SocialToo Now Policing Twitter
Who’s job is it to police Twitter? Twitter? The users? Lately there has been a trend calling for the end of automatic direct messages. By using a service, such as Tweet Later, people can setup their account to automatically send a direct message to new followers. While I do not personally use the automatic direct message feature of Tweet Later, I can understand why people would use it. It could be a huge time saver for those that are on Twitter that have huge followings.
The campaign to end automatic direct messages is being lead by SocialToo, who up until February 28th was one of the main services doing automatic direct messages. I will not get into the debate whether automatic direct messages are right or wrong. They exist and are a part of Twitter. I do not mind the direct messages that I receive when I follow a new person. Some contain interesting links, some are friendly hello’s and yes some are blatant sales pitches. The problem with the campaign that is being lead by SocialToo is the way they they are going about it.
They have setup a new Twitter account, endautodms, that people can send a message to @endautodms with the name of the person they think are doing automatic direct messages. Endautodms will then follow that person and they are placed on “the list”. A tweet to endautodms would then look like the following: 
This method to police automatic direct messages turns into nothing but a witch hunt. They are welcome to create a blacklist if they want but making is a visible social blacklist can damage people and companies reputations. Automatic direct messages might have problems but shaming people into stopping seems to be more suitable to high school.
So who should be policing Twitter and automatic direct messages? SocialToo seems to think they should, what do you think?
Comments
Rhett Soveran
I guess I don't understand that the big deal with auto DMs are? I don't personally like them, but I accept them as part of the package if I am interested in following certain companies/people. It's a shame-based tactic, but I don't really know that there is any shame in it. Frankly, it seems more like an attention grab then something actually worth campaigning against.
Raul Ramos y Sanchez
Socialtoo's paraih's list would seem a lot more credible if I had not been put on it hours after I ended their service and blogged this Open Letter to Socialtoo http://snipurl.com/dc4lw Putting me on the list was clearly petty and vindictive. I have less than 600 followers and all I did was have the temerity to tell Socialtoo CEO Jesse Stay that I preferred using Auto DMs to new followers. That got me branded as a spammer. Thanks to my vocal reaction and the public support I received, Socialtoo appears to have taken me off the list. Thanks for your post, Lee. Socialtoo does not have clean hands and their public persecution smacks of hypocrisy.
LGR
You are probably right, it is an attempt from SocialToo to grab some attention. There certainly are a lot more worthy causes that people on Twitter could be campaigning against and in the grand scheme of things autoDM's are pretty minor. I do have to wonder why SocialToo feels the need to shame people into changing their behaviour. SocialToo is welcome to do what it wants with its company and not provide an autoDM service, but Twitter has allowed autoDMs and until Twitter decides they are spam then they are part of the package. When I follow someone I am giving them my permission to tweet me. An autoDM is just a tweet. Most are just thank you for following and do no harm. Some can even be fun to read.
LGR
I have followed some of the people on the endautodms list and they are pretty nice folks. Not the evil spammers that SocialToo seems to want to make them into. I DM a couple of them and the reality is they did not even notice what SocialToo had done. They even picked up new followers because of it. Perhaps SocialToo should focus on their business instead of trying to dictate what Twitter users do.
Raul Ramos y Sanchez
I looked this list over too, although I did not contact the folks. Socialtoo reminds me of the crooked sheriff who makes a big show of rounding up the town drunks at election time but looks the other way when the big-time crooks are at work.