Image by HubSpot via FlickrWe’re all looking for filters to keep our inboxes, feed aggregators, and social media conversations uncluttered and meaningful. How do you determine whether to follow someone on Twitter? Here are my filtering mechanisms, many of which, not surprisingly, are content oriented -
- They use a generic or celebrity avatar
- They have 10 times as many follows as followers
- They pump out blatantly commercial tweets and nothing else
- They have barely any tweets at all
- Their bio is silly or calculatingly provocative
- Their tweets include lots of ALL CAPS and multiple exclamation points!!!
- They do nothing but retweet
- They have no website/blog (not always a deal killer)
How about you? What kind of follower are you?
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Brad,
Judging on the above, I see one key positive attribute which you appear to be looking for – twitterers who add something of real value.
I would imagine ‘twitterers’ (forgive me if that’s not a correct word) who fall into the above categories would display a general tendancy to be less likely to make a worthwhile contribution to your experience in using the platform. (Naturally, I am speaking in general and there are no doubt exceptions to the rule).
I particularly dislike the ‘caps lock’ practice to which you refer in point number six, a practice which I also despise on other platforms such as emails or blogs. I don’t know who spread the word that somehow correct grammar and punctuation should be disgarded in these types of platforms, but the practice does nothing to leave a positive impression upon readers.
Andrews last blog post..A little about my life in Korea (draft 2)
Amen! I also won’t follow someone who twitters almost entirely in “text-speak” with LOLs and “R U” and all those other lovely little abbreviations that make you sound like a telegraph instead of a person. Sure, in 140 characters there are times when you need to use an abbreviation, but if you do it ALL the time? Not interested!
–Debs last blog post..What IS an E-Book?
Andrew, The all caps issue has been a pet peeve of many since the inception of email. I CAN’T STAND IT!!!!!! (See- isn’t that irritating?)
Deb, You are so right. The 140 limitation can be a great discipline through which to hone writing skills. Won’t work if you take alphabet soup shortcuts.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..7-1/2 Reasons Why I Won’t Follow Someone on Twitter
Hi Brad Can I add another couple?
1 They are posing with few clothes on in the avatar ( usually quickly removed by Twitter to be fair – their site not their clothes!) and -without being too judgemental here –
2 their profile and stream have nothing at all in it that catches my interest. That second one is rare though – Twits/Twitterers are in the main a very interesting bunch!
Jackie Camerons last blog post..Taking time to notice what is around you
Wish I could work out why my pic does not show when I post here – after what I said about avatar’s in my comment..
Jackie Camerons last blog post..Taking time to notice what is around you
Hi Brad – I also look for ones that have way more followers than the number of people they’re following. It seems like a whole heap of people are joining Twitter, adding loads of people, then removing them after they’ve followed them back.
That said, it’s hard to keep up with. And I must admit, when I was away for Twitter for weeks, due to illness, I added a lot of people who were following me, without checking, just to save time.
Hi Jackie, Not sure why your avatar doesn’t show up – probably an easy fix … Your point about the avatars is a good one. It might be an effective technique for getting a one-time click, but not for long term social media relationships.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..7-1/2 Reasons Why I Won’t Follow Someone on Twitter
Hi Cath, Hope you are feeling better now. I didn’t know people are gaming Twitter by following-unfollowing. That is very misleading. Some of my best follows are through Twitter conversations and recommended follows from people I know. I should start doing that myself.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..7-1/2 Reasons Why I Won’t Follow Someone on Twitter
Depends what you are looking for in a Twitter relationship! BTW radio chat this morning here in the UK about using Twitter for the less salubrious side of social networking. Their view was that Twitter is not doing enough to be proactive in preventing this infiltration but in my experience some of my “followers” have disappeared – taken away somewhere nasty by Twitter moderators I hope – before I even get to checking their profile.
Jackie Camerons last blog post..Taking time to notice what is around you
Hi Brad, I tend to follow people based on conversations – either people who chip in to a conversation of mine, or people that friends of mine are talking to. I guess you’d call that a form of ‘social proof’?
