[This is Part Five of my Twitter Tips series.]
I don’t believe it makes sense to automatically follow everyone back on Twitter. I like to stay in touch with the people I follow. That means if I follow you, then I’m going to see your tweets. I’m not going to pretend to follow 2000 people, but in reality only read the tweets of 100 virtual friends I’ve put on a private list.
Here’s how I decide whether or not to follow someone on Twitter. (NOTE: I follow plenty of people I respect and admire who do not follow me back. That’s just how it is on Twitter. Nothing here or in the land of Twitter should be taken too personally.)
I AUTOMATICALLY FOLLOW YOU IF:
You write a blog I love, and I don’t want to miss your latest posts. (I use Twitter for this rather than subscriptions, Google Reader, or RSS feeds.)
Your tweets are consistently informative or entertaining.
Your tweets consistently include links to content that is informative or entertaining.
We’ve had a conversation or two back and forth on Twitter, or on my blog, and you don’t commit any of the Twitter crimes discussed below.
I WILL NOT FOLLOW BACK OR I’LL EVENTUALLY UNFOLLOW IF:
You tweet AT people. If I see numerous similar tweets in a row about your book or blog post only with different @names thrown on the end or in front, then it’s a no-go for me. Those kind of tweets look like this: “Visit the Blahblah Blog for my post on characterization @kdkdknei @xyzpru!” That’s a VERY spammy way to tweet. Many of us on Twitter blog or write creatively. If we all tweeted our posts and publications AT specific people, it’d be one big commercial out there.
Your bio says “Buy my novel” “Read my first chapter on Kindle” or some other version of those phrases. I find the expression “Check out my ____” especially egregious. Nine out of ten times a bio like that indicates a barrage of tweets about your book.
You send me a direct message or tweet AT me with a link to your novel or Facebook fan page while providing no evidence whatsoever that you’ve seen my blog, my short stories, or know anything about me at all. Guess what? I write too. Show that you’ve shown any interest in me before you ask me to “check you out.”
You tweet about yourself too often.
You send out tons of tweets to articles you clearly haven’t read since they’re completely random, or when I’ve clicked on those articles, they’re terrible. (People using Triberr are the most guilty of this, which is why I won’t use Triberr.)
You’re guilty of endless and meaningless lists of #WW (writer Wednesday), #FF (Friday Follow), as well as endless tweets thanking others for RTs (PLEASE write those as @mentions, not regular tweets), and tweets thanking people for following you. See my post, “The Twitter Thanking Crisis” for more on what I consider overkill as well as disingenuous gratitude. The 500 people following you do not need to see you thank one person.
Most of yours tweet lead to Pinterest and Facebook.
Every tweet is a link to a post about characterization, point-of-view, writing query letters, etc. Mix it up. There’s only so much anyone wants to read about writing.
THE TWITTER BEHAVIOR BELOW GIVES ME PAUSE: (Meaning, it’s not an automatic unfollow, but it makes me crabby, and I’ll probably unfollow eventually.)
You tweet non-stop, which takes over the Twitter stream.
Too many inspirational quotes from the Bible, Anne Frank, Shakespeare, or anyone.
Too many CNN links or other RTs from news outlets. If I want to follow CNN, I will.
You never RT anyone else. Each tweet is an 140-character musing on your life, or a link to your blog, or self-pubbed book. (Sorry to pick on the self-published group, but those folks overdo the “read my first chapter on Smashwords and Amazon” more than anyone.)
FELLOW TWITTER USERS: What do you think? Am I an enormous crab apple or do you agree with some of my “rules?” What drives you to follow someone or not?
Image by eldh via Flickr
Nina (@NinaBadzin)
Latest posts by Nina (@NinaBadzin) (see all)
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Welcome! I am a freelance writer living in Minneapolis with my husband and four children. My essays on parenting, social media etiquette, improving my habits, Jewish life and more appear in the Huffington Post, Kveller.com, The Jewish Daily Forward and elsewhere. I'm glad you found your way here!
