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TECHNOLOGY => Computing and Internet => Topic started by: ReadWrite on Jul 26, 2013, 09:31 PM

Title: Twitter Users Get Hacked—By Twitter!
Post by: ReadWrite on Jul 26, 2013, 09:31 PM
  (http://readwrite.com/files/twitter%20shutterstock%20.jpg)  

Twitter wanted everyone to know about wider availability of a new feature called TV ad targeting (https://blog.twitter.com/2013/amplify-tv-commercials-twitter-premiering-tv-ad-targeting), which lets advertisers synchronize promoted-tweet campaigns with their TV spots. So it published a blog post (http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2013/07/23/twitter-fakes-real-users-tweets-to-promote-ad-platform/) describing results from a beta test of the feature that just happened to feature tweets from real Twitter users reacting to the TV ads.

But while the users were real, their purported tweets were not, SFGate reported (http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2013/07/23/twitter-fakes-real-users-tweets-to-promote-ad-platform/). Twitter has since tweeted (of course) an apology to the three users affected, added an apology to the top of the offending blog post and re-attributed the fake tweets (https://blog.twitter.com/2013/tv-ad-targeting-lifts-brand-metrics-and-engagement-in-beta-now-generally-available) to Twitter Ads employees.

Neil Gottlieb, one of the users, said Twitter's apology was "not an adequate accountability statement." Gottlieb is currently speaking with an attorney to go over "the use of his likeness."

Image via Shutterstock (http://www.shutterstock.com)

ReadWrite