![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bridge-global.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/twittergoogle.jpg\")
<\/a>After it came to my attention that a lot of people use Twitter primarily to tweet about, let\u2019s be honest, relatively unimportant and even boring daily activities, I started to ask myself what people found to be worthy of sharing with their followers. Do you tweet when you have breakfast? When you go to work? When you go to the bathroom? When you…breathe?<\/p>\nThese thoughts gave me an idea. My own little art project. A statement against the vomit of all possible uninteresting accouncements on the public Twitter timeline.<\/p>\n
My idea was to make a Twitter account with the soul purpose of letting its followers know the owner is still breathing. The most uninteresting and trivial information you could possibly broadcast. Call it a universal hint to those every-five-minutes Twitter users.
Of course I wasn\u2019t planning on doing all that typing myself. I made a script that uses the Twitter API to breathe in and breathe out alternately every minute (about the maximum you\u2019re allowed to post). With the added bonus that people could use the link that was sent with the tweet to broadcast the breathing from their own account. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
These thoughts gave me an idea. My own little art project. A statement against the vomit of all possible uninteresting accouncements on the public Twitter timeline.<\/p>\n My idea was to make a Twitter account with the soul purpose of letting its followers know the owner is still breathing. The most uninteresting and trivial information you could possibly broadcast. Call it a universal hint to those every-five-minutes Twitter users. These thoughts gave me an idea. My own little art project. A statement against the vomit of all possible uninteresting accouncements on the public Twitter timeline.<\/p>\n My idea was to make a Twitter account with the soul purpose of letting its followers know the owner is still breathing. The most uninteresting and trivial information you could possibly broadcast. Call it a universal hint to those every-five-minutes Twitter users. These thoughts gave me an idea. My own little art project. A statement against the vomit of all possible uninteresting accouncements on the public Twitter timeline.<\/p>\n My idea was to make a Twitter account with the soul purpose of letting its followers know the owner is still breathing. The most uninteresting and trivial information you could possibly broadcast. Call it a universal hint to those every-five-minutes Twitter users. One of the things that immediately struck me was that the account (@ademhaler<\/a>, which means \u201cbreather\u201d in Dutch) was automatically followed by scripted follower tools. Apparently, if you tweet a lot you\u2019re attractive prey for these automated follow bots.<\/p>\n What shocked and surprised me, however, was that the Google search results were already heavily influenced by my Twitter account after a week. When you searched for \u201cbreather\u201d the page at our server (http:\/\/breather.conceptables.nl<\/a>, on which I\u2019d posted the link to the breather) would be ever higher in the results, while it\u2019s quite a generic word. This was the case despite Google\u00a0claiming<\/a> to have such an advanced algorithm to generate its search results.<\/p>\n It seemed strange that by simply repeating the same tweet you can drastically manipulate search results. You\u2019d expect this kind of relatively simple manipulations to be filtered out.<\/p>\n During the development of our online feedback service Mopinion <\/a>we were curious if this trick would also work with popular buzzwords, such as \u201csocial media\u201d. We created a number of Twitter accounts with some relevant keywords for our service. What surprised us is that specialized Twitter search engines were also simply duped by the fake tweeting. There are actually no filters present in these search engines that remove such repetitions. Thus it\u2019s not so difficult to manipulate your presence on Twitter and Google enormously.<\/p>\n We did get messages from employees of these Twitter search websites who weren\u2019t very happy with us. But as it\u2019s fairly easy to filter it out, we didn\u2019t really see the problem for them. Our new Twitter accounts also had a huge impact on the Google search results (and of course the Twitter search results). With fairly generic queries, such as \u201csocial media\u201d, \u201cclient interaction\u201d (in Dutch) and \u201cfeedback\u201d the Mopinion website showed up very high in the results.<\/p>\n It pays to tweet the same message as much as possible. Google does not have any filters for this. <\/strong><\/p>\n When more people find out about this (like now :-s) it will temporarily be a free alternative to Google Adwords. Since Google\u2019s business model is based on this service, it seems to be a high priority of the internet giant to make a filter for this as soon as possible. We have, of course, terminated our Mopinion \u201cbreathers\u201d, the experiment succeeded. But in the end people want to find what\u2019s relevant for them and not something somebody is tweeting the most (or pays for, for that matter. That\u2019s why Google has so strictly separated the paid results.) With a \u201cbreather\u201d you could manipulate the real results.<\/p>\n This is not good news for Google or their users. To us it seems a priority to build in filters for this as soon as possible. <\/p>\n One of the things that immediately struck me was that the account (@ademhaler<\/a>, which means \u201cbreather\u201d in Dutch) was automatically followed by scripted follower tools. Apparently, if you tweet a lot you\u2019re attractive prey for these automated follow bots.<\/p>\n What shocked and surprised me, however, was that the Google search results were already heavily influenced by my Twitter account after a week. When you searched for \u201cbreather\u201d the page at our server (http:\/\/breather.conceptables.nl<\/a>, on which I\u2019d posted the link to the breather) would be ever higher in the results, while it\u2019s quite a generic word. This was the case despite Google\u00a0claiming<\/a> to have such an advanced algorithm to generate its search results.