“Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO!
Posted under: One of the biggest misconceptions, in my opinion, about Twitter, is the fact that you should follow back everyone that follows you. Worse than that is to use one of those services that does it for you and DMs people back with auto-DMs.
And why shouldn’t you follow back everyone that follows you?
For two simple reasons:
1) In order to keep your mental health
2) Because you will end up unfollowing, most of them, any way.
Here is why:
Users follow you because of your content. That is what is called to every message you send. Actually it is called a Tweet™ but since Twitter™ is going to trademark the word Tweet™ I am not going to use it.
The last thing I want is trouble with @ev, @biz, or @delbius. Specially with @delbius. (If you don’t know what I am talking about, read this)
(Who would want to trademark the word Tweet™? Are they planning to name a planet after it? “That used to be Mars but now it is called Planet Tweet because we can!”?!?!)
Anyway…
So you send content. Whatever content that is: about technology, your cat, the fights with your boyfriend/girlfriend/boss/alien, your favorite TV shows, technology, arts, your personal hatred towards Wall-E.
The beauty of Twitter™ is that you will always have an audience interested in the subject you talk about and, they will find and follow you, in order to read what you have to say, about the best way to tie up your girlfriend the traditional Japanese… errr.. I mean Navy Knots or whatever you Tweet™ about.
And now I want you to think with me. Sit down. Ready? Here we go!
1. You tweet about Navy knots (and maybe how to tie your girlfriend the Japanese way). It is your passion and something you consider yourself really good at. Please don’t ever say you are an expert or guru. Being good at it is good enough.
2. You follow like minded Tweetps like you (maybe I will apply for the trademark of Tweetps) , with the same passion for Navy Knots. You also follow the random Japanese girl just out of scientific curiosity. This is your “Following” base.
You interact with them, you answer to the questions that appear on your mentions board, all in all you are doing everything you should do to have a great Twitter experience collecting and dispersing knowledge all around you.
3. Now, imagine that some guy from Utah finds you on Twitter. He thinks to himself: “Navy knots? This could come handy for tying up me horses”. Point click. And you have one more follower.
Here is where the the path gets divided.
a) You decide to follow him, just out of courtesy.
Suddenly your time line will start to be invaded with content about horses, fertilizer , crops, Mormons, the Moab Jeep Safari,The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and horses. Lots of horses. And fertilizer.
Something starts to stink on your once Navy Knot’s dedicated timeline. And it is not the fish that you caught last time you went fishing out on the Atlantic Ocean. You will click that unfollow button before the next crop comes in, believe me.
b) You don’t follow him but you are always ready to answer his questions how to better use a certain Navy Knot even if you never thought it could be applied to horses. (The truth is, you think that the guy from Utah uses the horse as a metaphor for Japanese girls).
With option a) you will get distracted and sometimes furious. Now imagine that multiplied by hundreds of followers.
With option b) you will still be of help to your followers but your timeline will be clean, literally.
So, keep it simple and don’t worry about not following all of those that follow you. But also make sure you check the timeline of your new followers and see what they are tweeting about before you make the decision.
You never know if you don’t find a new way to tie up your girlfriend.
Follow me on Twitter and tell me what you thought about this post. Or leave a comment please.
Great post, I tend to agree. The only thing I do is follow almost anybody that engages in conversation as opposed to just tweeting their own deep thoughts without ever engaging. Then with an app, I have the stream of those I really pay attention to, and then the great stream of people I don’t follow as closely, but dip into from time to time and find interesting things going on. And if the person is interesting enough, they get moved into the other stream. Nice thought-provoking post, though. The worst thing you can do is follow back everyone that follows you!
I agree 100%. The 3rd solution is: do not read the timeline, just read the mentions when you are online.
Hello dahlink,
I love your rationale, I truly do. I actually do follow everyone back, via use of an app, but I have a lot of followers and find it the best use of my time. That very same app blocks ALL auto DMs, so I am spared that nonsense. I review daily reports of new follows and use that report to weed out losers, checking their stream, reporting/blocking spammers, etc. Then, I later go in, using a different app, and routinely weed out people with inactive accounts and just do “spring cleaning.” My system – not right for everyone but it works for me and helps use time more efficiently. I also find that following all back exposes me to lots of really interesting people that I might have otherwise made a hasty judgment about had I ‘weeded them out’ before giving them a chance.
That said, I have no problem with your rationale – it makes perfect sense to me. The beauty of something like Twitter (gah, do I have to insert the TM symbol every time now??) is that there isn’t really a right or a wrong way to do something like this – only the way that works for you.
I don’t make a practice of following everyone who follows me. I always check my “following” page to see who’s following me now, then I check my followers’ pages to see if they interest me. If they do, I follow. If they don’t, I don’t. I never follow spammers, for instance, though I do sometimes follow Internet marketers and “social media” types if I find them interesting (usually informative). But then, I tend to go out of my way to find interesting “tweeps” to follow.
[...] This post was Twitted by ifine [...]
Obrigada pelo excelente texto, infelizmente (e confesso) eu acho que deveria ter feito mais caso ao texto…:-P
Hoje tive um caso do ponto 3A: A cortesia,afinal pelo bio e pelo que havia lido, parecia que seria interessante só não ví que o cara estava dando FF em todos os seus 3876 seguidores…quase tive um surto psicótico…tomou um block sem dó….
