As Twitter gained mainstream popularity it was only a matter of time before we saw an abundance of spam making its way in. This should not be a surprise, we’ve seen this happen in the past with another popular social networking site, MySpace. The social networking site has been in a slow decline in the U.S. because of the large quantity of scammers and fake accounts. After a while users became annoyed and disconnected with MySpace.

Spam is an especially huge concern for Twitter because of its very nature to act as a broadcasting service in which any account can accumulate ‘followers’ beyond their traditional network of contacts. And, because Twitter is a cost effective service for marketing, it’s a no brainer for companies and entrepreneurs to sign up and plaster their marketing messages all over people’s personal timelines. Mashable outlines three ways spammers are filling twitter with junk. People don’t join social networks like Twitter to be sent messages on weight loss plans and male enhancement pills, they sign up to talk to their peers and to stay relevant with current events. Unless Twitter can control the spread of spam (we give them credit for trying), there’s a risk that users will be turned off from the microblogging platform and find a new form of online communication.

This is in no way to say that companies should not participate in Twitter. In fact many have been praised for their efforts on Twitter. But, what separates a successful company on Twitter from a spammer is the ability to listen, engage, and humanize the brand. If done correctly the meaningful online relationships established on Twitter will follow your brand even when and/ or if Twitter becomes irrelevant.