Social Times - Latest Comments in Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

Bill Cammack — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:51:56 -0000

After you reach a certain number of people that you're following, and that number is in the HUNDREDS, not the THOUSANDS, it becomes literally impossible to read everyone. There are too many updates and too little time to read, think about and respond to them, assuming you have ANYTHING ELSE to do in life.

People feel flattered that other people are following them, but that's completely worthless if the people following you aren't reading your posts. @replying is the way to go, because it calls specific people's attention to what you're saying.

Also, now that there are apps like TweetDeck that you can use to make curated subgroups of your followers, only so many people are really being "followed" anyway, regardless of what people's following counts say.

Twitter Karma allows you to see everyone you're following who isn't following you back and mass unfollow them (or mass FOLLOW everyone that's following you, if you're in that mood).

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

Chris Abad — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:51:16 -0000

As Twitter gains mainstream adoption, and the demographic becomes more broad, I think we're simply going to see more diverse usage patterns. I feel like some of these conversations come out of a misconception that there is a "right" way to use Twitter. If I don't follow you back, am I a "Twitter Snob?" Well maybe, but that's not always the case.

At any rate, I think its important to remember people use Twitter for different reasons. At the same time, I think it'll be interesting to see these how the usage of Twitter, and thus Twitter itself, evolves. In the meantime, follow me. @chrisabad :)

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

Karen Hartline — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:40:42 -0000

Not gonna lie...I don't follow everyone who follows me. I like following people I've met, think are interesting and/or are working with. Because I want to keep that personal interaction for my Twitter feed, I can't follow everyone.

I will also admit that I've had friends unfollow me. Yes, real friends who I used to live with, would do anything for and have their cell numbers in my phone. Confession--it hurts a bit to know they unfollowed me. At the same time, it doesn't mean we're not still friends in real life, which bottom line is what's most important.

Worrying about how many people are following you on Twitter is a waste of time and energy, in my opinion. At what point did social media replace real relationships? Just because I'm not following someone on Twitter doesn't mean I hate them.

The beauty of Twitter is that it has the ability to be different things to different people. So what makes one person's way of using it better then another? Just because someone uses it for marketing/branding/work purposes doesn't mean I have to do the same.

Great questions Leora! Very interested to hear what others have to say.

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

Denise Jacobs — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:33:32 -0000

It seems overly simplistic to think that because a person doesn't follow you means that they don't "like" you. People follow or don't for a lot of complex reasons, and many of those probably have absolutely nothing to do with you. If they aren't following for interpersonal reasons, then it is important to keep in mind the saying "what someone else thinks of you is none of your business".

To me, it is more important to engage with the people who are following you and the ones that you follow whom you find interesting. Twitter is only a small slice of real life -- seems like we all need a perspective check every now and then, no?

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

themaria — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:31:42 -0000

I agree. Totally not worth the energy. Unless it's a very close friend. In that case, just pick up the phone and call (or SMS)

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

themaria — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:30:57 -0000

I don't see anything wrong with unfollowing someone you know personally. I have done it to others, and others have done it to me. I don't follow everyone I meet, and sometimes follow them and then drop them, if I find that their tweets are overtaking my stream (I do try to read and engage with the folks that I am following, as much as possible). You can't be everything to everyone, and the reality is, that you are not going to be relevant to everyone. And the reverse is true. I do not think and unfollow event requires having to go investigating WHY they unfollowed. I just assume that there was a good enough reason, and that's good enough for me. Unless it's a very close friend.. Then it's worth asking.

I also think it's a little pathetic to read people's @ replies to others, saying "hey! why aren't you following me? look at me. why don't you love me?" If you really need to interact with someone, and they are not following you, just @ reply to them, say that you wanted to send a private msg but couldn't, and could they DM you their email address (provided that you are following them, they can send you a DM). If they want to interact, they will find a way. Alternatively, try to connect with this person on FB. I am pretty sure you can receive messages from ppl you aren't friends with on FB. And no, unfollowing on Twitter is not the same as unfriending on FB, but these things mean different things to different people.

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

Lynn — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:26:02 -0000

I think it's a waste of time and energy to worry about this. If you want someone who isn't following you to read something specific, send it to them with an @. Otherwise I can live without people reading my random silly updates. Just because you enjoy reading someone else's updates doesn't mean they have time to read yours. It doesn't mean they aren't your friend.

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

Christine — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:05:35 -0000

Tweepular.com can show you who is not following you back, and allow you to mass unfollow.

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

John Maver — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 21:34:19 -0000

I think the whole point of Twitter is that relationships don't have to be bidirectional. As you point out above, if your content isn't interesting to a person they will most likely unfollow or not follow you in the first place. As far as DMs go, it feels like if you have no relationship with someone, then DMing them is probably going to annoy them. It would be better to interact with them beforehand, so that you can establish a reason for more private contact.

For friends, or people who you perceive as friends, it is more difficult, since you would think that your online relationships would mirror your real life relationships. So, in some cases, it could be surprising or even insulting that they aren't following you. I would agree that the best approach in this case would be to talk with them about it.

Re: Help! I’ve Been Unfollowed!

Mark Schoneveld — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:03:08 -0000

I, like many long-time Twitterers have run into this issue many times. It's hard not to feel mildly put off by the fact that you follow someone who doesn't follow back, but certainly understandable. I try hard to prune and hone my following to folks who continue to send out great info and funny quips. Some do both, but Tweet 50 times a day, flooding my stream. Turning off '@'s to people you don't follow' helps tone it down, but RT has diminished that usefulness too.