We all know the following situation. We have all been there. You see a nice Tweet or Mention and you read the account’s bio. You may even read some of the other Tweets of that person. You think it looks interesting and you decide to follow him or her.
You hope the other person follows you back, so you two can start building a meaningful relationship. If not, that is fine too; at least you can see their amusing or informative Tweets in your feed. After a while, you decide to check you DM box. Oh no. You have received that message. “@-Somebody- uses TrueTwit validation. To validate click here: [link].”
Dark clouds start to form in your head. What do you mean? I need to validate I am human? I am human! All you have to do is look at my profile! I am real! Ask me in a Tweet of your own. Google me if you like. Whatever you need to satisfy your validation hunger. Just do not require me to fill out a CAPTCHA…
*Unfollow*
TrueTwit: a tool to make Twitter life easier?
I still see many TrueTwit DMs in my inbox. As I am the owner of translation agency BudgetVertalingOnline and translation platform TranslationWebshop, I generally connect with translators, entrepreneurs, freelancers and marketers on Twitter. I have noticed that from these groups, especially people from the translation community use TrueTwit.
The reason I write this blog is that translators often have trouble enough finding a decent amount of jobs. I feel TrueTwit does not help in the process of establishing meaningful online relationships with potential clients. In fact, I feel TrueTwit is harmful to that process. I therefore want to clarify how TrueTwit works and more importantly, how it does not work, and I want to warn other translators and entrepreneurs.
In this blog, I explain why people use TrueTwit, its pitfall and that it does not deliver what it promises. I list five reasons why you should not use TrueTwit and describe how you can stop using TrueTwit if you have signed up.
Why do people use TrueTwit?
TrueTwit promises to make your Twitter life easier. Hey, we all love automation tools that make our digital marketing efforts straightforward and effective. What does TrueTwit vow to do? Apparently, it allows you to verify people from robots, avoid Twitter spam and save time managing followers.
That sounds promising! Where can I sign up? Hold up. Do not even think about it.
The pitfall of TrueTwit
The link leads you to a spammy-looking page on which you can validate that you are human by filling out a CAPTCHA. It allows “the user to know you are not a spambot and gives them the confidence to follow you.” While you are there, you can opt for TrueTwit Basic or TrueTwit Premium. If you opt for the free Basic, you will never have to validate again (sounds promising too). Among others, Premium has the advantage that no direct messages are sent to new followers, which only costs you $ 20 per year.
That sounds promising! Where can I sign up? Hold up. Do not even think about it.
Read between the lines. As Mary C. Long says, these validation requests can go on forever, unless you sign up for Basic. Once you have signed up for Basic, you send out those annoying validation requests yourself. Each year, it costs you $ 20 dollars to stop them. Alternatively, you choose to ignore the fact that you send out these requests.
TrueTwit does not deliver what it promises
Some blogs have been written about how TrueTwit does not do what it promises or how it encourages spam itself. I will summarize that information below with links to the resources.
First of all, as Long points out, spambots can figure out how to fill out a CAPTCHA, so they can still be validated. Even if they do not validate, they can still follow you. Still, does it really matter if a spambot follows you? You do not have to follow it back and you can block or rapport it.
Risdall Marketing Group points out that TrueTwit does not identify spammers for you; it only identifies whether accounts have filled out a CAPTCHA. TrueTwit also does not protect you against human spammers. You know the ones: they RT commercials and “inspirational” quotes all the time. Even if people go through the validation, it does not imply that they post informative and valuable Tweets. You will still have to figure out for yourself whether you can build a meaningful connection with the other person.
To conclude, as Adrian Jock says, what do you know after using TrueTwit? “You found out that some of your followers did not validate their accounts and they may or may not be bots. You also found out that some of your followers have validated accounts and they may or may not be humans. Conclusion: you did not find out anything new. You already knew both pieces of information without using TrueTwit.”
5 reasons you do not want to use TrueTwit
- Your first impression is horrible
This is what your automatic DM, and therefore you, say(s): “Oh hey, I see you followed me. Are you even real? Prove it to me. If not, I do not want to get to know you.” Wow. It sounds rude. That is a mighty barrier to something as small as a conversation. It is also a barrier that people on fast-paced Twitter are not willing to overcome. *unfollow*
- People do not trust having to click on links. Consequently, they do not trust you.
Do you want your credit card information or ID stolen? No. That is why you do not click on unreliable links. Who says this TrueTwit link is reliable? That would be a person who you just followed on Twitter and whom you have probably never met in real life. Why are you so eager for me to click on this link? *unfollow*
- You look like a spambot yourself
You send automatic messages requiring people to click a link. That is what people consider a spambot. Was it not your whole point to fight spam and spambots?
Truetwit claims to fight spam. How? By making you send out spam. Hey wait…
— Stop TrueTwit (@StopTrueTwit) January 4, 2016
- It works against the whole idea of connecting on Twitter
Why are you on Twitter? To connect with like-minded people and to see what a connection with those like-minded people can yield for the both of you. In addition, one-way connections are possible: you just might find someone’s Tweets valuable to you, while the other person does not feel the same way, or the other way around. As said, people can always follow you (in case of a public profile), no matter if they have been validated on TrueTwit or not. Twitter itself offers you ways to do something about the profiles you find annoying, abusive or spammy: block and/or report them.
- It does make you save time, but for the wrong reasons
As Dot-social says: “It might save you time managing followers, because people who might have followed you otherwise are put off following you, as they have to go through a validation process!” If that is the type of time saving you are looking for, be my guest!
How can you stop using TrueTwit?
Luckily, if you have started using TrueTwit, you can stop using it and you can stop sending those spammy DMs without paying for it. After logging in, you click on your profile picture on the top right of the page. You will now see your settings. Go to the tab with applications and revoke TrueTwit’s authorization.
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