Oh the wonders and gloriousness of being followed on Twitter! It’s a tiny gift from the digital world
that keeps on giving. An invitation from those that you’ve never met, to share your deepest, darkest secrets and happenings (I know, sentence fragment, but it’s my blog!). But careful Twitter lovers, because violate any of these 9 Twitter laws and you’ll find yourself on an unfollow smackdown!
1. Under Tweet – If you don’t provide any value, what good are you? You’re just Twitter waste and taking up space. Don’t expect much of a following if you aren’t posting at least 1-2 times a day. It’s 140 characters people! It doesn’t get much easier!
2. Over Tweet – Just like under tweeting, too much and you’ll find yourself alone in the Twitterverse. Nobody cares about your Foursquare checkins and what you ate at The Olive Garden last night. Simmer down Captain Tweet McTweeterson.
3. Don’t Value Tweet – Striking the right balance on frequency is only part of the game. Like I said before, most people aren’t interested in knowing that burrito you ate gave you a belly ache. Provide value by sharing interesting articles and media you find online. Share a laugh or two. Save people time by sharing what you find.
4. Don’t Follow Back – If someone deems you follow worthy, shouldn’t they be granted the same courtesy? This one has proponents on both sides, but with new tools like Tweetdeck, Seesmic and Hootsuite, it’s easier then ever to organize who you follow so no need to be elitist here. Return the favor.
5. Conversation Tweets – Look, if you really want to have a back and forth conversation, use DM, email or IM. Don’t clog the streams with things like @name Thanks! or @name That was so funny!. Nobody else knows what you mean. It’s OK every once in awhile, but keep it up and you’ll only have each other!
6. Only Tweet Your Stuff – Self promotion is great and expected, but we can only take so much before you become a Me Monster. Pepper in some useful stuff that doesn’t involve you and people are much more likely to check your stuff out.
7. Auto DM – Now, this one I don’t personally care that much about, but lots of people do. Nobody wants to get some spammy auto DM from you with an affiliate link to some crappy “how to make a zillion dollars on the web” link. Be genuine, keep it clean, and save us from your ineffective marketing techniques.
8. Mafia Wars, Farmville, “Enter Crappy Web Game Here” – I don’t want to join your Mafia, I don’t want to build an online farm. Seriously people, one time is all you get. After that it’s banishment to unfollow land.
9. Re-tweet Your Tweets – Hey, if no one else did the first time around, chances are they won’t the second time. We all swing and miss once in awhile, just step back up to the plate and take another cut with something new.
What are some of your Twitter faux pas?
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Just yesterday I unfollowed someone who routinely sends as many as ten tweets in a row. Guess they don't know there are tools to handle that. (And no, it wasn't Guy K., I stopped following him long ago for many of the reasons you mention.)
Great that you posted this important info… Do you believe those who offend will read and change their behaviors? The private conversation on is really annoying. You believe the post to be generic only to be slapped around with a personal tweet saying it was in response…
Keep up the good work. I am a firm believer in tough love.
[tweet me at: jobsearch4execs]
Thanks for stopping by Rita. I don't necessarily think my blog post will change anyone's behavior, I'm small fries, but I like to think that maybe a few lost souls will change their ways!
Jason,
I agree with all of your points except #4. If everyone followed ALL the people that were following them, all that would be accomplished is Twitter becoming a popularity contest. I want people to follow me (@amandamiller) because they think I add something of value to their lives, NOT because I follow them. Likewise, I follow those that tweet insightful comments or have a good 'voice.'
Also, Rita has a good point, people that tweet 4+ tweets in a row have to be unfollowed immediately in my book.
Really great an insightful post, thanks Jason def going to follow your blogs
cheers Dean
I'd say that #10 would be Re-tweets, although it could also fall under the #2, Over Tweet. On my TweetDeck I'll get as many as 15 re-tweets in a row from someone new that I'll follow (and soon delete) about someone else's checkins and Olive Gardens, etc.
Many RTs (re-tweets) are like FWDs for the most part unless they're useful information like this article, which was a retweet.
Great post. I agree with the overtweeting being a nuisance. What makes it worse are too many tweets in a short time span. That's a red flag for me.
Thanks for the follow on Twitter btw.
Great post. I agree with the overtweeting being a nuisance. What makes it worse are too many tweets in a short time span. That's a red flag for me.
Thanks for the follow on Twitter btw.
I'm confused about the conversation tweets one – doesn't someone have to be following both parties to even see replies in their stream? What are odds? How many followers are two people having a conversation on twitter likely to have in common? Curious.
FOURSQUARE SPAM!! In fact, all “check-in” apps. I wish it would just go away. I don't mind when someone posts a comment with the check-in, but to post your location every 5 feet is just inconsiderate and it ruins Twitter.