Terei em conta tuas dicas!!!Sem falta!
For those of us with highly varied interests and ways to manage information overload, I’m not sure I agree. But, most of the time and definitely for people unfamiliar with Twitter, your suggestions ring true to me.
Thanks! – Bob
[...] Retalhos da Vida de um Geek Snipets of a Geek's Life by @fjfonseca (on Twitter) AboutFollow Friday « “Follow me and I will follow you back”? Hell NO! [...]
I still follow back everyone adn give them a chance.. IF they post way way too much (which I post alot so it is more than my posting ) then I either unfollow or just wait it out and see how much is useful.
If they are liek a few that spam continually and never post anything new, then I might try a question or two to engage and if they don’t’ unfollow. If they are pornsters – they are gone.
I figure I needed and received a fair shake but then I am ECLECTIC. I have writings and friends and lots of life interests. VARIETY sooooo… a clean timeline and I would NEVER get along.
#FreeMediaVE @VVlibre Eso es un error. A leer esto porfa (: http://bit.ly/G5kLz
RT @A4F #FreeMediaVE @VVlibre Eso es un error. A leer esto porfa (: http://bit.ly/G5kLz
@amirmasud I wrote something about this subject. It’s here if you care to read it: http://tr.im/ATo9
Hilarious! An eloquent argument for no auto follow
Eloquent argument about no-auto follow…@fjfonseca http://tr.im/ATo9 ; it’s the other side of the coin
#TwitterTips "“Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO!" http://tr.im/JxZf
sooo true @fjfonseca: #TwitterTips "“Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO!" http://tr.im/JxZf
So much sense: RT @fjfonseca: #TwitterTips "“Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO!" http://tr.im/JxZf
RT @fjfonseca: #TwitterTips "“Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO!" http://tr.im/JxZf #Twitter™ #Tweet™ #Tweetps™ #loveit™
RT @fjfonseca: #TwitterTips "“Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO!" http://tr.im/JxZf
"Follow Me and I will Follow you Back!" Hell No!!! – A old rant at #thezargon: http://tr.im/MAbf
RT @fjfonseca: "Follow Me and I will Follow you Back!" Hell No!!! – A old rant at #thezargon: http://tr.im/MAbf – i totally agree!
@twitter_tips Cheers! This is the post I was talking about: http://bit.ly/d5gqDj
[...] what should YOU do? All I can say is, remember Twitter Rule #1 Also, here’s a related view on auto-following from the very helpful Fernando Fonseca (@fjfonseca on [...]
Totally agree – I’ve never auto-followed and I also don’t AutoDM. I prefer to send a manual DM. Admittedly this may take a while longer but I’ll have ‘engaged’ with my followers rather than just left it to automation. I’ll know who I’m following and have at least looked at their Twitter page, their tweets and maybe their website too.
While my Twitter stream may not be totally dedicated to ‘Navy Knots’ I have a variety of interests and interesting and unexpected things come from the people I follow. I’ll also find them from other people’s Twitter stream.
[#Twitter] Follow me and I will Follow you back? Hell no! – http://bit.ly/b17Ojo
RT @fjfonseca: [#Twitter] Follow me and I will Follow you back? Hell no! – http://bit.ly/b17Ojo
@fjfonseca that 3d point works for me
Thanks for posting this: http://bit.ly/b17Ojo
agree, people follow for the content or should RT @fjfonseca: [#Twitter] Follow me and I will Follow you back? Hell no! http://bit.ly/b17Ojo
RT @fjfonseca: [#Twitter] Follow me and I will Follow you back? Hell no! – http://bit.ly/b17Ojo
[#Twitter] Follow me and I will Follow you back? Hell no! http://bit.ly/b17Ojo
[#Twitter] Follow me and I will Follow you back? Hell no! http://bit.ly/b17Ojo via @fjfonseca
RT @ruhanirabin: [#Twitter] Follow me and I will Follow you back? Hell no! http://bit.ly/b17Ojo // Totally agree
RT @fjfonseca: [#Twitter] Follow me and I will Follow you back? Hell no! – http://bit.ly/b17Ojo
[#Twitter] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE
totally agree RT @fjfonseca: [#Twitter] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE
RT @sbtrmnl: totally agree RT @fjfonseca: [#Twitter] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE
Just don't get the Wall-E ref. I like him
RT @fjfonseca: [#Twitter] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE
RT @fjfonseca: [#Twitter] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE
[#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
RT @fjfonseca: [#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
[#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
RT @fjfonseca: [#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
RT @fjfonseca-[#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #t… http://bit.ly/d6nBNR
RT @fjfonseca-[#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #t… http://bit.ly/98rIJb
RT @fjfonseca: [#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
[#Twitter] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/eCZRk7 #Twitter101 #TwitterTips
http://bit.ly/G5kLz – “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO!
RT @fjfonseca: [#Twitter] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/eCZRk7 #Twitter101 #TwitterTips
[#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
[#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
RT @fjfonseca: [#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
[#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
RT @fjfonseca: [#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
RT @PauloQuerido: RT @fjfonseca: [#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twit …
[#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
RT @fjfonseca: [#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101
[#SocialMedia] “Follow me and I will Follow you Back”? Hell NO! http://bit.ly/bErZXE #twittertips #twitter101