Pinterest Paranoia and Pin Watch

text:
From a random tweet from IFB, I found peace of mind and fellow crusaders in the Battle against Spam on Pinterest.
I don't feel so crazy now. Onward!

Here is the tweet:

link to article -- READ!

The trail of links lead me to Pin Watch on Pinterest [link]:

If you are on Pinterest, please check out Pin Watch and read some of the links.
DON'T automatically follow a stranger if they follow "all your boards"
PIN RESPONSIBLY! Make sure the URL goes to the specific image/article.
Report any image that seems spammy.
Here's how:

click on "Report Pin" button

this box will appear > tick "Spam" > hit "Report Pin"

Pinterest, oh Pinterest

text reads:
4.19  I put this latest investigation collage together @ work on Mon. Just now getting it logged in here. I'm a bit divided about my Pinterest investigations. It feels so negative and unproductive. It just irks me so much that these "people" are hijacking the site for their own profit and nefarious ends.
I want to like Pinterest. I want to pin "correctly" and know that the pin points back to orig. source. I am irked by lazy pinners.

I really AM reluctant to continue doing this. I got weary of the Pose charade as well. I think I could be using my time better.

That said, when Michelle Obama"started following all [my] pinboards" I was curious to see where the pins came from... [4/20  just reclicked link and the page is down. hurrah!]

Ah, they're all the "media-cache" kind. The kind where the original source is removed.

Other troublemakers from Monday:

There is hope...
When I reclicked on the "dinner on the beach" today, I got this:

I Spy on Pose

Nothing has been happening in my Iama Spy Pose account. I think I need to start posting every day and follow more people. I wish there was a "search people" page... alas, no.

Today I posted these fantastic Jimmy Choo Shoes:

you can find them at Neiman Marcus

here fishy, fishy...

I think I figured out the feed situation. At least here, looks like it's all me, people I follow, or others that friends have hearted or made comments on (this is how the chaos happens, I bet!). I followed some more people one more person after I took this shot, maybe I'll return later today and see how it's changed...

[next morning]
I finally got something in my inbox...

An advert from the ubiquitous Mr Kate

Ugh. Mr Kate annoys me. She's probably a perfectly nice person but it's her profile picture. It really bugs me. I HATE the mustache thing. I don't GET the mustache thing.  (Steampunk, right?)
I guess that makes me an old person. That's OK, I'm old.


And then there's the issue that THIS IS AN AD! Spammy ads in our inboxes.
Fantastic [said with eye roll].

I Spy on Pinterest: All Pins Lead To...

Yesterday's investigation

Wendy's "Cool Stuff" pinboard has three sources for her pins...

This is the first one that I traced...

#2...

#3...

They all lead to this:

Did I click any further? No way!

Iama Poser

setting my trap

I Spy on Pinterest

Yep, Graham loves his nail art...
Oh wait, all these pins go to the same link to Amazon.

Graham is an Amazon shill.
At least the pins are related to the product.

Note: this is part of my monitoring of Pinterest. Within the last month, I've noticed an increased frequency of spammy Pinners following all my boards. The bots are taking over and I am documenting and reporting the spam. Are the Pinterest bots getting you down?

I am a Spy = Iama Spy

Important: MOMS TAKE NOTE!
No age restrictions in Pose other than those imposed by Facebook. Easy enough to lie about one's age there. BUT at least on Facebook, one can control privacy settings. NO PRIVACY ON POSE. No way to block followers. This makes me UNCOMFORTABLE.

Spy Mission April 2012