Twitter Image

It’s no surprise to many that I’m a big fan of Twitter. However I’ve only been using it for a relatively short space of time. I signed up with an account at the end of the Summer last year, but only properly started using it about 8 months ago. Generally, I find it to be a fantastic tool for sending little messages, random little thoughts I have through the day. and promoting things that I do or have going on.

In the early days I used to follow all and sundry, thinking that it’s just ‘the done thing’. But that’s not always the case. Recently (as in for the last 4-6 months) I’ve been a little more choosy in who I follow, without necessarily having the ‘Well I’ll follow you because you followed me’ routine. Quite often I’ll get people following me that I have no interest in at all, so what would be the point in following them? It’s only yourself you’re fooling! I’ve even recently had a bit of a Twitter cull for odd people I followed from day one!

I’ve seen some trends through Twitter, some odd, some eccentric, some downright bizarre, but how everybody works it for them should be their own choosing without feeling unnecessary pressure to keep to current regulations & statutes! There are some pet hates of mine that are guaranteed to make me not follow you!

1. No Bio: If you have no biography information on your profile, how do I know who you are? What do you like? What do you do? Why should I follow you?

2. Professional Linker: If I see that all your recent posts are just hyperlinks to random sites, without actually engaging in conversation or writing things that are noteworthy of reading or commenting on, then it drastically reduces the likelihood of me following back!

3. Silent Hunter: If you’ve followed lots of people (probably in one go), and have written no tweets/updates at all, I question your motives. Why should I follow you if I have no idea on the kinds of subjects you regularly tweet about?

4. Faceless Tweeter: If you don’t have a photo of you up there and stick to the default Twitter images, it makes me think that you can’t really be bothered. It doesn’t take that long to sort out your profile. I’m not talking about needing a professional headshot – I don’t even care if it’s a picture that was taken on your trip to Tenerife 5 years ago! The point is to show that you’re a human and not a faceless robot/Twitter spammer.

5. Protected Updates: If you follow me, you have immediate access to all the things I’ve been tweeting about. When I check my follow list and you have protected updates enabled, read above. Why should I follow you back? I have no idea who you are.

6. Promo-Overload: If all or most of your tweets are shameless self promotion, that’s another reason for me to think twice! Don’t get me wrong, Twitter and ALL of social media is about getting word out about you; but don’t do it all the time. You should treat it as a constantly running conversation, not an endless one-way broadcast.

I hope I haven’t sounded too much like a miserable sod! It’s just things that are constant little bugbears of mine that happen literally on a daily basis. I thoroughly enjoy using Twitter, and I do look at the majority of things that crop up in my Tweetdeck listings. I also do a lot of Hashtag searching for things that interest me too, so if you use that function in your tweets, all the better.

So, Tweet away, be happy, and have a Twantastic day!