After vetting over 300 new Twitter followers over the past 2 days, I felt inspired to write this week about why I won’t follow someone back on Twitter.
Let me start out by saying, I love Twitter. It is the platform I’ve gotten the most clients from and I spend a lot of time on it. That being said, I just do not follow anyone or everyone. With millions and millions of people on Twitter, there are just some that do not fit my niche or that have no clue what they are doing.
I know you’re thinking, “wait! I’m not sure I know what I’m doing!”. That’s not what I’m talking about. It’s those who buck the system or are just obnoxious. If that is you, listen up 🙂 Here are 8 reasons I won’t follow you….
1. You do not have a profile picture. Eggheads do not get followed. Trust me on this. I would rather connect with someone who has their picture on their profile. There are companies who use their logo since it’s a company account, and that is fine. Just do not leave it blank.
2. You have #teamfollowback or “I follow back” in your bio. Sorry, but having those tells me that you are just there for numbers, not to actually engage with people.
3. #You #use #hashtags #way #too #much. A few hastags in your bio is okay, but hashtags on every word? Adding more than one or two hastags in a tweet just confuses me. I had someone follow me today that his bio read something like this: #teamfollowback #socialmedia #relationshipbuilding #pr #expert #entertaining. There is really no need for all of that.
4. All you tweet is your affiliate links, a product you are selling or tweets guaranteeing me thousands of Twitter followers for $10. Social media is about relationships and engaging, not 24/7 selling. If I want that I’ll turn on QVC or HSN.
5. You tweet in a foreign language. There is nothing wrong with tweeting in your native language, however English is the most common language and that is what I speak. I will let a French tweeter through every so often. I took French and can read it fairly well, so that’s my personal exception.
6. You’re not a real account. Want to know how I know you’re not real? http://memarketingservices.com://fakers.statuspeople.com.
7. You post derogatory or offensive content. Or cuss. Enough said. I won’t tolerate that type of stuff.
8. You’re in middle school or high school. Sorry kids, I only follow adults. I’m on Twitter for business, not to follow your tweets on which boy band is hot right now. Besides, I do not agree with kids under 18 being on social media anyway.
Being in business online, especially when you target a certain sector, who you surround yourself with and associate with says something about you. If a CEO is checking out my Twitter account and sees that I follow people with any of the above, what does that say about me? We need to carefully guard ourselves online. All I ask is that you be careful who you associate yourself with – your reputation depends on it. Especially if you are in business online.
What are some of the reasons you don’t follow someone? Share with me!
Very informative and much needed post. I Mentor other Life Coaches and often have to do “quality control” on their social media tactics that they were taught by Life Coaching “Gurus.” They do not realize that the strategies they are being taught is damaging their reputation. Advice such as “get as many followers as you can” and “put as many hashtags as you can fit” and GASP – “purchase followers” can cause irreparable damage.
Wonderful selection of tips. Thanks, Mandy for sharing your thoughts! You mentioned you unfollowed 300 followers. How did you prune them out? Did you use a tool or anything? Thanks again!
Delia – I use Social Oomph and approve who I follow back and ManageFlitter to manage my followers.
Sent from my iPad
I don’t follow
– those with
too much cleavage – I leaveage!
– Weirdos – horoscope, clairvoyants, UFO lovers. I am weird enough already.
– the super highly successful look at me types of people. Maybe that’s why they don’t follow me because Im not one.
thanks for the post, keep up the good work
I use exactly the same list. I really can’t stand the #TeamFollowBack stuff… that drives me crazy!
Great post, Mandy. These are pretty much my “why I don’t follow” reasons, too.
Oh, and you can add “having vulgar profile pics” too. I don’t need to see that stuff in my stream so I don’t follow.
I love #8! I went to someone’s bio who was born in 2000! I’m sorry but what could we possibly have to talk about?! Thanks Mandy!
Mandy, excellent post. All of these are great reasons to not follow back!! Especially #2…like, seriously?
Great comments Mandy. #Those #hashtags #feel #like #speed #bumps #in #the #road! What about those that don’t post for months? Do they really care what you say?
This is a wonderful article Mandy and great way to get the conversation going. Love the comments from people’s additional reasons they won’t follow:)
lol I love these reasons.. I will not follow back if you haven;t send a rweet in a week.. Why are you following people and not tweeting? Odd?
wow, I am glad I am in, I meet all these requirements, I would not want to lose you because I love your manners on Twiiters; you are a great example to me. Thanks Mandy for telling the truth
I have definitely become more selective in who I follow!! Great tips!
I just got a follow by someone in high school. I usually check credentials before I follow which is how I found this.. I am with you…not gonna happen!
Same
reasons I have here why I choose not follow some twitters. You can also add
over flooding of repetitive tweets almost like spamming.
Excellent article. I’m always surprised by folks who think I’m somehow doing it wrong when I am careful and selective. Sorry, folks but real fans, real engagement, that’s what I want.
This is so true. Great information! We need to be aware of who we are following and who is following us. Twitter is a great tool if we are engaging with the right people!
I remember it took me a while to figure some of these things out, and you’ve given me a few more to look for! Thank you!
Thanks Mandy for telling it like it is! I love your tips & totally agree on everyone of them!
“English is the most common language” would want to contend that!
