I decided to do something really crazy, and un-follow everyone on Twitter. And that includes you, if I was already following you.
This wasn't an easy choice, because many people only follow people who follow them. And I like to give back, really I do. But there comes a time when following 12,000 people just isn't manageable. Especially since many are untargetted and send an enourmous amount of spammy tweets.
So this is my goal: To follow those of you who engage with me, so I can engage back. And to use the newer Twitter lists features to keep tabs on those of you (you know who you are! =P) who over-engage =P
{ 28 comments }
Think I already engaged you via Twitter,but in case you don’t recall that, consider yourself engaged.
Thanks,
Stephen Whittle (swhomebiz)
Hi Tim,
You did not make such a bad choice after all I think. But here is to help you in your new quest and I think you will appreciate.
http://tweepi.com/
Play a bit with it. It’s very powerful. For a free soft. You can still follow me, I’m quiet and respectfull … ericlado1994
Regards
I agree with you Tim. Spam is out of hand everywhere. I myself do not spam,I post in the What are you doing section and add a link to what I am posting about and that is it.
Thanks for this post Tim.
Dewayne
Follow me back please sir..
Twitter is ready to bring on the advertisers – even search in weets! I think Yahoo tried that in IM messages and dropped it.
Oh, well! Sorry to see you go. Not that I know who is on my 4,000 plus list, anyway.
Being engaged on twitter is a 24/7 job – too much for a one man business operator. That Google picks up my bookmarks – that is my main goal for social media.
Good Luck!
Good idea. Fortunately, if I were to do this, I would not have so much to do, with only a little over 1,000 followers.
So, how long does it take to un-follow 12,000?
About an hour.. I made a PHP script that downloaded the list of who I was following and then it unfollowed them. Unfortunately some people I want to follow got unfollowed but at least now when I re-follow I’ll be able to see what they are saying ;-)
can you create a PHP script that removes people that unfriend you from all the social tools you use to follow them :)
lolz that might be harder
Does this box keep getting smaller and smaller?
I dunno, let’s see…
why is the this such a big deal if you un-followed every one? its not like twitter is going to go away now!
Ah, cool script!
The mental image of ten industrial-sized coffee makers just vanished.
wow, that was a chock to see you unfollow me. Luckely the unfollow button was easy to find for me and I unfollowed you as well. Also removed you from the TE list I had on Twitter.
If you call one tweet a day overengaging you really need to look up in the dictionary what it means.
Anyway, I wish you a happy engaging with your followers.
BTW I will unfan you on Facebook as well, I only want to be a fan of cool people
lol not sure if that was a joke or if you are being serious. I unfollowed *everyone* and am re-following people as I go now ;-)
Problem was I had too many people to sort through. Since I auto-followed people who followed me, I was getting tons of bots following me so I’d get their bot messages (5 within a minute kind of thing).
I think I misinterpreted the message but I was pretty upset when my quitter tool notified me of this. Strange the effect unfriending can have :)
But I think you’re right. We all need to re-think on how we use those tools and not use it as just another advertising outlet but a tool to really connect.
Seems pretty much like that’s the norm or should be anyways. Don’t see anything too radical with that strategy. Twitter #’s are a lot like anything else. They don’t much matter if you don’t have responsive, engaged individuals. Every so often for one reason or another I end up rebuilding lists and subscription bases even including the blog. Just kind of works out that way.
http://twitter.com/JerryIannucci
Feel free to re-follow me if you like. If you don’t… i’ll probably never know.
Hi Tim,
I am still following you on twitter. I seldom login to twitter, may post 2 – 3 post a month. I am only following 16 people with 56 followers. some of them post way too much for me.
This is exactly why I’m “subdividing” my followers into 4 separate accounts. And one of those is expressly for active surfers. Hope you will follow me back: spyderkate
I agree with you Tim!
Spam has gotten out of control in many of these social sites. It’s unfortunate that some feel that overwhelming NEED to irritate other people… Do they not realize it gets them nowhere but the G-can? LOL
Thanks for following me again! As always, it’s a pleasure to chat & to learn from you and others people online.
http://twitter.com/rhondamorton
HI ALl,
Just my thoughts,
I thought tweeter would be like any other social page on the net. Now I know I was right. I have an account on my space, face book and a couple of others that I never log in to because of the spam… I am glad I have never made a page on tweeter.
Do Not mean to offend others but this is just my thoughts.
Thanks,
Shirlene
Tweets come and tweets go but the Buzz is still buzzing in Buzzwah so I unfollowed every one also but I dont think any one noticed
Hi, Tim, that’s OK, but you could have avoided the problem if you didn’t go auto-follow. I know it takes some time to check out your followers’ profile but I get loads of like “My hb is cheating on me check out my photos” ones that I automatically block.
I hope you will follow me cack though :)
Exactly. It started out as me wanting to give back my attention, but once you get put on the lists of people who auto follow back you’re done..
Its hard to weed through all of the tweets to find ones from people who you really want to hear what they have to say. I really need to make lists to separate them, but haven’t taken the time to do so… So many projects… so little time… LOL… Maybe one of my assisstants can get to it.
Unfortunately, many people (myself included) use automated programs that unfollow anyone who unfollows them… so you can expect to lose a few followers… But with 12K+, you should be OK.
@gwcalvert
I thought about doing what you did, but decided that I could use lists instead, and add the people that I have conversations with.
I hardly ever check my timeline, as you said, it’s too many unrelated things and a lot of spam. That’s why Twitter lists are great.
I agree, people don’t know how to use these social sites. do they really think we look at the crap they blast at all of us? It’s about building relationships and trust.
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