if any of the above is true; accounts created to replace suspended accounts will be permanently suspended.