<\/p>\n It seemed strange that by simply repeating the same tweet you can drastically manipulate search results. You\u2019d expect this kind of relatively simple manipulations to be filtered out.<\/p>\n During the development of our online feedback service Mopinion <\/a>we were curious if this trick would also work with popular buzzwords, such as \u201csocial media\u201d. We created a number of Twitter accounts with some relevant keywords for our service. What surprised us is that specialized Twitter search engines were also simply duped by the fake tweeting. There are actually no filters present in these search engines that remove such repetitions. Thus it\u2019s not so difficult to manipulate your presence on Twitter and Google enormously.<\/p>\n We did get messages from employees of these Twitter search websites who weren\u2019t very happy with us. But as it\u2019s fairly easy to filter it out, we didn\u2019t really see the problem for them. Our new Twitter accounts also had a huge impact on the Google search results (and of course the Twitter search results). With fairly generic queries, such as \u201csocial media\u201d, \u201cclient interaction\u201d (in Dutch) and \u201cfeedback\u201d the Mopinion website showed up very high in the results.<\/p>\n It pays to tweet the same message as much as possible. Google does not have any filters for this. <\/strong><\/p>\n When more people find out about this (like now :-s) it will temporarily be a free alternative to Google Adwords. Since Google\u2019s business model is based on this service, it seems to be a high priority of the internet giant to make a filter for this as soon as possible. We have, of course, terminated our Mopinion \u201cbreathers\u201d, the experiment succeeded. But in the end people want to find what\u2019s relevant for them and not something somebody is tweeting the most (or pays for, for that matter. That\u2019s why Google has so strictly separated the paid results.) With a \u201cbreather\u201d you could manipulate the real results.<\/p>\n This is not good news for Google or their users. To us it seems a priority to build in filters for this as soon as possible. <\/p>\n One of the things that immediately struck me was that the account (@ademhaler<\/a>, which means \u201cbreather\u201d in Dutch) was automatically followed by scripted follower tools. Apparently, if you tweet a lot you\u2019re attractive prey for these automated follow bots.<\/p>\n What shocked and surprised me, however, was that the Google search results were already heavily influenced by my Twitter account after a week. When you searched for \u201cbreather\u201d the page at our server (http:\/\/breather.conceptables.nl<\/a>, on which I\u2019d posted the link to the breather) would be ever higher in the results, while it\u2019s quite a generic word. This was the case despite Google\u00a0claiming<\/a> to have such an advanced algorithm to generate its search results.<\/p>\n It seemed strange that by simply repeating the same tweet you can drastically manipulate search results. You\u2019d expect this kind of relatively simple manipulations to be filtered out.<\/p>\n During the development of our online feedback service Mopinion <\/a>we were curious if this trick would also work with popular buzzwords, such as \u201csocial media\u201d. We created a number of Twitter accounts with some relevant keywords for our service. What surprised us is that specialized Twitter search engines were also simply duped by the fake tweeting. There are actually no filters present in these search engines that remove such repetitions. Thus it\u2019s not so difficult to manipulate your presence on Twitter and Google enormously.<\/p>\n We did get messages from employees of these Twitter search websites who weren\u2019t very happy with us. But as it\u2019s fairly easy to filter it out, we didn\u2019t really see the problem for them. Our new Twitter accounts also had a huge impact on the Google search results (and of course the Twitter search results). With fairly generic queries, such as \u201csocial media\u201d, \u201cclient interaction\u201d (in Dutch) and \u201cfeedback\u201d the Mopinion website showed up very high in the results.<\/p>\n It pays to tweet the same message as much as possible. Google does not have any filters for this. <\/strong><\/p>\n When more people find out about this (like now :-s) it will temporarily be a free alternative to Google Adwords. Since Google\u2019s business model is based on this service, it seems to be a high priority of the internet giant to make a filter for this as soon as possible. We have, of course, terminated our Mopinion \u201cbreathers\u201d, the experiment succeeded. But in the end people want to find what\u2019s relevant for them and not something somebody is tweeting the most (or pays for, for that matter. That\u2019s why Google has so strictly separated the paid results.) With a \u201cbreather\u201d you could manipulate the real results.<\/p>\n This is not good news for Google or their users. To us it seems a priority to build in filters for this as soon as possible. <\/p>\n One of the things that immediately struck me was that the account (@ademhaler<\/a>, which means \u201cbreather\u201d in Dutch) was automatically followed by scripted follower tools. Apparently, if you tweet a lot you\u2019re attractive prey for these automated follow bots.<\/p>\n What shocked and surprised me, however, was that the Google search results were already heavily influenced by my Twitter account after a week. When you searched for \u201cbreather\u201d the page at our server (http:\/\/breather.conceptables.nl<\/a>, on which I\u2019d posted the link to the breather) would be ever higher in the results, while it\u2019s quite a generic word. This was the case despite Google\u00a0claiming<\/a> to have such an advanced algorithm to generate its search results.<\/p>\n It seemed strange that by simply repeating the same tweet you can drastically manipulate search results. You\u2019d expect this kind of relatively simple manipulations to be filtered out.<\/p>\n During the development of our online feedback service Mopinion <\/a>we were curious if this trick would also work with popular buzzwords, such as \u201csocial media\u201d. We created a number of Twitter accounts with some relevant keywords for our service. What surprised us is that specialized Twitter search engines were also simply duped by the fake tweeting. There are actually no filters present in these search engines that remove such repetitions. Thus it\u2019s not so difficult to manipulate your presence on Twitter and Google enormously.<\/p>\n We did get messages from employees of these Twitter search websites who weren\u2019t very happy with us. But as it\u2019s fairly easy to filter it out, we didn\u2019t really see the problem for them.<\/a>After it came to my attention that a lot of people use Twitter primarily to tweet about, let\u2019s be honest, relatively unimportant and even boring daily activities, I started to ask myself what people found to be worthy of sharing with their followers. Do you tweet when you have breakfast? When you go to work? When you go to the bathroom? When you…breathe?<\/p>\n
