The Woodlands Biotch

i have to step back from my ongoing series about sunscreen and other good advice because a gang of marauding tweeps pissed me off yesterday, and they don’t know who they’re messing with.

if you’re on twitter and you have a blog, chances are you’ve heard of #blogchat. someone put a bug in my ear about it awhile back, and i’ve followed it for several weeks. the problem was, as i followed along, i realized that the majority of the people involved each sunday night were generally two kinds of people; bloggers that blogged for money, or bloggers that blogged for some work-related reason. i saw very few instances of people that blogged just for the fun of it like i do, so i wasn’t really relating to the conversation very well. and since it wasn’t applying to me, i respectfully butted out, and just watched and tried to learn something.

then this week, the topic was supposed to be something i could relate to; whether or not you blog anonymously and why. i thought, hey! i have a reason to join the conversation finally (yay!) and so i did. i added a thought or two. i think, in total, 5 tweets. but the conversation was going off course, there was this whole side conversation about which phones/service people use (frankly, i think because the #blogchat founder, mack collier, admittedly wasn’t really paying attention) and so it got boring quickly, so i left early. next morning, i noticed two things: 1) i suddenly had 20 new followers and 2) mack had given links to not only the transcript of the #blogchat, but also to the list of participants.

i did what i always do when i get new followers, i went to check them out, see where they’re from, what they talk about. and i noticed a disturbing trend; 19 of the 20 of them all had the exact same most recent people they were all following. and all of them also had incredibly stupid-high follower/following counts. additionally, all of their most recent tweets were eerily similar; stuff like “how to increase your number of followers in 2 hours” or “get your blog’s seo noticed” etc. etc. so i did what i always do when i find that i’m being followed by shallow-one-hit-wonder look-how-many-people-follow-me types, i reported them for spam. not just because they followed me, but because they clearly went and followed all 200 and some people that participated in #blogchat. in other words, whether they had participated or not, they just harvested the list for followers. which i find to be a rude practice. and i said so:

okay #blogchat people, i really don’t appreciate the influx of spammy followers the morning after i participate in #blogchat. rude.

now, realize of course, that i only got 140 characters in which to voice my complaint, yes? but it wasn’t just a few minutes when mack decided to respond: “@TWBiotch Why are you spamming the #blogchat hashtag with your complaints? Why not spam the people you think are spamming you?” giving him the benefit of the doubt, i replied, “@MackCollier i’m not spamming the #blogchat hashtag & resent the implication; but i can’t help but notice all the ppl i just reported were all following the same participants of blogchat from last night. mine was a warning/complaint. calm down.” which, i thought, was a pretty good explanation. he disagreed. he said, “So you reported the people you didn’t like, then decided to spam the people that have no idea what you are talking about. Congrats” now, that last little dig, the “Congrats” pissed me off. i could hear the patronizing tone of voice behind it. hell, i use it all the time. still, i tried (really, i did!) to take the high road. i said, “i was simply pointing it out, because obviously what WAS a good blogging tool has become a spam farm. lighten the %*$! up.” but not mack. maybe the air is too thin up on the high road? i dunno. but he decided to get another dig in on me, “Well it’s still a good tool for most of us. Maybe your usage of the tool attracted the wrong people.” oh, so it’s just me? and what about the other hundreds of people that also suddenly got a bunch of $hit followers? i asked, “if it did, then maybe the other 100 or so of the other users they spammed are also the “wrong” type. what’s your problem w/me?” i again attempted to explain my position, “i just dumped 18 followers that all added me beg. @ 9 pm 7/5. i appreciate real fans, not follow-me/i’ll-follow-you spammers. i thought the whole point of blogchat was to be a community of bloggers, not just increase our follower counts.”

