COMMENTS
Actually... I have a 6th one. People that do not fill out their bio section, so you have no idea what they do or what they like. Someone just followed me, and I did noot follow them back because they ahd no bio so I could not figure out if they would be interesting.
I have 2 to add... Using Twitter @ replies to have conversations w/just one person - i.e. as a substitute for IM. Also, if a person is having a contest or something, they send 50 tweets an hour about the exact same thing. So much noise! I guess that one is useful, as you could eventually get the response you want, but it's still annoying :)
Heh, funny but I saw the update for this blog post on the Hubspot twitter account but not yours. :P
I'll admit that I tweet personal info sometimes, but for the most part I try to keep it to helping other people find what they need. Sometimes even if they don't know they need it!
How about conversations that become too conversational? Twitter is great for lots of things, but the people that use it as an email tool w/ their @'s should consider DM, email or (heaven forbid) the phone. We don't all need to be subjected to there attempted lunch plans with 4 other tweeple.
What's kind of annoying but also sorta cool... since I'm connected to a bunch of other HubSpottters and fans, I see a tweet w/ a link to the same blog post like 10 times from 10 different people.
pretty good list. I hate when people stop following me. Then I have to second guess all the annoying stuff I said that day ;-)
People that annoy me are those that advertise on Twitter, then complain about people who advertise on Twitter. And those that want "interaction" but don't want to interact with 1/2 of the people interested in being social with them. Quit whining you should like a baby (but I do hope your ad for the webinar goes as planned due to the controversial article).
@peter caputa: I agree with you, but I think it's pure "annoy" and no "cool". IMO, part of social marketing is also knowing/finding your limits. It is better to under promote than over promote in most cases.
I'm so glad you brought this up. I agree with you on everything and especially the contest one. Case in point the 50 Tweeples Contest. We had to be subjected to that crap for the duration of the contest and now probably for a week afterward, and the people on this list really don't need anymore followers they have thousands and could probably give a shit about 99% of them. They say its not a popularity contest but a beg to differ. My biggest beef however is the Twitter limits is this a democracy or a dictatorship I get cut off on my following while I see the following and followers of the 50 Top Tweeples go up and up. Let's face it the chick at #1 got that position because she is half nekkid and the dudes got a bulge in their pants when viewing her profile so they had to vote for her!
I was thinking Twitter was a great tool but I'm having serious second thoughts and by the looks of it as I view profiles only about 25% of people that join stay active. I wonder if they got as annoyed as I have.
Mike -
Good points, but I think you have to keep in mind that Twitter is very unsegmented and everyone uses it differently. For some people, the lack of a bio or photo is annoying, for others it's no big deal. Personally, I look for content. If you're posting interesting/useful things, then your tweets have value. If I can build a relationship with, that is valuable as well, but on a secondary level... I don't care what you look like, or what you do for a living, good/interesting tweets are independent of your profile.
On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog...
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that all people are right in how they use Twitter. Because I can control exactly what shows up in my timeline, I really don't care if you try to arrange lunch with four tweeples in your stream. I won't be following you. I don't care if you share TMI about what you had for lunch. I won't be following you. Do whatever you like, but know that your particular strategy will influence your reach and readership. That's part of the beauty of Twitter.
I follow the Wall Street Journal. It's never going to follow me back. It will never be anything but a broadcaster. It's a company name and logo. But there's great value to me in that particular follow.
I have my own personal account (with a (gasp) avatar rather than a picture), but just started an account for our firm - using a logo and the firm name. Because it's the firm that's broadcasting, not any particular person. And that was a strategic choice on our part.
That's really what it gets down to in the end, right? That you understand the choices you have with Twitter (broadcast vs. interact, face vs. logo, person vs. company, follow all vs. follow few, etc.) and are making choices based on what meets your needs. And if what I've chosen doesn't meet your needs, you don't have to follow me. I probably wasn't talking to you anyway.
Ditto on #5. It seems like every morning everyone is griping about how much they need more coffee. Are we REALLY that enslaved to the bean? Okay, maybe we are. But do we need to advertise it all the time?
(I see a great contextual ad opportunity for Starbucks)
Fred
"I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that all people are right in how they use Twitter."
~perfectly said~
I am getting really annoyed with the people I follow giving me non-stop commentary during political debates. It is to the point where I want to delete them, but I stop and realize the debates will be over soon.
well, with regards to item #2... guilty as charged! but i guess you can't blame us if we use our company as a twitter handle. let's face it. we all want to maximize the advertisement opportunities for our companies. it helps. you can always build good relationship with anyone especially when you have something in common... be it a company name or a person's name... = )
A lot of tweets are about food. It's annoying - I don't care what you are eating or that you are hungry. I haven't had a chance but I've wanted to keep track of all of them for a week just to prove a point.
The location broadcasts are annoying too - I suppose it's useful to some followers but I don't care that someone is at The Fortress of Solitude.
I have, however, been guilty of having a back and forth conversation so I try to take those into dm's.
I'd have to agree with most of your points. I'm finding that even people with some really good shit to say, like for example @guykawasaki, somehow manage to turn me off with all of the trivial stuff that I think should only be shared with close, personal friends. It's along the lines of your #5 above...I use Twitter for business / career / industry-related stuff 95% of the time, and really only follow people that are going to contribute to a broader conversation re: design, tech news, web apps, UI, UX, etc.
