Twitter is an amazing framework for sharing information and connecting with a large, dynamic network of contacts. As an IT professional, I’ve come to value Twitter as a a unique tool that enhances both my own personal brand and that lets me leach knowledge off of others. But recently I’ve realized there’s more to Twitter… oh so much more.
(Before you get offended, realize this blog is about raising awareness of Twitter “bots”- automated accounts that act like real people for whatever gain the creator has in mind. See the comments for better sense of that.)
We’re talking ooh la la. We’re talking l’amore, you sweet thing.
It turns out, there’s an army of horny, made-up Twitter personas out there that are hooked on tech! If you’d like to “get with” these strange hot-blooded nasty types, here’s what you do.
1. Post something of a technical nature. We’ll call this “the bait”:
Here, you see in the right-hand column I asked my daily #WIFIQ discussion question. A few hours later, Kaylee Singleton “favorited” it. The previous day, the same thing happened with that day’s question, but with another young lady. Going back, it turns out there’s a trend here, with many “pretty young things” digging the tech posts. Kaylee couldn’t resist the bait- she evidently has a thirst for all things tech, and in particular 802.11ac, wiring, and multi-gig switching.
2. Get to know your new friend!
This angel not only has an interest in WLAN, but she’s also pursuing a degree while trying to enjoy herself at the occasional social event. Admirable, indeed.
3. Enjoy the payoff- lots of butt-grabbing and booby/bootie pics, because those go well with technology discussions!
I can’t say that I quite understand the phenomena, but man these gals are into technology!
(But seriously folks… I’ve blocked/reported for spam dozens of these “people”. I get that the Internet and Twitter are double-edged swords- lots of good/lots of stupid, but I don’t fathom the hoped-for gain of these nuisance accounts or why they are so prolific. Any theories?)
wirednot 
I’m also amazed by all of the companies in totally unrelated fields, such as construction, that suddenly start following me on Twitter. There must be a method to their madness.
Thanks for reading, Tim. Is an odd feel at times to it, for sure.
They are bot nets. They hang around, friend each other so that they appear to have tens of thousands followers, post random “junk-food” category info, such as kittens and booby pics, follow random people hoping that they will follow them back. Then at some point – boom! – the top trending news on Twitter is that Obama officially approved russian invasion into Ukraine, or something else like that.
Google for something like “Twitter bot nets for mass media/opinion manipulation”.
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