# Why do I get spam on Twitter?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-spam-on-twitter/623284
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 27, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-spam-on-twitter/623284 "2012-05-27T22:09:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-spam-on-twitter/623284/1 "2012-05-27T22:09:46Z")

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I’ve read the twitter rules and I can’t tell if they allow spam or not, it seems like they don’t. But at least once per day I get a tweet that is not from someone I follow or a retweet. This is not allowed right?

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### Author: ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-spam-on-twitter/623284/2 "2012-05-27T22:32:02Z")

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Here are the Twitter rules. Scroll down for the section on Spam and Abuse:

[http://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules](http://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules)

You can block a user and [report them for spam](https://support.twitter.com/groups/33-report-a-violation/topics/122-reporting-violations/articles/64986-how-to-report-spam-on-twitter).

As for the question of why you get spam in the first place: it’s what spammers do.

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### Author: ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-spam-on-twitter/623284/3 "2012-05-28T02:08:58Z")

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I thought tweets that don’t have a legitimate origin are ads?

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### Author: ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-spam-on-twitter/623284/4 "2012-05-28T06:06:50Z")

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Yeah, on re-reading I think the OP must be referring to promoted tweets:

[https://support.twitter.com/articles/142101-promoted-tweets](https://support.twitter.com/articles/142101-promoted-tweets)

There’s a Dismiss button.

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### Author: ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2012, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-spam-on-twitter/623284/5 "2012-05-28T09:51:30Z")

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> [@tellyworth](#):
>
> Yeah, on re-reading I think the OP must be referring to promoted tweets:
> 
> [https://support.twitter.com/articles/142101-promoted-tweets](https://support.twitter.com/articles/142101-promoted-tweets)
> 
> There’s a Dismiss button.

So it’s spam but they came up with another name for it.

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### Author: ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-get-spam-on-twitter/623284/6 "2012-05-29T17:55:30Z")

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> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> So it’s spam but they came up with another name for it.

More like it’s an ad, masquerading as a tweet.