Web Development Tips

Everyone these days has been offering advice on how to use Twitter. Sometimes
that advice is judgmental. But Twitter is a tool than can be wielded in many
different ways. There’s no one size fits all solution that works for everyone.
Last year most of the Twitter advice I saw was focused on practicalities. Instructions
were shared on how to use #hashtags to
indicate a topic, using RT
to ReTweet, when to DM
(direct message), where to find people worth following, etc. There was
also plenty of advice on Twitter
etiquette, but now that seems to have gone past the Emily
Post phase.

Now there seems to be more of an inclination to suggest that Twittering “this
way” instead of “that way” is the preferred way to behave in the Twitter social
sphere. While there are many rules that polite Tweeters should follow, such
as not being insulting, others are more subjective and depend on each user’s
situation. Who we follow and what we Tweet are two subjects that seem to get
people worked up. Today I’d like to focus on the "who to follow" debate
and whether or not this is an issue of etiquette.

First a few thoughts on manners

Manners allow us to put others at ease. These “polite” rules are designed
to smooth interactions between individuals. They provide us with a framework
so that we can behave in a manner that makes people comfortable and doesn’t
cause embarrassment or discord.

If we follow the rules of manner—within our particularly society—then
we can all play nicely in the same sandbox without squabbling over each other’s
toys or making someone cry. In most circumstances, we can follow the same general
rules on Twitter that we would in regular society. We just need to think of
parallels found in the outside world and keep in mind that Twitter is global.

The international nature of Twitter means we should be considerate of differing social
mores. For example, those of us used to an American confrontational style
should keep in mind that this style may be discomfiting to our friends in Asia
and the Middle East—where the practice of allowing others to “save face” is
more common. Those of us tweeting in English should also consider the differences
in American and British variants of the language. Avoiding words that have
different meanings across the pond can will help us communicate more clearly
and in a manner that won’t offend.

Must we follow back?

Assuming we’ve all agreed to play nicely in the Twitter sandbox, what are
the rules when it comes to following? I’ve had people tell me, "I’m not going
to follow X. He doesn’t follow back his followers, he just wants to build numbers
so I’m not going to follow him." Personally if X provides useful information
I don’t care if he follows me back or not. If X posts self-indulgent marketing
garbage, that’s a different story, but I don’t think we can judge a Tweeter’s
value by their following policy alone.

What do you think? Is a user’s following policy a question
of etiquette or personal preference? Must we follow
back everyone who follows us? Should we automatically rebuff those who don’t?

Some say following back one’s followers is the correct and polite thing to
do. They accuse the twitterati who follow few, but are followed by many, of
being anti-social Twitter snobs who don’t want to engage the community but
just want the attention. But is that a fair accusation? Does it apply to everyone?

What would Emily Post say?

To get a better sense of whether this is an issue of etiquette, I’d like
to compare following habits to two real world situations.

1. Do you send holiday cards to everyone who sends one to you? I don’t,
but I’ve never made it a practice to send cards. If I did, I’d draw up
a list based on my friends and family. I wouldn’t include the paint contractors,
real estate agents, printers and others who are hoping to do business with
me. Nor would I send one to every person with whom I’ve made an acquaintance.
I’d probably have a set budget for cards and a certain allotment of time
to spend on them. Thus I’d focus my finite resources on the people I think
would be most happy to hear from me during the holidays.

2. Are we expected to
attend every event to which we’re invited? Must we invite everyone (who
invites us) to all of our own events? No. I’m sure most people would like
it if we could attend all of their events. But they also understand that
our time is limited, we may have conflicting obligations. Similarly they
know that we can’t invite them to all of our own parties due to costs,
space limitations, different interest groups, etc.

There are many reasons we may choose not to accept an invitation, and it is
perfectly acceptable to RSVP in the negative without explaining our reasons.
Twitter should be no different.

Twitter Snobs: define them by intentional actions rather than follower ratios

Given that I see no moral or societal obligation for users to follow back
their followers, that doesn’t mean that we don’t see bad follower habits on
Twitter. But instead of judging a Tweeter as a snob based on his/her follower/followee
ratio, what if we thought instead about intentions.

Good Twitter Intentions

Many popular Tweeters, be they actors or tech celebrities follow few but are
followed by many. While some have campaigned on podcasts and T. V. to get more
followers, many others have not. These people are followed by many simply because
many people like the content they produce.

Such Tweeters follow few others for their own reasons.
Often they just want to manage their lists so they can focus on the people
who produce the content that is of most interest to them. This could mean that
they are only following friends, family, peers in their field or anyone else
that seems appropriate.

I have no problem with this. The primary value I get from Twitter is the information
shared by my fellow Tweeters. Many of these people feel the same way. If we
somehow forced these folks to follow us all back in return, then they’d be
stuck sifting through over-crowded Twitter streams wasting time trying to
find the information they really want. I see no reason to make their lives
more difficult just to appease my ego.

Bad Twitter Intentions

Yes there are Twitter snobs. Some people are online to gain followers rather
than to gain information. We see these people following hundreds at a time—with
a motive of gaining followers—then
quickly unfollowing them all to boost their ratio and seem cool. I would consider
this to be bad behavior because they initiated the action—to make people
follow them—yet had no intention of continuing
the relationship or engaging in conversation.

Such people often provide other clues that can help distinguish them as snobs
or spammers. They may have an annoyingly polished profile picture, tweet about
their follower count repeatedly, identify themselves as some sort of expert
(though you are in their field and have never heard of them) and tweet about
themselves or their projects without engaging in conversations or retweeting
links from regular people.

Collectively their Twitter usage habits show that their goals are not to engage
with the community but instead to promote their product, service or ego.

Let’s give the popular tweeps a break.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting more followers. For those of us who have
something to market, it’s helpful to build our follower lists. My Tweeting
patterns are mostly about sharing ideas and conversations, but if Tweeting
can bring more readers to my blog, or help me find clients in need of my Web
services, then a larger following will help. That said, I still prefer to use
a targeted approach. I seek out people who share interesting insights and
ideas and may also find value in what I share. Conversation comes first, marketing
second.

I’m not one of the "popular tweeps" but I think many of them share
a similar attitude. Instead of judging them on their followee/follower ratios,
let’s judge them on how they play in our Twitter sandbox overall. I’m not saying
you have to start following these people if it doesn’t suit your strategy.
But if you’re snubbing Tweeters because you think they have snubbed you,
you may be missing out on people who really aren’t as evil or rude
as you think.

Heidi’s following policy

I follow back most of the people who follow me, but not all. I get 5-25 requests
a day, so I visit each, skim their profile and Tweets, then follow back if
they don’t seem to be spam, aren’t on some popularity quest and share a sufficient
variety of Tweets to seem interesting. That said, as my numbers build I am
becoming a bit more finicky. I’m beginning to look more closely and not follow
people whose Tweets are so narrow in focus or so out of my topic range that
we’re not likely to converse.

More on Twitter following attitudes

• Ari Herzog: Can You Help My Twitter Growing Pains?*
• Ari Herzog: Why My Twitter Train is Stopping*
• Inside the Minds of Twitter Users
• To Follow or Not to Follow; that is the Question
• Twitter Follow Rules – Who To Follow

* My friend Ari recently experimented with different Twitter following
strategies. He’d been following few, then tried following all. That became
overwhelming so he went back to following fewer than he had originally. These
articles walk us through the process and the issues he considered in making
his decision.

Genesis: Follow You Follow Me

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Somehow I don’t think Twitter was what Phil Collins had in mind.

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