Yes, and Yes! It is great to follow real people that fit your bill. Those that engage and interact on a regular basis. I do facebook and I’m seeing some things that people still do not fully understand. In the outside world, you would not talk to someone who would not talk back… same should be true on social media as it’s social!
Wonderful post, Mandy! I use the same 8 things to decide if I am going to follow someone. Thanks 🙂
I just don’t understand the egghead thing. Why wouldn’t you have a picture?!
GREAT post! The only one I personally disagree with is #8. I follow Sarah Cook because she and I are both with Mary Kay and I enjoy following leaders in Mary Kay…… I watched her start a brand new business guiding young entrepreneurs and some of the folks she’s interviewed are in their teens and are doing amazing work. Some teens can be incredibly inspirational and worthwhile to follow. I hope my children are as smart and business minded in their teens as the folks Sarah tweets about.
Hey Mandy,
I’m using the same rules as you, but i also got another one.
I don’t follow people that tweet over 20 times / day.
Oh yeah, you can bet those are happening! Amazing thing is, there are so many great friendships that can be formed on Twitter. At the end of the day though, we need to definitely be aware of who we are following and also who is following us back.
I agree – I’ve made some great online friends from Twitter!
I completely agree Mandy, and it is refreshing to find people that have some standards. So many people are too far into the numbers on Twitter. I don’t care how many followers you have! I’m just looking for people to build relationships with . . . When I was cleaning out my Twitter the other day I unfollowed 2 people who weren’t following me back despite having the #teamfollowback in their bio. I think some do that just to get followers and then don’t even reciprocate. Whatever!
Amen! Couldn’t share this one quickly enough!
Thank you, Mandy, for taking the (why I don’t follow you on Twitter) words right out of my mouth. I go along with Marie Leslie’s thoughts here, as well — “vulgar language” doesn’t get a Twitter follow from me, either.
I don’t mind when people cuss now and then, but everything else I agree with you on. 🙂
Great post… this is actually an example of something I call “validation arrows” that I’ll be talking about on my blog on 12/27. I’m pretty new to Twitter and blogging, and you’ve at least confirmed that I am on the right track.
Is business and selling not the same? And if it is you are writing opposite meanings.
Someone said that “team follow back” is the equivalent of a Twitter tramp stamp.
And if you have a tramp stamp and it’s showing, why would I bother to follow you? You’re just going to be flagged as a spam account in about two minutes.
I will follow people who swear as long as they have relevant information for me. I know that a lot of businesspeople drop an f-bomb or two so that doesn’t bother me.
Good post. I’ll add – people who tweet every 3.2 nano-seconds.
Thank you for posting this. I am glad I followed you and lucky enough to have you follow back.
Even though I have had my twitter account for awhile, I am only now actively tweeting and using to engage. Surprisingly I have used a similar criteria on who I follow. Keep up the Good job Mandy.
As usual, Mandy offers an insightful message with practical application. My list is similar, but I have a few additional conditions: (1) I don’t follow those without a bio picture and a bio with substance, (2) people who don’t tweet, (3) when the content never offers something educational or inspirational, (4) sell-sell-sellers, (5) anyone who won’t engage after I’ve made several personalized overtures, (6) sex topic or gross image posters, (7) those who don’t follow back or who have unfollowed me, no matter how many Followers they may have, (8) people who post inane or negative comments, (9) tweeters who focus on highly technical jargon or other topics that are not of my interest, (10) folks who don’t have a sense of humor, (11) and someone who doesn’t reference anything personal to me. I do not want to be just a “number.”
As for me, I personalize every TY, RT, and Fav, and Following tweeter. I read each person’s bio, past tweets, and go to a listed website or blog. It’s obvious that I invest time in “getting to know” someone. While I do not expect that same level of time investment in return, I do expect thoughtfulness. As far as youngsters, I leave a helpful comment or two, but if I don’t receive something of value in return, I refer back to (3) & (8). Social Media is social, and I have built some terrific relationships on Twitter from all over the world. It’s my favorite community.
Mandy is part of that community. She has generously offered advice and recommended resources when I have put out an SOS for help in an area. She is the epitome of a great community member.
Great article. Agree to every word of it, but i am actually very glad that i found this tool to discover FAKE followers. LOL this is really good one. Thanks for sharing.
This is by far the best post that I have read about why some Twitter accounts aren’t followed. Mandy, thank you for the awesome tips. I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts. By the way, we follow one another on Twitter;) I will chat with you soon. Have a fantastic week.
To your success,
Stacie Walker
It’s amazing how important a display picture is, but accounts without one do just seem spammy, for some reason.
I agree!
it strikes me that these comments are excessively sycophantic for a post listing some personal dislikes!
I will not follow someone if they write please retweet in every tweet. I will retweet it if I think it is relevant to my followers not just because you said I should.
I agree 100%! That is one of my biggest pet peeves!
I thought so, too — but then I read some advice pieces that recommended it. I’m conflicted. It feels weird and rude, but if it really works, then…? I’m not advocating by any means — just saying this might be an unsettled topic out there.
There is a lot of debate about it. To me, it comes off as begging, but that’s just me. I know there’s research to back it up, but for me it’s a personal preference.
I think swearing is my biggest pet peeve. And inappropriate images. The things some people put out there…
I agree – it’s not a place to air your dirty laundry, lol.