Of course, everyone uses Twitter in their own way, but I wish that we had the ability to group our contacts into sub-groups. Then I might be more inclined to post more personal shit - I mean, Facebook does this for me. I only connect with actual friends on Facebook, and my status updates are much more personal over there, spreading out information about me to the people that I assume want to know the details.
Thanks for the post.
Oddly enough, I was just asked to blog a Twitter for beginners type post on
ericpratum.com because I just spoke on a social networking for MBAs panel. I glossed over many of the annoying sides of it since Twitter is mostly incomprehensible to the uninitiated. I will probably link to this so people can get a sense of what might be considered bad Twitter form.
I use my own
ericpratum Twitter account all the time (for work and personal), but we also have a general work
account mainly for broadcasting about posts, specials, etc. I always feel bad about it being too much broadcasting, so we actually leave it open to everyone in the office to contribute as they feel it is appropriate so that we can get a bit more interaction. . . as opposed to just advertising ourselves. Does anyone else do anything like that? Obviously, there are plenty of companies with blogs that have multiple contributors, but I've never heard of another company that has multiple contributors to its own twitter account.
I agree and don't agree with you on some points. Photo or no photo is something which changes from person to person. You put it or dont put it, doesnt matter. Its just perfect the way it is now :)
I have my own personal account that I am very active on for day to day personal tweets, but I also talk to other SM/NM marketers there.
I also manage our corporate Twitter, but do not actively seek out followers...I look for our name in Tweets & follow them once they mention us. It has worked really well so far, our customers like to know that we are out there listening.
We also have our Media Strategist Twittering - with HUGE success when it comes to earned media.
Twitter is what you want it to be. You don't like the cat avitar or food reference? u-n-f-o-l-l-o-w
I do like the idea of being able to put certain people in categories...I am sure we are not the only ones who have thought of that! *i hope*
-jen
I'm guilty as well but I'm trying to build a brand and felt that having my logo instead of my face was the way to go.
Another thing that bugs me is when people talk about how much they hate Twitter... on Twitter.
The corporate vs. personal account is an interesting one. I would also lean towards having that personal account because people do really want to connect with other people.
Though there are benefits to having a corporate account for branding / responding to customers and if you're unable to manage both accounts (Eric - we too have both personal and corporate accounts and multiple people contribute to the
@hubspot account) then that could be the place to start for you.
-
@ellieeille
I think that sometimes it has to do with wanting a lil more privacy in terms of name (hence not the real name).
You know how online reputation are important these days. I guess some people just want to keep things low on the radar :)
A few of us at our agency use twitter to share - and to store - interesting web links... Twitter is somehow easier to track and the quick content lends speed... whether it is a fun link or a work-related link - it's all good. I have however dropped people if they chatter on about where they had lunch, etc....
Wow! I love all the comments. This is clearly one of those cases where the comments and discussion are more valuable than the original blog article.
I think this quote sums it up: "I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that all people are right in how they use Twitter."
Nice one, Susan -
http://twitter.com/SusanVLewis
I have to say, that although I have committed some of these offenses, I agree. Sometimes I find myself un-following people because their posts distract me from work for no good reason.
I agree with all points except 5. "TMI" is subject to YMMV, and it's a matter of perspective, preference and self-expression. Maybe I do care about your spicy burrito. It's simply my choice and you don't have to follow me, that's yours.
Mike,
all good points. My only concern is that Twitter has the question "What are you doing?" at the top of the page. It doesn't really have any rules.
Of course discretion can be a virtue for just about any medium.
I must say that Twitter is what it is. Follow those that interest you and unfollow those that don't. You are the filter. Of course in life you find out people are always not who or what you think they are. That my friend is part of life.
Relationships are a two way street and that is what I think is the best advice I for maximizing your Twitter experience.
Two way communication. Add to the conversation and listen to the conversation.
Related to #4, Mike, I also check out people's following/follower ratios before deciding if I want to follow them and/or if I should block them from following me.
We recognize so-called spam Twitter users who follow thousands with less than 5% following them and sending out less than 5 updates. But moreover, if someone is following 5,000 people but only 1,000 are following them, I typically don't follow that person.
My pet peeve: Clicking through to a new follower's profile only to find absolutely no info about them whatsoever. A silly question: When I drop someone, do they get a message saying, "Julie thinks you are a boring twerp" or something much more tactful? I have never received an unfollow message.
Can I drop people without them knowing it? I have dropped people but have wondering whether they notice?
@jpower - I would love for twitter to send an "unfollow" message. Right now I don't know if someone has unfollowed me, I think it's valuable for someone to know if they're messages are no longer interesting. I would especially love if the unfollow message was "__ thinks you're a boring twerp".
Ellie: I agree that an unfollow message would be useful.
I'll see if I can think of a way to rationalize putting this in TwitterGrader.com. :)
What I'd love to see in that unfollow email is:
1. How long they were a follower (did they quickly unfollow, or did it take a while)
2. How many tweets did I have while they were a follower? (Maybe even a list of what they were)?
3. Am I currently following them? Who followed who first?
The geeky, analytical part of me is trying to figure out if there's a pattern to the kinds of things I say, and the correlation that has with people unfollowing me.
Twitter is so much time-wasting crap.
Funny! So I am not the only one thinking those things.