40% Of Social Media Accounts Are Created By Spammers
Spamming is big business and social networks know all to well what impact the activities of spammers can have on their platforms. But the spamming problem seems to be on the increase—at least that is what online technology firm Impermium thinks.
According to new data gathered by the firm, around 40% of all social media accounts are created by spammers. What’s more the problem seems to be ballooning out of control and Impermium is reporting that such wholesale account creation has doubled in the last 6 months.
Some social media sites are affected more than others, but all more or less feel the impact of spamming. Twitter and Facebook for instance are having o constantly ward of spammers. The nature of the problem is very intimate to Facebook and the social networking giant described the problem thus: “Certain malicious websites contain code that can make your browser take action without your knowledge or consent. For example. clicking on a link on one of these websites might cause the website to be posted to your Facebook profile (timeline). Never click strange links, even if they are from friends. Also be sure to notify the person sending the link if you see something suspicious.”
That Facebook description is a particular problem called Click-jacking and it is practiced not only by low-level spammers but heavily funded companies. According to a report, Facebook won a suit against a company called Ascend Media which by all accounts was making around $1.2 million a month from the practice.
Spam and spamming is of course that symbiotic underbelly of the internet. A lot of the practices in this shadowy underworld is quite harmful but in many ways it has helped the web to evolve into what it is today. Many big-name companies are known for hiring spammers to help them develop their products. That love hate relationship will go on for as long as there’s broadband.
(Source: sitetrail.com)
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