The past couple of days, phishing and subsequent spam attacks have hit Twitter. No new phenomenas in themselves, but it could potentially and drastically change the entire user psychology of the social media giant.
What has made Twitter stand out among other social media tools, is the fact that you choose who you trust and follow. People and organisations can follow you, but you don't have to return the favor and befriend them. This has made it one of the last safe havens from spam and unwanted ads. But now, all of the sudden it has changed. The people you trust to give for example added value to your professional life, are unconsciously hitting you with spam left and right.
The easy-to-connect policy is in ways countering the entire user philosophy behind Twitter. Could it long term be the kind of threat that will drive power users to a completely different and more secure application? Or will Twitter make a major change to their platform?
Another thing to think about, what if someone had phished up your OpenID login?
