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Social Media Spam

Written by: William Atkin

Article Overview: How spam is quickly killing social media, affecting SEO professionals everywhere/

Social Media Spam

Social media optimization is all the rage in the SEO world. Social networking and media sites are a very useful tool for the average SEO specialist. Social websites allow you to build back links, create and encourage your website popularity and bring in tons of new traffic. In fact if performed well one could probably make their website based upon link bait alone. Some of the more notable websites like Digg, News vine and Reddit have been used since their inception. And with tons of new social sites popping up, there is not shortage of un-gamed websites. Digg amongst other website has become difficult to manipulate. While the website as a whole is manipulated by the Digg mafia, regular users would have to spend limitless amounts of time in order to land a first page story on Digg. In many ways the traffic is not worth the effort.


One of the more recent booms in the social scene is the growing popularity of Facebook. Myspace was the fore father of social website. Before websites like Digg were popular Myspace was the place to be. Given its popularity it’s no surprise that Myspace became the target of SEO’s, Internet marketers and spammers alike. There were legitimate opportunities for using Myspace as a method of advertising and reputation management, however as it became popular the abuses rose. Anyone who is familiar with Myspace will tell you that spam is a huge problem now. Fake accounts, fake messages, and persistent viruses have become so prevalent on Myspace that spam is accepted. But like every Gold Rush, people see new opportunities and less spam on Facebook. It took awhile to pickup speed but now everyone’s shedding their Myspace and trying out their new Facebook profile.

With the rise of social website, gaming, trading and spamming have all become all too prevalent. In fact if you look hard enough you can see the blatant examples of spamming and social media manipulations. For example on the Digital Point forum you can see people exchanging Stumbles, Bookmarks, Diggs and so on.


While there are benefits to this type of “exchange” the impact on the overall SEO society is detrimental at best. It is hard to imagine that there are search engine professionals that do not try to achieve the highest level of respect, integrity and professionalism. SEO professionals must band together and avoid spammy or questionable practices to ensure that we are taken seriously and that our field is not looked down upon.

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Article Tags: Digg, Facebook, Myspace, SEO, SEO specialist, social media, Social media optimization, social website, website popularity



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Social Media Marketing Ignorance - [quote="vbn411":7qciluxl]Social Media is space that you have to be in to succeed in our current climate. People are going to be discussing your brand / product whether you like it or not, so you might as well join the conversation and add value. [/quote:7qciluxl] I think that's probably one of the most realistic way to think about it. There's no real textbook way of understanding Social Media, it's the networks of people and their interactions that will exist with or without your input. As for Jennifer, You can always have 2 Facebook pages. Many people do. There is also LinkedIn, which is like a professional networking version of Facebook. The only way to know is to try it.


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