Spammy Twitter accounts to get the virtual guillotine

There are very few rules on microblogging platform Twitter. But if you use it for unsolicited "tweets" about male enhancement products, watch out: Twitter has started to shut down accounts that it has flagged as "spam," reported blogger Jesse Stay.

Twitter employees confirmed the new tactic in their developer forum. "We've been considering this issue here at Twitter HQ, and we're planning on simply removing the accounts of users who have violated our Terms of Service, as opposed to freezing their account as we've done in the past," Twitter engineer Alex Payne explained.

Previously, "frozen" Twitter accounts were not removed, but the owners could not add any other users as followers. They also weren't notified of the freeze. Now, owners of accounts that have been flagged as spam will be alerted in advance and will have a chance to make a case for themselves.

So you'll be able to explain to the Twitterati, however unsuccessfully, that you really do just like to talk about Viagra and cheap Rolex watches all the time.

[chad.armstrong]

I'm finding more and more unsolicited follow's- and believe me I'm no one special. Can't quite figure out what nefarious plot is behind these.

[KristianLaliberte]

Actually, Caroline, I'm quite familiar with the work of Craig Newark. Indeed, I found my first job out of Columbia on his eponymous site.