Cyber-squatting is something that plagues brands in social media all the ruddy time. There is plenty that can be done to help prevent that ‘worse case scenario’ from becoming reality and it’s something that we advise all new businesses do from the outset. Username check is Ronseal and does exactly what it says it does and checks a variety of social tools to see whether your potential username is already in use. Hell, it even checks ones that no longer exist such as rejaw RIP, but it’s free and easy so can’t complain.

But what happens if you have a pre-existing brand and are only just catching up, or maybe you have a new brand but unfortunately someone else had the bright idea of using your  username for themselves??? The instant reaction is to want to kick them to the curb, but maybe they could be your butler? *tweet for me Wilson will you*. Okay sounds ridiculous but in this day and age where crowdsourcing shifts from being absurd to a norm, is it really that far out to look to utilise potential brand advocates in this way? (Please note: i someone is pretending to be your brand then don’t interact or negotiate with them, try to sot it via the official channels).

Here are a few ideas of what you could possibly do:

1. Get started & Get on side

So,  someone on twitter has the username you would prefer you had but go with your second choice and start doing everything as you would normally to generate authenticity & authority – clear branding & frequent tweeting. Now once you have gone some way to establishing yourself it’s time to get in contact.  Contact your namesake maybe commenting on their username. The idea is to get them on side so some general friendly chitchat is a good place to start. There’s a reason why it’s called social media. DON’T BE PUSHY!

2. Involve the user

Sometimes you need a bit of creativity, so why not suggest the idea of involving the squatter in your campaign. This is good especially if they have a pre-existing following. The more flare you share the more likely they are to get involved. If you are able to forge a good relationship then that user might just be willing to forward on the odd tweet here and there should someone make a mistake – at the very least. In the early stages it’s all about increasing visibility so those first interactions are essential.

Who knows, if you throw a ’social media guidelines’ document their way they might decide it’s not worth the effort and hand over the name

3. Gift Aid

This is always going to be easier for existing brands that are new to social media as are likely to have promotional material but never forget about ‘giving’. If you have a product that the squatter might potentially like then why not give it to them, they’re bound to be far more impressed than you trying to bully them. One brand advocate isn’t going to hurt now is it?

Obviously these aren’t ‘the new rules’ or anything of the sort but we wanted to address whether a new thinking could be applied to an old problem? We think there is potential there but would have to be reviewed on a case by case basis. Just think though…. if you were one of the first to tackle the situation in a clever way that could be a nice PR story.

Just remember the basic rules of social media. Listen>engage>add value

What do you think? Is it ever just to interact with a squatter? Seen any examples of brands doing this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments…

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twitter, it can be such a  wonderful thing,  filled with glistening tweets about twincesses and twomance. But what happens when this innocent vessel is abused by bigger birds? Well, ok maybe not bigger birds but you get what i mean. In fact twitter has grown so quickly that it’s been unable to cope despite being a platform built for scaleability. Security has always been an issue and unfortunately twitter hired butterfield to be on the lookout. But, It didn’t take care of the issue – meaning that in fact it has beenit is open to abuse by parasites that lounge in its plump belly sack.  a bit like sarcocystis! (Here is a good diagram which shows the lifecycle. man eats infected meat – cow eats infected human waste – repeat).

One such parasite that is constantly irritating the bowels is twables. You’ve probably seen the DM’s and if you haven’t then you are truly blessed! twables works by asking you to sign-up for something, whether it be a ‘quiz’ or ‘IQ test’ then once you have signed up it then acts like a computer worm and sends DM’s to all of your friends without you knowing in the hope that they wil be dumb enough to click on the link and continue the cycle. So if YOU have clicked on the link then, yup, you’re now an official spammer! Congrats! Change your password quicker than asap.

Okay so we’ve established that something like twables is bad bad bad but it’s not the only one out there and all it takes is a bit of common sense and a bit of knowledge and you’ll steer clear of these problems. BUT social media is growing at such a  rapid rate that brands and agencies are hiring like wild fire and more often than not hire those who don’t have enough knowledge of the space – think account managers and directors. So potentially YOUR brand could end up in the same boat and spam all your followers!

If you’re a brand or agency – build out social media guidelines or hire the right people.

If you’re an individual – get used to spotting spam, knowing the difference but also reporting profiles and services to twitter. It’s a community and everyone needs to play their part.

Unfortunately twitter has made no attempt to block twables but we hope they will soon. one day.  What are your thoughts? Have you been caught out by spam on twitter? Is the industry hiring the wrong people? have your say in the comments…

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