I’ve been followed by the same person > 6 times in the past month, which is a tell-tale sign that they are using some sort of software to increase their follower count. (I’m not going to go into details; if interested in this, you should be able to find it easily enough.)
The bigger question I’d like answered is why? Why is follower # valuable, when (in essence) you cheat to gain those followers? So, I asked the individual, and the Q & A follow.
Our exchange began on March 21, when I tweeted the following 4 tweets:
Why have you followed me 4-5 times in the past week? Is it that software or something else?
If you don’t know what I mean by software, check out this blog post: http://tinyurl.com/cbmvcz
If it’s Twitter being buggy, it happens. Just wondering.
If you are using that auto-follow software, please stop. You’re too good for that.
He sent me an email explaining that he was “testing some stuff.” Fair enough.
Then this morning, he followed me twice in about 15 minutes. I then tweeted:
Finding it hard to believe you’re not using the cheater software when u follow me 2X today & 6X in the past month. Please stop.
He then sent me a tweet alerting me that he had just sent me an email. The email said:
Here are instructions for blocking me: http://help.twitter.com/forums/10711/entries/15355
To which I replied:
I’d prefer not to have to block you. From what I know of you, you’re too good to be doing this. Can I ask why? I’m interested in the reason you need to do this, and potentially ruin your reputation.
His response:
I use automatic tools to follow a large number of people that I’ve worked to identify as like-minded individuals. I don’t consider my practice to be spamming, unethical, etc. and I describe it openly when I discuss it with friends and colleagues.
I respect the opinion of anyone who disagrees with my methods. So far I’ve had one or two complaints from people affected. Though I’m sure there are many others, I have judged the risk that people will be upset to be far outweighed by the benefit to me and my followers. I spend several hours every day reading resources and passing on the best ones to my followers. See (link removed) for more on this.
I really do respect your opinion and right to privacy. If you prefer not to block me because you feel you might benefit from my Tweets and RTs, you could block me and subscribe to my blog feed. Every day I summarize the previous day’s tweets: (link removed)
So this creates a bunch of questions for me.
Is this OK? Is this a good enough reason to use this software? (he’s > 9,000 followers as of this morning; about 6,000 a few weeks ago.)
Am I just overreacting in thinking this just doesn’t seem right?
I use Twitter to converse with people about SEO, golf, automotive and Chicago. I don’t use it for business purposes. He’s in a position where he is using it for business purposes. Does that make it OK? Do the rules change?
What do you think? I can’t wait to hear your replies.
If you like this post you might enjoy following me on Twitter: twitter.com/danperry
Run Forest, Run! This is probably not something you want to get involved with unless you’re in this for the numbers. What it appears they are doing is Unfollowing and then Following you again so you get the notification that they are Following you if you’ve got it turned on, which most do. They are hoping that you will Follow them back which in turn increases their Following. It is one big cluster you know what. I BLOCK those who practice the Unfollow/Follow routine to get me to try and Follow them.
I recently published an article on one of these programs, it is called TweepMe. It does something similar but in a Pyramid kind of way. All of these types of bottom feeding applications will hopefully come to pass as Twitter refine the use of their API. They’ve already made official announcements that they will no longer support certain functions in the API which will stop some of these apps from going any further.
From what I read above, you’re doing the right thing. Build your Following honestly and Follow those that interest you. There is no need to Follow everyone. In fact, it is unbearable once you pass a certain number. Don’t believe all the hype you hear about having mass numbers of Followers. It could work against you if you’re not the mass Follower type.
I am relatively new to twitter and I understand the need to grow my list of golfers interested in the mind side of golf as these eventually could be my clients. But, there needs to be some level of filtering and thought behind who you include – in my mind.
It is kind of like the ‘machine gun’ effect as opposed to being selective and creating a quality list of people you want to be having a ‘relationship’ with. I suppose on the upside like the guy said it is worth the risk to him that by only upsetting a few he is gaining thousands. So the discussion really is quantity versus quality.
In my mind that is the key – I for one would rather have a list of people who are interested in what I have to say than go around upsetting people by bombarding them for the sake of numbers. I think ultimately with this mentality it will come back and bite you on the bottom
I think that is the main core in the market today to have a bunch of thousands of followers. And all focus to be on the top 200 most followed Twitter users in the world. This could help you achieve higher visibility for your niche market. But as you I also wanted to follow all those tweets of people related to my niche not using any software. If they will be interested in the updates you tweets they will sure followed you back.
I think the numbers game is ok in certain situations, like the CNN race recently which raised money for charity. But for a REAL person or even a real business trying to gain market presence and connect with the industry (in my case, golf), the goal has to be a targeted list. My followING list is pretty targeted: Pro & Amateur golfers, golf & sports writers & bloggers, new & old media, fitness (golf specific if possible). But the followERS are another story! I do block anything that smells of porn or hate, but otherwise let the guys sit there if they want. I just won’t follow back.
Unusual situation, I am paid to Tweet for a golf company. They make a product so not like I am ghostwriting for Tiger…almost like PR but on Twitter….a whole new world!!
The tool in my humble judgment is there to help connect with people as mentioned in the previous post, when you see that it becomes automated you begin to feel that as usual relative to many things on the internet, it loses the human element and becomes all about using it to achieve ones own objectives even if it means affecting others in an adverse way. I feel it is a powerful way to keep in contact with those who like you really are into a given subject or have similar interests. In effect ones objectives will become transparently obvious based on their actions. To conclude I like to keep it simple and put people first.
Hi Dan,
Assuming that auto-following software and reciprocal-following software make use of the same technique (Twitter’s Auto-follow capability), I’d have to say that you are not overreacting a bit.
We tested some of the more visible Twitter reciprocal following services and have concluded that they are worthless for building relationships. However, they are excellent honeypots for finding clueless marketers.
We use Twitter account reciprocal following to discover fodder for our blog.
I’m sorry you are unable to filter the noise (unless you use gmail hint, hint!). Hopefully, your relationship will survive this irritating behavior.
Stu
Hi Dan
I am currently designing some twitter productivity tools.
His tools are of poor quality if they behave in this way.
If he had quality software, it would keep track of who he has followed, unfollowed or currently following and in the past not attempt a new follow.
If he’s not careful, he will get his account suspended.
It’s awful! How dare they try and use twitter (The #1 online marketing tool) as a marketing tool! They’ll probably just use the money they get from new customers to feed their families. Shameful! It must be devastating for you to get a few unwanted followers.
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