After gaining an overwhelming amount of new twitter followers on Monday, I found out that I had been named as a “Tit-for-Tat contact” by Mike Johnson aka TheBusyBrain. He posted a blog, http://bit.ly/TwitterFollowers, titled How I Got Over 600 NEW Twitter Followers in 24 Hours. He claimed to “…have gone through lists of other high-profile blogging / internet contacts on Twitter, following and pruning my contact list until I have a high percentage of the “Tit-for-Tat” people that will follow you if you follow them!” He then advises his readers to be courteous by continuing to follow their new followers.
It seems @thebusybrain wrote this from an angle of trying to help. He sees Twitter as a marketing tool, as many do, and found a way to maximize its use. I believe he was sharing what he thought was useful information. I can’t fault him for that nor can I get angry. Of course some people did and left rude comments but that’s par for the course on the internet. (See my previous post about comments.)
However, this whole idea has left me feeling a bit uneasy. Yes, I follow back everyone who follows me. Just like I accept every friend request on MySpace and Facebook. I feel that is the polite thing to do. If you, for whatever reason, take the time and effort to follow me then I want to return the favor. But, I also want to read all my followers tweets and have conversations with them. I have gotten to know some really cool people through Twitter. Unfortunately, now I have a whole bunch of new followers that could care less about me and are just hoping I’ll check out their stuff. And those people are clogging up my twitter feed.
I do see the benefits of using any social networking site for marketing. That’s just not how I use them and I don’t really like those who use them as a one-way street. Instead of a… hey look at me attitude, I’d prefer those with a… hey I’ll check out your stuff if you check out mine.
For the record, I did follow back all my new followers. But, I will be paying close attention to those who are actually interested in having a conversation and getting to know each other. Then I will start pruning back the list.
11 responses so far ↓
1 andrew seely // Oct 21, 2008 at 3:57 pm
great post Sarah
is this the beginning of the downfall of twitter?
a move from social network to marketing?
hopefully twitter will largely remain community based…
2 sarahatwood // Oct 21, 2008 at 4:00 pm
This can’t bring down Twitter! Not even Twitter down time can bring down Twitter.
Those of us who use it for its interactivity will continue to use it and we will push out those who have become spammers.
3 the slackmistress // Oct 21, 2008 at 4:27 pm
*applause*
4 Justin Dickinson // Oct 21, 2008 at 4:35 pm
good point Sarah! I found a web site that clarifies this conversation best:
http://www.howtousetwitterformarketingandpr.com/
5 David M. // Oct 21, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Great post Sarah! When I began on Twitter, I just hung out, found some top users, local users, searched key words, etc and just quietly noob tweeted.
I understand what he’s saying and offering, but it’s Patent medicine for new or frustrated users. In the short term people may be instantly rewarded with loads of followers and feel quite satisfied, but you raise a great point. The all-around clutter would be extreme. I’d hate for some of the newbies to leave after a few weeks with a bad taste for Twitter and I’d hate for the barraged and harried “Twitterati” or Twitter elite to shut down. I’d also hate to see Failey teh Whale every two hours!
6 Sterling // Oct 21, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Well said Sarah.
@Justin Dickinson – LOL at your link!
7 TheBusyBrain // Oct 21, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Tag = Internet Annoyance <-= Many would agree!
As do I! And I’m sorry!
Please see my official apologies to all who were inconvenienced. http://bit.ly/apology
8 TheBusyBrain // Oct 21, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Justin Dickinson – That’s Funny!
It’s also funny that the page has Google Analytics tracking the stats! Looks like someone else cares about hit numbers and statistics as well!
Ironic considering the site’s sole intent!
Still Funny!
9 Jimmy Rogers // Oct 21, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I think I disagree with the basic premise of how following should work. While I have a ton of friends online since I started blogging, I actually want to read all the tweets that come to me. A lot of the people I meet have REALLY boring twitter feeds and consequently I don’t follow them. Twitter really is a blogging platform first and THEN a social network, right? If that’s the case then just follow who you actually want to read.
I have been feeling conflicted about this because as I’m actually gaining followers, I’m wondering if I really should be hitting all these people back. I think it just comes down to the fact that I only want to take in the best tweeters or the most interesting people, regardless of whether it’s polite or not. It’s a service first to me.
Also, I agree that people who actually interact with you are the best people to follow in return because it IS a social network then. Oh and I think everybody should always turn on “see all @replies from everyone.” That’s one thing I’d like to see opt-out, not opt-in.
Wow, long comment, sorry for taking up your space Sarah!
Jimmy
twitter.com/loyaleagle
10 Matthew Morse // Oct 27, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Another well said and respectfully written post, Sarah. I think that is why you do have so many quality followers… quality tends to follow quality…. and should always come before quantity. Does that qualify?
As always, thanks for your contributions to the conversation and I hope you receive the same in return from us!
All the best,
M@
11 How I got over 600 NEW Twitter Followers in 24 hours - Let me help you! | TheBusyBrain Blog! // Nov 10, 2008 at 6:04 pm
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