Comments on: 10 Reasons Why I Won’t Follow You On Twitter

By: Gail Kent

Gail Kent — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:16:35 +0000

I really, really hate it when people put up a bunch of quotes from other people. It’s so impersonal. I will unfollow them in a minute. If they don’t have anything more creative to say on their own, I’m not interested in following them.

By: Maiya Rose Benda

Maiya Rose Benda — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:07:46 +0000

Michelle,

Great article and I’d love to share the URL with my groups. Looks like a solid site, too – congratulations.

What is “missing” from your list for me, is an expanded #2 – no real picture (I want to know who I am conversing with – no offense, but not a picture of your baby or cat) OR a URL that says “joes auto rental” or “free gifts here” when your bio says you are a coach, healer, artist…hmmm.

I confess, I also unfollow folks who take themselves (and the world) too seriously – although I overlook the occasional “stern” day. I’m looking for a variety of humor, tips, solutions and conversations. Twitter for me is about learning, sharing AND getting to know some amazing folks.

Thank you for sparking some thoughts –

Blessings and Possibilities,
Maiya Rose
@MaiyaRose

p.s. I confess I ignore most DM’s – people can email me easily enough from my sites if they really want to talk offline!

By: Michelle Minch

Michelle Minch — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:41:19 +0000

Christine: That was creepy, but it made me laugh when I read it. I’m glad I’m not the only one that has that kind of experience.

By: Michelle Minch

Michelle Minch — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:38:56 +0000

Ari: I follow CNN because they provide value in the form of breaking news. They aren’t trying to sell me something by hammering me with continuous ads. Their tweets aren’t about how CNN is the best thing since sliced bread. If a news organization provides information I find useful or interesting, I will follow them. #9 refers to people who only tweet things like “Need a plumber now? Check out my blog” or “My company is the best http://www…..com“, over and over again, with or without variation (no offense to plumbers, just an example).

These are my rules (and no, they aren’t hard and fast) – you don’t have to follow them or accept them. The point of this post was to let people who are totally new to Twitter know how they can engage more people on Twitter and thereby have a better Twitter experience.

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:47:12 +0000

Sorry if I misinterpreted your questions (which I think I did). Again, I don’t want to answer for Michelle–I’m hoping she’ll respond later–but I don’t think any rules are meant to be hard and fast. You make decisions on whom to follow on a case by case basis and lots of factors come into play. I don’t think Michelle is sitting there with a check list for each person she follows. I’m sure it’s a general feel where these rules come into play and it’s usually a decision made very quickly. You can look at these as Michelle’s personal guidelines, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow her rules. I’m sure you have your own filtering systems about whom you want to follow or not.

Again my apologies if I misinterpreted your original comment.

Ron

By: Ari Herzog

Ari Herzog — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:35:14 +0000

Confrontational? I asked a question which I’ll ask again: Are the 10 steps open to interpretation or is each a hard rule?

This is my first time visiting your blog; and yes, I saw it is marked to provide advice for social media beginners. I am as much as beginner as anyone else; new tools and programs are launched daily, and if I can’t continue to learn from people, then what’s the point?

Sorry you think I’m confrontational. To me, I asked a valid question. Sheesh.

By: Christine PIlch

Christine PIlch — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:04:19 +0000

Thanks for a great post, Michelle. Regarding #5, I once had a man follow me who was following only 5 other people…all women named, “Christine.” I blocked him so quick! Creepy!

Christine
http://twitter.com/ChristinePilch

By: ron

ron — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:01:25 +0000

I’m not sure I get your confrontational attitude here. This site is about helping people, but to answer your question, and as Julie says Michelle can clearly speak for herself her, but I think you clearly miss the point. CNN provides a service. Promoting your Get Rich Quick Scheme? Not so much. I think you know there is a clear difference.

Ron

By: julie

julie — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:58:39 +0000

Ari – I can let Michelle answer this herself…but our audience here on Soc Media 101 is not CNN, it’s people who are beginners, ie. just learning about social media. That’s who she’s talking to and about – not a news outlet like CNN.

By: Ari Herzog

Ari Herzog — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:53:31 +0000

Do you agree that each of those steps is open to be waived, or are those hard for you? Reason I ask is many news organizations–and politicians–fall under #9 and could be construed as relating only to themselves. @CNN does not add to any conversation, but plenty of people follow it to get the news.

So, by principle #9 alone, would you not follow CNN?