Archive for Twitter
12 Reasons Why I Refuse to Follow You On Twitter
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Tweeters fall into two camps:
- Those who follow everyone who follows them.
- Those who don’t.
I am in Camp #2. Once a week, I manually vet each new follower. I visit their profile and scan the first page of updates before deciding whether to follow them.
This week I collected 41 new followers, but I followed only seven of them in return. Here’s why:
1. No profile
When I’m deciding whether to follow you, the first thing I check out is your profile. If you’re too lazy to write 160 characters about yourself, why should I waste my time following you?
2. No avatar
The little tweety bird is a poor excuse for an avatar. I don’t care whether you use your company logo or a fuzzy picture of yourself. It’s not that hard to upload an image. Just do it!
3. Racy avatars
What’s with all the lingerie-clad woman who claim to be business executives? Exactly what business are they in?
4. Paranoid tweeters
Why protect your tweets when you’re in the world’s largest chat room? I don’t get that. Occasionally, I’ll follow real-life friends who publish private tweets. But only if I really, really like them.
5. Zeroes
Lots of people “squat” on a Twitter name and never, ever post a single tweet.
6. Prom queens and kings
These folks follow 10,000 others, have 10,000 followers, and one tweet. Twitter is not a popularity contest.
7. Automatons
Before I click “follow,” I skim your Twitter stream. If I see the identical automated tweet 20 times in a row, I click away. I have no problem with automated tweets or with repeated tweets, because different followers read your tweets at different times of the day. But 20 repeats? That’s overkill.
8. Get-rich-quickers
There must be a ton of people in Twitterville who fall for money-making schemes, because the get-rich-quickers appear to be taking over Twitter. Especially the ones who plaster dollar bills all over their profile background.
9. I’m just not into you
Lots of people who follow me tweet on topics about which I have absolutely no interest. It’s not that I don’t like you; your topic just isn’t relevant to me.
10. Drinkers
Some people constantly tweet about drinking, meeting for drinks, or getting drunk. Your drunken revelry doesn’t impress grownups.
11. Repliers
Some people spend all their time replying to others. Their replies consist of inane statements such as, “Me, too!” It especially irks me when repliers don’t provide context for the tweets they’re replying to.
12. Re-tweeters
These people can’t think of anything original to say, so they re-tweet everybody else’s tweets. Re-tweeting is fine, but we want to hear from you, too (unless you fall into one of the above 11 categories).
Several of my Twitter followers chimed in with their own gripes:
Pics or posts sexual in nature, “ads”, same tweet many times like on auto send…I prefer more “personal” tweets where people are relating.
If u only follow people but don’t tweet, if u mostly tweet commercials, if you are too political or extreme in any way.
- Following way more people than have followers, i.e. 1,000+ people with only 100 followers… (My take, the person is just looking to build followers.. Not interact. I prefer quality over quantity)
- Just tweet about personal information… I don’t mind if they humanize themselves with an occasional tweet about their personal life, but I really don’t want to know when someone goes to the bathroom.
- All about ME… No RTs or dialogue with others
- Get rich quick schemes, i.e. “Find out how I make $1,000 a day on the internet”
- All quotes – quotes in moderation are nice, but all quotes just says you have nothing to say yourself
- Foul language in every tweet
- Any female with a tweet that says “Come check out the pictures of me” (Porn)
How ‘bout you? Do you put limits on the tweeps you’ll follow?
When you comment, please include your Twitter handle. Hope you’ll follow me @bloggingbistro.
*Feel free to reprint this post on your own blog. I’ll be happy to e-mail you the HTML, so all you have to do is copy & paste, and the formatting will remain intact. If you reprint it, please include the following byline:
Laura Christianson, aka The Blogging Barista, owns Blogging Bistro (www.BloggingBistro.com), a Seattle-based social media marketing company.
Welcome, TwiTip Readers
Posted by: | CommentsAt the beginning of my workday, I read e-mail and update multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts for my clients and me.
I have a good-sized project due at the end of the workday, so I told myself, “I’ll quickly scan my Twitter stream, then shut ‘er down so I can focus on my deadline.”
I noticed an unusual number of re-tweets, and discovered that a guest article I’d submitted to TwiTip (owned by ProBlogger, Darren Rowse), was published today.
The post is titled, Get More Mileage Out of Your Blog Archives with Twitter Teasers.
Change of plans! I’ve been busy responding to comments, following new tweeps, and other Twitterly doings.
