Loading Profile...
Direct message sent from phone appears in public timeline
I've invited a friend to twitter, who hooked up her phone. I've been sending her direct messages from web interface and it works great; gets delivered to her phone in a matter of seconds. We are in Croatia, Europe; the mobile provider is Tele2.
But now she tried to reply to one of the direct messages. She wrote "d Mislav hi ...", where "..." was the rest of her message. Obviously she thought that she must write "hi". Also, my username is "mislav", not "Mislav" (maybe this is relevant).
The problem: I received that message only *4 days after*. To make things weirder, it didn't come in the form of direct message, but appeared in my friends' timeline. It seems the direct message was posted to her public timeline.
She's using TwitterSync for Facebook. I've never had problems with that app, it justs reposts public tweets to Facebook status.
But now she tried to reply to one of the direct messages. She wrote "d Mislav hi ...", where "..." was the rest of her message. Obviously she thought that she must write "hi". Also, my username is "mislav", not "Mislav" (maybe this is relevant).
The problem: I received that message only *4 days after*. To make things weirder, it didn't come in the form of direct message, but appeared in my friends' timeline. It seems the direct message was posted to her public timeline.
She's using TwitterSync for Facebook. I've never had problems with that app, it justs reposts public tweets to Facebook status.
I’m worried
2
people have this problem
I have this problem, too!
Tell me when someone solves it.
The more people who report this problem, the more it gets noticed.
The more people who report this problem, the more it gets noticed.
-
Inappropriate?This kind of behavior is usually caused by a third-party app.
If she can't remember all the Twitter apps that she has tried, she can always changing her Twitter account password. That's usually enough to fix the problem.
1 person says
this solves the problem
-
Inappropriate?TwitterSync only requires a password if her updates are protected. They are not, but maybe she gave it her password anyway. I'll check.
I don't think she's been using any other twitter apps since she's not aware of them.
Anyway, how can a third-party app intercept her direct message to me and repost it on her public timeline several days later? Is that even possible?
I’m pondering
-
Inappropriate?Unless someone deletes the direct messages that they've sent and received, they remain in the account and are viewable by the user on the web (direct messages received, direct messages sent).
Direct messages can also be accessed by third-party applications through the Twitter API, provided that the app has the username and password.
So even if the direct message was sent days ago, a third party app can log in via the API much later and access the message if it hasn't been deleted.
I know there were attempts before to create third-party apps that echo direct messages that an account has received in its public Twitter stream. That's useful for cases where you want different people to contribute entries to a group account.
And while I've not encountered one before, it's conceivable that there's an app that echoes direct messages that have been sent in the public Twitter timeline.
----
A parting thought: it could be that there's a simpler explanation... it's possible that there were extra spaces before or after the 'd' in her 'd username msg' which caused Twitter to think that it's not a direct message. But that doesn't explain the 4 day lag...
1 person says
this solves the problem
-
Inappropriate?Thanks, mdy. You've been helpful so far.
If any Twitter employees wish to look into this, the message in question is http://twitter.com/abernard/statuses/...
I’m thankful
-
Inappropriate?Hiya...
I too have seen this problem.
What I'm observing is that my '@' and 'd' messages are used by Facebook as status updates! This is hectic!
'd' messages are supposed to be private. Between two people only. But they're appearing ON MY FACEBOOK status!!!!
What can be done?
I'm not using any third party apps. I'm using the Twitter Facebook app.
Please can anyone solve this????
Blue skies
love
Roy1 Comment Add a comment
This solves the problem
-
Hi Roy, I've sent you a few questions. -
Inappropriate?Isn't the Twitter Facebook app. (or Facebook itself, for that matter) a third-party app?
Can people (e.g. your Facebook friends) other than you (when you're logged in as you) view your DMs in Facebook?
I don't like the sound of this!
I’m unsure what's going on
-
Inappropriate?Hi, Eridanus...
From Facebook's perspective, the Twitter app is third party. From Twitter's perspective, I believe it's a Twitter tool, not a different operator.
To confirm... yes... all of the people who are able to view my Facebook status are able to see both '@' and 'd' messages as my Facebook status update.
Which basically means that there's NO privacy on my Twitter acc, unless I switch off the Facebook plugin.
Blue skies
love
Roy -
Inappropriate?Hi, royblumenthal:
This doesn't sound good: I'd not want all my friends to see all of my DM correspondence!
From Twitter's perspective, I suppose Facebook is third party...
Since this thread is rather underpopulated, you might attract Twitter's attention by submitting a support request via http://twitter.com/help/ and including a link to this thread.
You should receive an automatic email acknowledgement within minutes. Twitter process support requests sequentially and usually have a backlog, so ca. 5 days may elapse before you receive a human response.
I’m definitely puzzled...
-
Inappropriate?Hi guys, we're looking into this.
-
Inappropriate?Thanks Mark. I apprecite your feedback.
Oh oh...
I've just gone into my Facebook account to see if the status thing has happened lately. And it hasn't.
I then delved further into my status update history, and I can't find any instances of this having happened!
Oh jeez. I feel like a complete fruitcake now! I hope I didn't imagine this whole thing.
Mark... If I was mistaken, I apologize.
Blue skies
love
Roy -
Inappropriate?Hey no problem! Please let us know if you see this behavior again.
EMPLOYEE
