The Cost of Being Connected

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how things run here at MyBusinessMag.com. On this site is a "Contact Us" form where readers can respond to an article, where writers and publicists can pitch ideas and where subscribers can change their address. It's a useful tool for everyone. Of course, everyone also includes spammers.

In the last 24 hours, I've received 119 messages through our "Contact Us" page and not a single one of them has had anything to do with the magazine. Oooh, you'll enjoy this: As I just typed that sentence, two more messages came through, and again, the messages couldn't be further from relevant or appropriate.

If your business is online, chances are you've had similar experiences with spam. Maybe it's been with false Twitter followers, as examined in this BusinessWeek article that takes a look at the cost of being connected—not just to the user, but to the company providing the service, as well.

In addition to exposing a very big problem about the popular microblogging site Twitter, the article serves as a cautionary tale. If you're connected, whether it's through e-mail, a blog or Twitter, take the steps to protect yourself from spam, whether it's investing in a spam filter, requiring blog comments to be approved before they can go live and regularly checking your Twitter followers for people who don't belong.