Granted, she didn’t keep interruting us, but then again neither do the people sending these messages. In your Starbucks analogy, this same person continues to interrupt you, which is probably not happening on this Twtter ordeal. I highly doubt that the spammers are stalking you personally to interject into every tweet you make. If they do spam you like this, they message you about the keywqord you triggered and then move on. Irritating yes, but not even remotely close to the Starbucks analogy.

In reality, if I were eating lunch and thousands of people cared enough to pipe in their two cents worth about me having to go buy sandals; I would think that they were weirdos who needed to get a more interesting life, and I would ignore them. This is the same way I handle Twitter spam, I block the user and go on to enjoy my day. Enough blocks and they are kicked out by Twitter, end of problem.

By allowing them to diminish your enjoyment of Twitter and running around yelling that the sky is falling due to spam; you are allowing them to control your actions and take up your time and attention. Maybe not in the way they were hoping, but they are still getting your focused attention. Is it really worth it? Do you think it is going to matter or make a difference?

Spam has not ended my email, direct marketing has not killed my mailbox, telemarkers have not wiped out my telephone, and all my tv stations still have commercials. None of these other people have my permission to market to me either, but that is the world we live in. Yelling about spam on Twitter makes as much sense to me as complaining that NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX are spamming me with tv commercials about feminine hygiene products and erectile dysfunction all the time. Advertising exists, and you can’t control the actions of everyone else. In the end, you will have to decide if Twitter, like TV, offers enough value to you to make the intermittant advertising worth the other content the medium provides.