How Bit.ly is fighting Twitter spam

The microblogging social network Twitter has become infested with spam over the past year, directly alongside its meteoric rise in popularity. While Twitter is staying busy trying to fight this never-ending war, Bit.ly (a popular URL shortener service) is joining the battle.

Bit.ly is the most frequently used link shortener on Twitter. It makes up more than 75 percent of all shortened links, according to this TechCrunch article, meaning that it is frequently abused by spammers attempting to push Twitter users off to malicious Web sites loaded with malware and spyware.

Yesterday, Bit.ly announced that the service is partnering with VeriSign's iDefense, Websense Threatseeker Cloud and Sophos to beef up their ability to detect spam behind shortened links. This is in addition to some of their existing security features. For instance, you can add a + symbol behind any bit.ly link to preview it or make use of their Firefox preview plug-in.

There's another tool you can use to fight spam and that's called common sense. Just like we learned what the red flags for e-mail spam 10 years ago, we're now being taught the same lesson on social networks. Don't click on strange links from senders that you don't know. And if you receive a message saying "Is this you? [LINK]" - don't click on it.

What do you think about Bit.ly's announcement? Will this make a dent in Twitter spam or will the spammers evolve to leverage new ways to prey upon internet users?

Nathan T. Wright is the founder of Lava Row, a social media education, consulting and strategy firm based in Des Moines' East Village.