Well Hello Dolly: Has Your Law Firm's Twitter Persona Been Cloned?

So it appears there’s a new malicious trend taking over Twitter in the New Year: cloned accounts. It’s rather worrisome as no one seems to know why accounts are being cloned or for what – likely nefarious – purpose. And, it seems Twitter itself isn’t being all that proactive in dealing with the problem. 

What’s happening is people are finding that their account avatar and bio have been duplicated on another Twitter account. So, for example, if your firm has a Twitter account, your logo and bio will be copied onto this other account. Then, the account re-posts tweets you’ve already sent out to people who follow you. So, say you tweeted a follower “Hey, how goes?” on November 21, the cloned account may re-send that exact tweet to the same person, using your avatar. The username is obviously not the same, but the user  “looks” like you. 

As I said, nobody seems to know what’s going on here, though it’s rather creepy. Unfortunately the only way to find out if you’ve been cloned is if someone who received a cloned tweet lets you know. And, even if you do find out, there’s not a whole lot to be done. 

Twitter does have an Impersonation Policy and you can report an imposter account using this form. However, users who have gone that route have received frustrating replies from Twitter indicating the company does not consider such accounts to be true impersonators. 

The only way some have found to get rid of the accounts is to block them and report them for spam – and have others do the same. It may take some time, even a few weeks, but the accounts eventually disappear. 

What this highlights is your brand on Twitter – and other social media platforms --  is not always controlled by you. And, so-called “brandjacking” is not new. We’ve seen this in social media backlashes, parody accounts, and other examples when companies or individuals have legitimately messed up. But this is an example where your brand can be stolen and used without your knowledge and approval, so it’s important to be vigilant as a community. If you receive a cloned tweet, tell the original owner of the real account. If you’re told you’ve been cloned, report the account for spam and encourage your followers to do the same. I would also use the reporting form I listed above, just to pursue every avenue. 

And, lest this make you think you’re better off not having a Twitter account at all – brandjacking in some form will happen on social media whether you are active or not. You might as well be there to monitor what goes on and take immediate action.