Beware of ‘Social’ Spam When Using Twitter, Facebook

These days, social media is a critical ingredient of most effective PR campaigns. As more and more companies engage with their customers, business partners and other audiences via sites like Twitter and Facebook, it’s important to be on the lookout for “social” spam and not let it spoil your social networking efforts.
As The Wall Street Journal reports in “Spam Finds New Target,” criminals are increasingly drawn to social networks because they can spread the spam through a chain of trusted sources. Traditional spam via email is declining (in November, 70.5% of all email was spam, down from a recent high of 92.2% in August 2010), and spammers are turning to Facebook and Twitter where defenses are weak.