Why You Got Un-followed on Twitter

Just Say No to Spam on TwitterIn response to several requests for clarification around the matter of un-following people on Twitter I recently took a look at why people get un-followed. Some of these reasons overlap, or include each other. Items 1 – 3 are my reasons, and I use our WePost Media tools suite to locate the Twitter accounts to un-follow, and it does the un-following for me. Let’s start with my usual personal reasons, and then move to why others might unfollow you on Twitter.

1. You update too often for no reason, saying nothing much. If you have a lot to say, and it is valuable, then please say it. Perhaps it belongs in a blog post, to which you can link. If someone updates an average of 20 times per day.

2. You’re not saying enough. Being a listener is a good thing. Saying nothing means that you’re not contributing to the conversation. Say something. If you don’t post an update in 30 days.

3. You’re not conversing at all. You’re not engaging or replying. You’re just broadcasting. This is worse than saying nothing. Engage your audience. If you don’t have replies in at least one of ever 20 updates.

4. You’re constantly posting “inspirational” updates. Once in a while, this is nice. All of the time, not so much. There’s only so much inspiration anyone can manage before hyperventilation occurs. Stop making your followers pass out. Maybe one per day, maybe.

5. No one learned you how to write good. Do your best to use proper grammar. Not everyone on Twitter had a grade school teacher as a mother, which I understand. That being said, using complete sentences and the best grammar you can manage will help you to not offend others.

6. Your updates are too automated. Once upon a time it seemed like a good idea to post links to articles via RSS. Doing too much of that can become very annoying.

7. Your updates are offensive. Many people will unfollow those who use any profanity at all on Twitter. True, Twitter is a free speech area, and everyone is allowed to say what they want. Just know that people can unfollow you for any reason they choose.

8. You promote yourself too much. “Buy my book!” or “Like my Page!” may be appropriate once in every twenty updates, but more than that will tend to turn folks off.

9. You’re re-tweeting TOO much! Even I can fall into this trap. I follow some amazingly cool folks, and I want to share all of their updates. Moderate how often you re-tweet others. You can use HootSuite or another tool to schedule your re-tweets, so they don’t all dump on your followers at the same time.

10. You’re spewing spam. If you think you’re not a spammer, see my previous update about unintentional spammers.

11. You post ALL of your Foursquare check-ins. I do check in on Foursquare a lot when I’m traveling, but I choose to post to Twitter only the most relevant check-ins. Be selective.

12. You’re boring. It’s just a fact.

13. #You #use #TOO #many #hash #tags. #Really? #Really.

14. U use 2 many abrevs. Nuf said.

15. You repeat yourself, over and over and over and over and over and over. You get the picture.

16. You spread updates longer than 140 characters over multiple tweets.

17. You use lots of non-letter (ASCII) characters in your updates. While these can create some very interesting effects, they are visually distracting to many.

18. You whine, about everything, all the time. Yawn.

19. You update about your every move while driving around town. Stop updating, and drive.

@Thubten
CEO of WePost Media


June 25, 2012 · by  · in Recent Blog Posts · Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

96 Comments

  1. rachael mcgimpsey says:
    June 25, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    I never understand why it is such a capital offense to un-follow someone in Twitterworld? I reserve the right to un-follow whom I choose and I uphold everyone’s right to do the same.
    Just because I followed someone once does not mean I am obligated to be linked to them for life.

    Reply
    • Thubten Comerford thubten says:
      June 25, 2012 at 7:07 pm

      I think that it goes back to Twitter’s roots, when it WAS a small community. It just doesn’t make sense any more. I don’t know that it ever really did.

      Reply
  2. CH_DSearancke says:
    June 25, 2012 at 7:53 pm

    Great List! You could also include: You tweet inspirational quotes … all the time (well, more than twice a day). #ThatsAnUnfollow

    Reply
  3. CH_DSearancke says:
    June 26, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    Why You Got Un-followed on Twitter http://www.wepostmedia.com/why-you-got-un-followed-on-twitter/ via @wepostmedia

    Reply
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