Recently I’ve noticed people repeatedly following and unfollowing me on Twitter. This morning, my good friend Michelle Naranjo explained why this is happening.To understand this phenomenon, you need to know a little background on Twitter following/unfollowing.
Twitter bars users from following more than 2000 people until they are followed by 2000 people. This is intended to curtail spam accounts that follow thousands of people, though I’m not entirely sure how you spam people who don’t follow you and hence don’t get your updates any way. (Another topic for another time.) So for the new Twitter user, the follow/unfollow is a way to get past the 2000 limit. The reasoning is, you keep following people, some follow back, some don’t, but if you keep rotating the “pool” of followed/followers (by unfollowing most people), you’ll get to 2000 followers much faster than if you had just waited for actual relationships built on value and mutual respect.
But the wrinkle is that I am seeing the same behavior by long time Twitter users with follower counts far in excess of the 2000 limit. Here’s how Michelle explained it to me. These users are targeting other users with large followers/followed lists because new users go to these lists to find new people to follow. (I know, it’s complicated.) So the thinking is that I have around 5000 followers, therefore new users might look at my list for suggested people to follow, and these veteran users who are gaming the system trying to add followers en masse want to be at the top of my list so they get found and followed more readily. They can move to the top of my lists by “renewing” their membership, by unfollowing me, then following me back, hoping I then follow them back. (I automatically drop anyone who unfollows me and I never follow them again, because I’m not interested in playing these games.)
This is just the latest in a series of games played by people who see you and me as numbers, notches in the social media belt, and not as people worth engaging with, or who have something of value to say and who are looking to be informed by others. I call this Twitter Friend Optimization (TFO).
Before I understood this dynamic, I was “flattered” that such popular Twitter people were inclined to follow me, but now I just find it insulting and a waste of time.
Some social media “experts” and veterans look down on social media “noobs,” aka newbies, or newcomers. (The word “noob” comes from l33tspeak, an early hacker “language” now popular among some social networkers.)
This behavior can manifest itself in several ways, such as the snub at someone who dares to say something as naïve as ‘Wow, have you tried Friendfeed? It’s pretty cool!” The social media putdown artist can respond, “Come on, everyone knows about Friendfeed.”
I’m sure this phenomenon exists in other fields, but it’s very common in social media. I think there are several reasons for this. Social media is only starting to be taught in universities, and recognized as a profession, so “expert” credentials are hard to define and are often something one awards to one’s self…
Join Yoshi Maisami, Sumaya Kazi and me on Blogtalk Radio, Socially Speaking, Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 1:00 P.M. PST as we discuss The end of free social media?
As conversations rage on about Web 2.0 business models, enterprise social media and other developments in social business, what changes can individuals and businesses expect, and how can they best navigate the evolving landscape? To give you expert insight on why and how to adapt, join us for a discussion with two of Intridea’s senior partners, PR/social media veteran Joel Postman; and Business Development lead, Yoshi Maisami.
I’ll be speaking March 6 at Blogout ‘09 in Singapore. Here are 10 questions about social media that my presentation will attempt to deal with. How would you respond to these? Please leave your responses below.
The “conversation” is not taking place on corporate web sites. Where is it happening?
How much more “micro” will content get? Can we get by with fewer than 140 characters? Can you communicate anything of substance in a 12-second video (by using 12seconds.tv)? What other examples of the microsizing of content are there?
Are large companies learning to master social media to regain control of their brands, or is the time for that long past?
Are there too many social sites and services for a user to maintain, or has some consolidation made this easier?
Are sites like GetSatisfaction offering a genuine alternative to traditional customer support, or are they just a way for companies to release themselves from the responsibility of after-the-sale support?
Facebook did it again with its TOS flip-flop (think back to the Beacon debacle), raising concerns among users and advocacy groups that social networks may not be adequately protecting consumers. Do socnet operators have users’ best interests at heart, or are they influenced by the almighty dollar to “do the wrong thing”?
Very few attempts at enacting social media specific legislation have been successful. Why is this? Will we start to see social media laws, requiring more transparency on the part of advertisers for example?
Do businesses expect to evaluate social media success with traditional measures like revenue, margins and leads, or are “softer” measures like engagement and brand awareness adequate return on social media investment?
Is executive blogging passé? Are corporate communicators writing blogs on behalf of CEOs and other senior executives?
Do consumers trust social media? With the frequent social media hoaxes, like the case of the fake ExxonMobil account on Twitter, do we need better ways to authenticate corporate social media?
These are some of the big questions I’ve been thinking about. Please leave a response of any length below. If you’re passionate about any of these questions, have at it. Or add your own questions. Consider it an invitation to write a guest post for my blog. You guys are the smart ones. I want to know what YOU think.
I was quoted in today’s Launch magazine in Do’s and Don’ts of Using Social Internet Sites for Business. In the article, I offer the following advice on adding and interacting with contacts on various social networks:
“Don’t forget your manners.
While nearly all social networks have rules for participation (don’t post obscenities or copyrighted material, for example), the etiquette for adding people to each network is defined by the mores of those on the network, Postman says. He offers a few guidelines:
Users should be particularly careful to avoid the appearance of flirtation and inappropriate comments and messages. Use the same rules as you would in the workplace.
Don’t send blatantly commercial messages. Business networking is OK. Shameless promotion and cold calling is not.
If the network allows, give the person you are inviting some context for the invitation.
Do not take it badly if someone declines or ignores your invitation to connect. That’s their option.”
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