The website/blogsite isn’t a clincher – lots of ‘real’ people don’t have a web presence after all – but does make it hard to assess people.
I’m quite happy to unfollow people if they bug me after I follow. Even people I like can be annoying on Twitter. I’m sure I must annoy some people too, so I’d say I was relaxed about unfollowing (unless it was by people like you or Robert!)
Joanna Youngs last blog post..Introducing the Theme for March: Community
Can I also add that I won’t follow
1. Someone if they have 50000 followers but only follow 500. Reeks of arrogance?
2. If it is purely commercial and zero ambient intimacy then verges on spam
3. ALL personal and no ‘other’ value, then it is boring
All in all I don’t think I want to head to the thousands – rather 100s – but quality.
D
Denniss last blog post..What to do when you get laid off?
Joanna, Your approach makes sense, but how do you manage to keep engaged in so many conversations? I always seemed to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of chatter; how does one zero in on specific conversations and people? (Maybe that would be a good blog post for you this month.)
Dennis, True – people who are that selective in following are telegraphing something that doesn’t sit well with me, either. When I first joined Twitter, I thought 50 follows/followers would overwhelm me. Now I have 700+. What’s the quality – quantity threshold? Good question, and I like the way you are thinking about it.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..7-1/2 Reasons Why I Won’t Follow Someone on Twitter
Hi Brad, in the last few months I started using auto follow (but not auto dm) and auto unfollow so tend to only unfollow if the content is offensive or distasteful. I used to screen first but Twitter has gotten so good about catching spammers that I no longer have to worry and the auto unfollow automatically takes care of those who follow for numbers and then immediately unfollow. I just found it a time saver to automate the front end and I have only had to manually unfollow one person, so I am a tweeter with no standards. lol!
Karen Swims last blog post..In Celebration of Reading and Writing
Hi Karen, The thought of unfollowing someone hasn’t really occurred to me … until this post. Every Twitter Tree needs some pruning.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..7-1/2 Reasons Why I Won’t Follow Someone on Twitter
Some people will adamantly say that you need to follow everyone and anyone! But I disagree… I think that’s it’s definitely ok to filter the people the connect with across various networks. When it comes to Twitter, I’ll choose to “not” follow someone for many of the reasons you listed above.
Ricardo Buenos last blog post..Start Early!
Hi Ricardo, It seems more reasonable to follow everyone on Twitter than to be ultra selective, but yes, I don’t see the point of 10,000 follows. (Maybe there is no point to Twitter, in a business sense?)
Brad Shorrs last blog post..7-1/2 Reasons Why I Won’t Follow Someone on Twitter
Hi Brad and great list over here! I’d add that I’m inclined not to follow people that don’t seem to interact: no replies or retweets whatsoever.
Alina Popescus last blog post..Can Twitter create real value for your business?
Hi Alina, Whoa, that’s a good point about no interactions. How did I miss that? Thanks for bringing it up!
Hi That’s a very interesting point to bring up about tweeter. Thanks!
Regards,
Dan
Great conversation. I found using a reader (like TweetDeck) helps keep various conversations in context. So different ‘social’ circles start showing up as different threads. I am a bit uncomfortable with the folks who seem to follow me simply to try and pump up their own numbers. I followed a few, but the comments seemed to be focused on… pumping up your numbers. Not much of interest there.
Fred H Schlegels last blog post..orangesphotodisc.jpg
Hi Fred, Thanks for visiting and commenting! TweetDeck is a fabulous tool, which lately I feel I am grossly under utilizing. What do you suppose is the end game of Twitterers who are obsessed with pumping up the numbers? I don’t quite get it.
BTW, like your blog – just subscribed!
Brad Shorrs last blog post..25 Writers Who Are Shaping My World
I assume it will be the same as with email and facebook… the schemers continue to exist and we have to adopt tools and filters to pretend they don’t.
Thanks for the kind words and subscribing. I appreciate it. I’ve been enjoying your writing as well.
Fred H Schlegels last blog post..orangesphotodisc.jpg