Toward A No-Bullshit Twitter Manifesto

Posted: March 21st, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Media And Advertising | 12 Comments »

follow-fashion-monkeysThe world of Twitter is quickly being divided into two camps:

a) Those who use it as a tool to have genuine conversations with other human beings who they either actually know, or want to know.

b) Those who use it to gain as many followers as possible, period.

When asking myself whether or not I want to follow someone new, the main question I ask myself is: Are they type A, or type B? And if I think the answer is Type B, I don’t follow them.

It seems to me that there should be a simple set of rules to help Type A tweeters make the distinction. I’d like to suggest that the first rule is:

1. I’m not interested in following someone who is following over 1,000 other people.

(Note: It’s possible I’m not currently obeying this rule myself.)

Any other suggestions?

image by Kopper

  • http://www.misspinkkate.com MissPinkKate

    I’m not interested in following someone whose Tweets consists of more than 50% links to their own blog.

  • http://herebox.org mike

    Anyone who averages more than one tweet per day gets mobile delivery turned off. Since mobile delivery is all I check, this effectively mutes the sender.

  • http://herebox.org mike

    Anyone who averages more than one tweet per day gets mobile delivery turned off. Since mobile delivery is all I check, this effectively mutes the sender.

  • http://richzeroth.blogspot.com/ rich z

    I'm not interested in following someone whose tweets are not interesting and/or entertaining. Methinks you're overcomplicating things.

  • http://richzeroth.blogspot.com/ rich z

    I'm not interested in following someone whose tweets are not interesting and/or entertaining. Methinks you're overcomplicating things.

  • http://mediamandible.com/ miconian

    Rich, that's fine, if you aren't interested in gaining followers yourself. But the fact that you tweet at all, and that your tweets are public, implies a certain amount of interest in self-promotion. Are you going around following everyone you find, in the hope they follow you back? Do you sometimes find yourself following someone back who has followed you, just out of some mixture of curiosity and courtesy? Some tweeters are casual, some have a concerted agenda, some have an agenda that is parasitic and anti-social. The rules are still being written, but a time will come when there will be a much clearer and broader idea of Twitter etiquette.

  • http://mediamandible.com/ miconian

    Rich, that's fine, if you aren't interested in gaining followers yourself. But the fact that you tweet at all, and that your tweets are public, implies a certain amount of interest in self-promotion. Are you going around following everyone you find, in the hope they follow you back? Do you sometimes find yourself following someone back who has followed you, just out of some mixture of curiosity and courtesy? Some tweeters are casual, some have a concerted agenda, some have an agenda that is parasitic and anti-social. The rules are still being written, but a time will come when there will be a much clearer and broader idea of Twitter etiquette.

  • http://richzeroth.blogspot.com/ rich z

    But wouldn't you agree that more than simply gaining followers in sheer numbers the ultimate goal of the self-promotion side is establishing a passionate and loyal community of followers? I think the best way to do that is to establish a reputation an entertaining and/or informative tweeter.

  • http://richzeroth.blogspot.com/ rich z

    But wouldn't you agree that more than simply gaining followers in sheer numbers the ultimate goal of the self-promotion side is establishing a passionate and loyal community of followers? I think the best way to do that is to establish a reputation an entertaining and/or informative tweeter.

  • http://mediamandible.com/ miconian

    I agree that's what the goal *should* be. But in many cases, the person doing the self-promoting simply isn't thinking it through that well.

  • http://mediamandible.com/ miconian

    I agree that's what the goal *should* be. But in many cases, the person doing the self-promoting simply isn't thinking it through that well.

  • Paula

    A rule that I abide by when considering who to follow is the ratio of followers vs follows. That usually helps as an indicator to type A or B twitters.

    Type B would be a person who follows way many more people then they have followers. Type A is the converse.