somehow, somewhere, no matter how i tried to explain my position, he just kept missing the point and assuming i was complaining about #blogchat. he stayed on the defense, “You have 100 followers now, how big was this ‘influx’ & how are those followers hurting you?” and in response to my explanation of the type of followers i appreciate, “Ok there’s an easy way to handle that, just don’t follow them back. Sorry but that’s life on Twitter, #blogchat has zip to do w it, Try participating in other Twitter chats & see what happens. I honestly think your avatar/name likely attracts them somewhat.” again, blaming me, blaming my name/avatar. again, ignoring my clearly stated point that it wasn’t *just* me, it was hundreds of people that this happened to. he went on (and finally stated what his problem was), “By participating in twitter chats, you pick up followers. No *my* problem is you saying the #blogchat community is ‘rude’” – which, you can see, clearly shows that he wasn’t really listening to me this whole time, was he? so i replied, “but blogchat was clearly where they came from all at once like that. i get 1 or 2 spammers a day, not 20 & it was more than me, again, i was attempting to point out a problem, not create 1, as you seem to think i have. didn’t realize u could own a hashtag.” i said, “i think your whole problem is that i actually complained about it & they didn’t; maybe they don’t care who follows them. i do. i’ve followed along on blogchat for weeks, but only actually jumped in 3-4 times for the 1st time last night. then, tada, spam.” and he replied, “So again, don’t follow them back. Problem solved!” (still missing my point) so i answered, “obviously i’m not; but i’m not going to encourage their behavior by letting them follow me, either & neither should others. AGAIN, it wasn’t just me they did it to, so it’s clear what they’re doing. tell you what, you tweet ur way, i’ll do it mine.” and to his saying i was calling the “community ‘rude’ i said, “i said the ppl that spammed the followers of #blogchat were rude! sorry it wasn’t PERFECTLY clear in just 140 characters. damn!” but he wouldn’t give up. he’s a bulldog, that mack. he said, “I think you are creating a lot of unnecessary work for yourself. If you dont follow back in a day or 2, they will unfollow YOU. And it would suck to report someone as a spammer if they weren’t, right?” which, i’ll be frank, i read as a double entendre – one, that i was wrong in saying i was spammed and two, that he could just as easily report me for it. and i said as much, “your veiled implication that i’m a spammer is unwarranted. if i wanted to spam blogchat, i’d be hashtagging it all the time & it’s not unecessary work if i actually give a rat’s ass who follows me. if u don’t, good for u. ur life is easier then, hmm?”

after which, finally, i thought he was going to relent. he said, “Nevermind, you’re right, you do it your way, I’ll do it mine.” and i said, “thank you, that was my plan. glad i now have your permission (not that i needed it).” which, apparently, still ruffled his feathers. he said, “Dear God honey please stop being a drama queen. Seriously.” which, actually, ruffled mine. not just  anyone can call me honey. i said, where, exactly, was i being a drama queen? and don’t call me honey, we’re not that close.” he finally (thankfully) stopped talking. to me. he was still talking out the side of his mouth to others, apparently. others that, like him, just weren’t getting it: @chrisyates11 said, “We love everyone i think!? RT @MackCollier: @TWBiotch *my* problem is you saying the #blogchat community is ‘rude’” – see, selective listening. they went on,“We just tripled your followers list u should b thrilled RT @TWBiotch #blogchat don’t appreciate spammy followers after #blogchat. rude. @ArtseyC @MackCollier not sure why she was complaining about followers she only had 103 I think #blogchat helped her so she should luv us!” chris is not sure what i’m complaining about, because they don’t care about who follows them, and they’re not in on this whole conversation, either. then @sue_anne had to jump in, “@chrisyates11 @MackCollier I’ve noticed that people with a small number of followers get antsy when people they don’t know follow them.” oh, for the love of all that’s holy, people, i wasn’t antsy. i was raising a red flag! i was serving up a warning! still, mack encouraged them, “@chrisyates11 Yeah if anyone thinks we are rude, not sure what they are looking at ;) #blogchat” and “@sue_anne @chrisyates11 But why get upset over ’spammers’ following you to get a follow back? Just ignore em and they unfollow in few days” still not conceding to my point in the least. and, finally, @amycanada just had to put in her two-cents worth, “@chrisyates11 @MackCollier She skeered of us. Fear = anger sometimes. Once she (if she) gets to know us she’ll LUV us.” which makes me just stop, blink a few times and say, what the %#*& are you talking about? still, i tried to set her (and her hillbilly language) straight, i said, “@ArtseyC i’m not scared of $hit; i wasn’t mad @ #blogchat, i was mad @ spammers, i don’t need a high follower # to feel superior.” it was an exercise in futility. she just replied this morning, “@TWBiotch Well, then, darlin’ call out those who spammed you, not hundreds of people who have nothing to do with you or your spam. #blogchat” clearly also not paying attention. *sigh*

*facepalm* i guess, just for $hits and grins, since they apparently all think i’m the spammer now anyway, i could just start hashtagging all my tweets with #blogchat for all eternity. but, no. too low a road. in fact, i’ve got it all out of my system now.

*we now return you to your irregularly unscheduled blog posts, already in session.*