\nOf course I wasn\u2019t planning on doing all that typing myself. I made a script that uses the Twitter API to breathe in and breathe out alternately every minute (about the maximum you\u2019re allowed to post). With the added bonus that people could use the link that was sent with the tweet to broadcast the breathing from their own account. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>After it came to my attention that a lot of people use Twitter primarily to tweet about, let\u2019s be honest, relatively unimportant and even boring daily activities, I started to ask myself what people found to be worthy of sharing with their followers. Do you tweet when you have breakfast? When you go to work? When you go to the bathroom? When you…breathe?<\/p>\n
\nOf course I wasn\u2019t planning on doing all that typing myself. I made a script that uses the Twitter API to breathe in and breathe out alternately every minute (about the maximum you\u2019re allowed to post). With the added bonus that people could use the link that was sent with the tweet to broadcast the breathing from their own account. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>After it came to my attention that a lot of people use Twitter primarily to tweet about, let\u2019s be honest, relatively unimportant and even boring daily activities, I started to ask myself what people found to be worthy of sharing with their followers. Do you tweet when you have breakfast? When you go to work? When you go to the bathroom? When you…breathe?<\/p>\n
\nOf course I wasn\u2019t planning on doing all that typing myself. I made a script that uses the Twitter API to breathe in and breathe out alternately every minute (about the maximum you\u2019re allowed to post). With the added bonus that people could use the link that was sent with the tweet to broadcast the breathing from their own account. <\/p>\n
We felt it was a bit tricky as most people naturally don\u2019t like these kinds of ways to increase their presence on Google. But on the other hand you could hardly call it spam. If no one adds you and you don\u2019t send people messages uninvited you could not possibly qualify it as such.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
To be extra careful I wrote a script to remove friendships with all Twitter accounts that would follow our \u201cbreather\u201d accounts so nobody would be directly bothered by our messages, even if they did use the also dubious practice of automatically following an active user.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
When everybody starts doing it, it will become less effective. But Google will be completely overwhelmed by unaccurate search results. The loudest Twitter users will be on top.<\/p>\n
But the company\u2019s employees are so brilliant, surely they\u2019ll find out for themselves. Right?<\/p>\n
\nWe felt it was a bit tricky as most people naturally don\u2019t like these kinds of ways to increase their presence on Google. But on the other hand you could hardly call it spam. If no one adds you and you don\u2019t send people messages uninvited you could not possibly qualify it as such.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nTo be extra careful I wrote a script to remove friendships with all Twitter accounts that would follow our \u201cbreather\u201d accounts so nobody would be directly bothered by our messages, even if they did use the also dubious practice of automatically following an active user.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWhen everybody starts doing it, it will become less effective. But Google will be completely overwhelmed by unaccurate search results. The loudest Twitter users will be on top.<\/p>\n
\nBut the company\u2019s employees are so brilliant, surely they\u2019ll find out for themselves. Right?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nWe felt it was a bit tricky as most people naturally don\u2019t like these kinds of ways to increase their presence on Google. But on the other hand you could hardly call it spam. If no one adds you and you don\u2019t send people messages uninvited you could not possibly qualify it as such.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nTo be extra careful I wrote a script to remove friendships with all Twitter accounts that would follow our \u201cbreather\u201d accounts so nobody would be directly bothered by our messages, even if they did use the also dubious practice of automatically following an active user.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWhen everybody starts doing it, it will become less effective. But Google will be completely overwhelmed by unaccurate search results. The loudest Twitter users will be on top.<\/p>\n
\nBut the company\u2019s employees are so brilliant, surely they\u2019ll find out for themselves. Right?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nWe felt it was a bit tricky as most people naturally don\u2019t like these kinds of ways to increase their presence on Google. But on the other hand you could hardly call it spam. If no one adds you and you don\u2019t send people messages uninvited you could not possibly qualify it as such.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nTo be extra careful I wrote a script to remove friendships with all Twitter accounts that would follow our \u201cbreather\u201d accounts so nobody would be directly bothered by our messages, even if they did use the also dubious practice of automatically following an active user.<\/p>\n