Let’s be clear, there are no rules for who you need to follow on twitter. You follow who you want, block you want, and talk to whomever you want to talk to. I’ve had several people tell me that I should follow them or that it’s twitter etiquette to follow everyone who follows you. I want to be very clear about who I follow and why I follow them.
I respect and value every twitter follower I have but I cannot follow 1,300 people because it is just too much for me. I can’t participate in 1,300 conversations and I can’t use twitter search to look for my name every single time it pops up, it’s just too much. If you can handle following 20,000 people like Robert Scoble does, then hey, more power to you, but I can’t, and why should I? If I’m interested in technology and you are a master underwater basket weaver, then thanks for following me, but I’m just not interested in under water basket weaving, and so I won’t follow you but if yous end me a message, I’ll gladly respond.
I’m very responsive to every DM and reply I get, that is how I participate in conversations that involve me, and that is how I feel that I can add the most value to my twitter followers. It’s not because I hate you and it’s not because I don’t think you’re an interesting person; it’s because I am trying to effectively manage my time while still being able to provide value and quality tweets! It’s like signing up for 50 different social networks, sure I’m on there and I have a presence, but there is no way I can manage that much information. I try to rotate who I’m following and discover new interesting people but please do not get upset or offended if I am not following you. Every person uses twitter differently, you have to do what makes sense for you!
You guys all rock and kick ass but for my own sanity and effectiveness I just cannot follow everyone! Again, if you ever want to get ahold of me all you have to do is send me a reply and I will immediately respond to you. If you need to send me a message longer than 140 characters, email me. I’m really very easy to get ahold of so don’t hesitate to do so.
Tweet on and thanks for reading!
Comments