This is the specific case that triggered this:

For the second time in a month, offensive terms have made it on to Twitter Trending Topics. In both cases, Twitter didn’t remove the offensive terms until after they spent some time at the top of Trending Topics. This time, the attack appears to have been carried out by the infamous 4chan group.  ReadWriteWeb asks a legitimate question: Maybe Twitter Trends Shouldn’t Be Entirely Automated?

If you wish to do your bit in avoiding spam, then there is good general advice available on Avoiding Twitter Spam.  If you suspect that a particular account is a spammer then you should report them to Spam Watch. 

Saying no to Spam is even easier if you use the TweetDeck platform and use their spam button.  With just one click, you can delete the message from view, block the user and report them to Twitter.

The tools for Avoiding Twitter Spammers are getting more effective all the time.  Firstly, you can use Topify to give you more information on your followers, that will allow you to more quickly identify potential spammers.  It is in beta at the moment so you will need to wait for an invite.  Once you get the invite, Topify will ask for your e-mail and make sure it is you, then give you a new e-mail via Topify to enter on your Twitter account.

A more precise tool to identify spammers is TwitChuck. You simply fill in the name of the person you are wondering about, and TwitChuck goes through a surprisingly detailed list to arrive at their spam grade.  Here is the information for bwelford:

Perhaps you should follow the TwitChuck recommendation and follow me.
I assure you TwitChuck has it right: I am not a spammer.

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