A big welcome to TwiTip fans; you’ll find lots more “how-to” posts about Twitter, blogging, and Facebook here on The Blogging Barista’s blog, along with reflections on branding, writing, and other business-related topics.
Hope you’ll stop by tomorrow, when I launch Survey Thursday, a weekly poll intended to keep the mood light and fun. Tomorrow you can weigh in on TV commercials you love to hate.
Now I really am shutting down all my social media and getting to work on that project that’s due in three hours!
The Rules for Running Business Have Changed. Are You Keeping Up?
Posted by: | CommentsI’m reading Small Is the New Big by Seth Godin – one of the most thought-provoking and entertaining business books I’ve read in ages.
The book’s premise: the rules for running a business have changed. The advent of social media particularly impacts the way we do business.
Whether you’re at the helm of a non-profit ministry, run a one-person business, or are the CEO of a mega corporation, acting big is no longer an advantage, asserts Seth. “If you want to be big, act small.”
In the coming weeks, I’ll post occasionally on what I’m learning about acting small. Today, I’ll kick things off by offering a series of “proverbs” Seth includes in the intro to his book. I invite you to ponder them and comment on one proverb that speaks loudest to you:
Consumers have more power than ever before.
Treating them like they don’t matter doesn’t work.
Multiple channels of information mean that it’s almost impossible to live a lie.
Authentic stories spread and last.
The ability to change fast is the single best asset in a world that’s changing fast.
Blogs matter. If you want to grow, you’ll need to touch the information-hungry, idea-sharing people who read (and write) them.
There are no side effects. Just effects.
Indulge short attention spans.
Aretha was right. Respect is the secret to success in dealing with people.
Do something that matters.
Twitter: Pointless Babble
Posted by: | CommentsA new study from Pear Analytics concludes that 40.5 percent of all Twitter updates are “pointless babble.”
And why do people act surprised that nearly half of all tweets are pointless babble?
Think about the conversations (online and offline) you have every day. What percentage of the following interactions would you characterize as pointless babble (be honest!):
- Text messages
- Phone calls
- Instant messages
- E-mails
- Social media (Facebook, blog commenting, etc.)
- Water cooler chat
- Meetings at work
- Conversations with your kids, significant other, and extended family members
I’d be willing to bet big money that at least 40 percent of all of the above interactions could be labeled “pointless babble.” Probably closer to 80 percent.
Literary agent Rachelle Gardner addresses a similar issue on her Rants & Ramblings blog.
How often have you:
- Plucked a highly-touted book from the best-seller list and hated it?
- Flipped 100 channels on your TV and been unable to find a single show with redeeming value?
- Rented an Oscar-winning DVD and wondered what drugs the Academy members were taking when they nominated the film?
- Shopped at Nordstrom and been appalled by the vast amounts of ugly, overpriced “fashionable” clothing they stock?
Value truly is in the eyes of the beholder, isn’t it?
I agree with Rachelle’s advice. She writes:
“Stop worrying about all those ‘awful books’ being published. People love them and are buying them, or they wouldn’t continue to be published. Keep writing what you write, and keep trying to find your audience.”
The same holds true for your Twitter updates.
Last week, someone I’m close to said to me:
“Twitter is stupid. I can’t believe anyone would waste their time on it.”
I took a deep breath, silently counted to 10, and let the comment go. This person doesn’t see the value of Twitter. So what? Millions of others do (despite the 40.5% of tweets packed with pointless babble).
If you like Twitter… or Facebook… or blogging… don’t let the gloom-and-doomers dampen your enthusiasm.
Instead, use their negativity as a motivator for improving what you publish:
- Revisit your archived tweets and blog posts. (Better yet, ask someone objective – someone who’s not afraid to be brutally honest with you – to look over your archives). Do your tweets offer value for your readers?
- If a high percentage of your tweets are pointless babble, set a goal to write one high-quality tweet per day for the next seven days. That’s doable.
- Give yourself permission to engage in some pointless babble. After all, Twitter is meant to be a social hangout; you can learn a lot about someone from their seemingly pointless babble.
People join Twitter because they’re looking to connect with others with similar interests. Or they’re looking to be entertained.
Your tweets aren’t going to appeal to everyone. But they will strike a chord with some folks. When you find tweeps who appreciate your quality content – and are willing to put up with some pointless babble – nurture relationships with those readers. You won’t be sorry.











