If you’re going to spread your message on Twitter, it’s best to avoid the Viagra technique. That’s the message coming from capitol hill as Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) released evidence in a press release that he is being spammed by twitterbots.
“Obama’s anti-gun campaign is a fraud,” Stockman said in the release. “Obama’s anti-gun activists are trying to defraud Congress using the same scam that sells ‘male enhancement pills.’ Every day thousands of Americans call, write and email the Capitol opposing Obama’s anti-gun schemes. Obama’s supporters are panicking and willing to do anything to create the appearance of popular support, even if it means trying to defraud Congress.”
What he doesn’t note is that it’s just as easy for anti-gun-control activists to be purchasing fake Tweets to discredit the campaign in the same way that Mitt Romney had followers purchased to discredit him last year.
Still, in this extremely heated debate, anything is possible. What’s not very likely is the insinuation that the Obama administration is in any way applying the technique or condoning it. They know social media too well to try anything that silly. What’s most likely is that very passionate gun control advocates have decided to put a little money and effort into bulking up their numbers. It’s a common technique in social media promotions as well as SEO, though it’s normally frowned upon by true professionals. In the end, it simply doesn’t work.
As Buzzfeed points out:
Congressman Steve Stockman complained in a press release about large numbers of tweets about gun control from pro-gun control spam bots. A review of the egg avatars tweeting at him suggests that the congressman has a point.
Here are some of the violating Tweets:
