Comments on: 12 Reasons Why I Refuse to Follow You On Twitter

By: Laura Christianson

Laura Christianson — Wed, 25 May 2011 19:39:00 +0000

Brooke – That is an extremely common occurrence on Twitter, as early in Twitter’s infancy, the “gurus” recommended that everyone send an auto DM welcome message. But people who were amassing a following quickly got irritated with those (I used to send them, too) and we stopped sending them.

I rarely receive these DMs anymore, but when I do, I also unfollow. Aggressive marketing in the “Thanks for the follow” DM hints that most of their tweets will be of the same nature.

By: Brooke Farmer

Brooke Farmer — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:31:00 +0000

If I do follow someone and then immediately get an auto DM telling me to check out their site, their book, their blog, their whatever, I click unfollow then and there. I get that Twitter is a place to market yourself. I certainly Tweet links to my blog. But this impersonal, aggressive self marketing is irritating and a huge turn off.

@brooke_farmer:twitter

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:52:43 +0000

James,

Reviewing new followers is a great idea. I’ve noticed that a substantial number of new followers to the accounts I manage are either spammers or get-rich-quickers. For this reason, I do NOT use an auto-follow system.

Mingling and learning is a fantastic way to begin on Twitter. You learn so much just by listening.

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:52:00 +0000

James,

Mingling and learning is a fantastic way to begin on Twitter. You learn so much just by listening.

By: James

James — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:09:25 +0000

I don’t automatically follow back, but I do still review every new follower.

The straight number builders will unfollow me within a week, it seems, so there’s some auto-regulation there.

I’m on twitter for a broad topic (food), but do follow a few eclectic people as well.

So far, I’m in “mingle” & “be yourself” mode & learning so much, so fast, it’s exciting.

By: James

James — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:09:00 +0000

I don’t automatically follow back, but I do still review every new follower.

The straight number builders will unfollow me within a week, it seems, so there’s some auto-regulation there.

I’m on twitter for a broad topic (food), but do follow a few eclectic people as well.

So far, I’m in “mingle” & “be yourself” mode & learning so much, so fast, it’s exciting.

By: Janet Barclay

Janet Barclay — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:02:44 +0000

Laura, I agree very much with Geoff. Tweeting to announce a blog post is expected, and in my case, that's how I know people have something new for me to read. (I had to stop subscribing to all but a few by RSS due to information overload.) But five tweets announcing the same post can be a bit annoying. And people who only tweet to advertise their products or services are just a step away from spammers, in my eyes. .-= Janet Barclay´s last blog ..Green Living =-.

By: Janet Barclay

Janet Barclay — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:02:00 +0000

By: Geoff

Geoff — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:39:39 +0000

Very quickly, because I’m on the way out the door, but I think self-promotion in itself is a good thing, as long as the self doing it has created a relationship with those they’re promoting to. You have to be in communication beyond your sales pitch to have that relationship. When I follow someone and they put out fifteen tweets in a row in very quick succession, all promotion products, I unfollow them fairly quickly. If I follow someone who responds to me occasionally, who occasionally says fun things, then promotes a page or product, I am much more willing to not only keep them around, but click on their links.

By: Geoff Hoff

Geoff Hoff — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:39:00 +0000