Nina,
I feel so honored!!
Because you’ve retweeted some of my stuff or favorited some of my tweets. Thank you! I love this post, and will need to devote some time over the coming weeks to read the rest of your series. I couldn’t agree with you more, and you’ve left me with nothing else to add.
Great post!
Shari
This makes me feel so much better! I don’t follow people back unless I’m interested in what they have to say, so that leaves out a lot of people. I thought I just didn’t get the #WW and #FF thing. Glad I’m not alone. I’m not going to follow someone just because someone else put their name in a tweet. I’d need a reason. And I remember being told that I’m supposed to thank people for following me and thank them for retweeting. But, I honestly just always forget. I don’t feel so bad about that now. What I really like is the interaction on Twitter. It’s almost like texting. So I’m disappointed when I see I have a mention or reply and it just says thanks for the RT or follow or whatever. Such a let down. I know I don’t care if someone thanks me. Posting something good is all the thanks I need. You’ve made me feel like less of a jerk. So, thanks. It’s actually sincere, though.
I agree completely, especially about the endless #FF & #WW etc. That’s why I started doing #follow instead. I can do it a couple times a week and use it to really highlight the special people in my network in a positive and sincere fashion. That and I love coming up with unique ways to describe why someone should follow someone in my network.
Great list and good to know how you think!
You are always full of such sage advice when it comes to Twitter, Nina. This post does not fail! Thank you for shedding some light on some glitches in my social media system. You should seriously get paid for this. : )
Wonderful advice! I have my pet peeves, too, and you mentioned them here.
[...] = ''; } How NOT to Network on Twitter: 5 Common Pitfalls and how to Avoid ThemWhy I Follow You on Twitter (and Why I Don’t) – Nina Badzin's BlogHow NOT to Network on Twitter: 5 Common Pitfalls and how to Avoid ThemWhy I Follow You on [...]
I love your twitter tips.
And I guess I”m doing all right since I’ve only been in twitter jail once.
That was kinda fun, though..
A bit of the bad girl days came back with that one.
I love your twitter series.
Congrats on your baby boy!!!!!!!
Off to catch up on your recent posts. How time gets away from me…
[...] liked because some of the tips touch on some of my peeves with Twitter. I think part 4 and part 5 were ones that I agreed with the [...]
Nina:
As you know, I just found you today via Julie Gardner. I am pretty new to Twitter (here since May), and I kind of hate it. I have been writing forever, blogging for 18 months.
I “joined” the Twitterverse and I begrudgingly go on Tweet Deck times a week. I try to tweet about the things I really like, so I feel really good about the content that I tweet about. That said, I’m still a newbie. I didn’t know that if you put someone’s @NAME first that the post would only be seen by people who follow both of you. How would I know this? For some reason, Twitter is not intuitive for me. I just got an iPad and it makes tweeting so much easier!
I love your blog already. I hope maybe we can figure some way to collaborate in the future. But I know your two hands are kind of full right now.
Thank you for these great tips.
Now I won’t feel so awful when I don’t do the whole #FF and #WW anymore. Feh!
I love crab apple-ish people, so I might not be the best judge. But as a “newbie” this post is very helpful. I’m going to go hunt around on your blog to find info on how best get started without being an irritant!
I’m relatively new to you and very new to Twitter, so I really appreciated your do’s and don’ts (even though they are just your preference). This whole social media stuff is overwhelming at times. I’m a life coach who knows how to do her job quite nicely. The web stuff is a new addition that’s zapping my brain. So, thank you for helpful Twitter hints. And, if I’m lucky, you’ll follow me
.
Hi! I tried to look up your twitter account from the link on your blog but it came up as error page! What’s your twitter handle?
[...] Mah Jongg with this woman. Seriously, I loved Nina’s writing voice right away. She explained Why She Might (Or Might Not) Follow Me On Twitter and Why Marriage Needs To Come Before The Kids. She even told me about Why I Needed To Eat Her [...]
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Hi Nina! Came to this post from El’s blog, and I love it! I completely agree with all of your points. Although it made me paranoid until I double-checked and saw you were following me on Twitter, so I think I’m in the safe zone. LOL!
I’m really terrible about keeping up with my FB wall and Twitter feed (which I was just talking about on El’s latest post), so I really only announce my latest blog posts!
hi! So, normally only blasting your latest posts would be a no-no since it makes Twitter less “social” media and a bit ME ME ME. But, I use Twitter kind of like people use Google Reader so for me it works and I like to know when you’ve posted.
I love your list! I’ve also developed some of my own rules of engagement as it were and have been experimenting with the follow back. My thought is if someone follows me and their profile isn’t automatically spammy (ie some of what you identified), I’ll give the benefit of the doubt by following them back. But in order to get listed, they have to engage with me or provide content I find worthwhile. I also have a twitter paper that very special people who regularly tweet great content. I periodically clean up my followers/following to eliminate people who are too spammy or break the rules you mention (or just annoy me). I generally will give one opportunity to make a mistake, I’ve even sent twitter tips to people in the hopes they will “see the light”. Twitter is new for many people and I like helping people learn how to use it better. We all started somewhere right? Of course, this may be more generosity and time than others are willing to give, and I understand that. But I love to help others and I do social media for a living so I’m also a twitter junky! In fact I prefer it over almost any other social media now. The others have their benefits but Twitter has been more enduring for me whereas Facebook regularly falls out of favor with me due to their privacy changes and heavy focus on commercializing the site at the expense of the end user. I haven’t gotten into Pinterest simply because I prefer to focus on what works for me best. I’m familiar with it – just not overly enamored with it at this point.
Great series! I love seeing all of your insight!
I help people too! (though it’s not always welcome). So many people don’t know the difference between starting a tweet with @ or not. So they think they’re doing someone a favor by tweeting a link but they’re really not. That one is awkward . . . because when I help I guess I’m always subtly asking them to tweet it again the right way!
Hi Nina! I mentioned you and this link in my post today. Thanks to Renee Schuls-Jacobson, who added your link to Amber West’s 6-18 post about Twitter. Your 5-part series is extremely helpful. Thanks so much!
Thank you! I really appreciate it! I wish I had MY posts back when I first started.
Nina, I’d like to add that I don’t follow people who I’m not sure aren’t porn stars or who tweet in another language. I’m slightly freaked out by those news follows as I’m not sure how they found me or what they want with me!
YES!!! So true.
I’ve definitely committed some of the Twitter crimes you describe. However, despite my sometimes tactless Tweeting, I am very quick to get irritated by annoying Tweeters. My biggest Twitter-related pet peeve is people who constantly Tweet that they entered such and such giveaway to win a (insert useless piece of overpriced garbage here). Is it really worth getting that extra entry into the contest if it means you have to irritate your entire Twitter following?
Yes! That is the PERFECT example of annoying stuff, but it doesn’t bother me as much as some other stuff. Good call though!
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Well, I’m not a tweeter, but I’m sure I will be one day. Your list is helpful. I appreciate your direct approach. PS. I was introduced to you by Renee from her interview with the Byronic Man. I enjoyed your post.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Yes, if I’m known for anything it is for sure my DIRECT approach.
If you ever enter the land of Twitter, I’m happy to help.
Thank you, Nina! I’ll definitely keep this in mind. I’m busy in the blogging world and don’t feel like I can take on Twitter. I know they can complement each other, but sometimes it all feels like too much. So, I really value the direct approach. It makes perfect sense to me. – Amy
As a fairly new Twitter user, I couldn’t have stumbled across this article at a better time. For some reason, out of all of the social platforms, Twitter is the one that I can’t grasp right away. Thanks for helping me take a step towards overcoming my Twitterphobia!
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Hey Jessie! Sorry for the delay in responding to this. Just wanted to thank you for the nice comment. I’m so glad the Twitter posts have helped. If you have other questions, let me know. It takes EVERYONE time to get used to the lingo, etc. You’re not alone!