I’m not out to get anybody, in fact I’m very interested to know if these, to me, highly annoying methods work. I am not a social media queen like Katy Perry with 82+ million followers on Twitter. I just enjoy meeting real people and having real conversations, all though that is rare it does happen.
There are some habits though that usually occur in the inbox, that I can’t wrap my mind around. I would love to get your feedback on these. And please if you use any of the methods below, I would love to hear if they actually work.
They are annoying yes, but they must work to some degree, since people are still doing it. So please after you read through the post, leave a comment and share your experience.
Help me understand why some still use these…
4 Highly Annoying Habits on Twitter
1. A Sales Pitch Before Even Saying Hello,
Does it really work sending out an automated message saying, “buy this product” or even, “get my free gift”?
We all know that, that free gift will be followed by an offer, right. So do people buy or even sign up for free offers when given at the first contact, sometimes even without a hello.
To me it’s much more effective to try to build a relationship, to engage with my followers. If I see that my follower, after having a discussion with him or her, could benefit from a post I wrote, then sure I will send a link to that.
But, does the sales pitch before even saying Hello work?
2. Follow Me on…
If somebody does not want to engage on Twitter fine. But unless you are Brad Pitt, David Beckham or Gary Vaynerchuck I will not follow you on Facebook, Instagram or Linked In, if you ask me in your first private message, without any prior engagement.
Does that work? Do people jump off Twitter to interact with a person that they just met, who they have no relationship with, on another platform?
I can see that this might work if I’m growing my followers actively somewhere else… maybe.
If I get the chance to have a conversation, if I get the chance to see a couple of tweets then sure, if I enjoy the content, I might follow the person elsewhere.
For me I’m looking for quality, for relevant followers that I have things in common with. Not just to rank up my followers number.
Does this work? Do people follow on other platforms if that is the first thing asked to do?
3. Asking to Retweet or Like or Sign Up or…
I don’t know it just doesn’t sit right with me if the first thing somebody does is asking me to do something for them. Go retweet this post or sign up here…
If this is the first message, if we have had no prior engagement, I will probably not retweet the post or sign up for anything. Unless the cause is very very noble, although that is very rare.
I have found it to be very effective though to say “thank you” to the people that do retweet my content. They seem to retweet again. Also to retweet other peoples content that I find useful, without expecting anything back, seem to work well.
But, does it work, when retweet is the first thing you are asked to do?
4. The Follow Unfollow Game
It is very clear who plays this game when you use a tool like Crowdfire or Buffer for example. With social media tools like that you can see who follows and unfollows.
I see nothing wrong with unfollowing people you don’t have things in common with or you do not like what they post. But putting it into a system is just a waste of time.
If you follow me, I follow you, but YOU unfollow just to get the follow number down for yourself… I will unfollow you as well… See how that goes why follow me in the first place. Stop wasting time.
Sure not everybody will be using a tool and check this, I just don’t see the benefit.
What does it proof if you have a lot of followers but are following a few when you play the follow unfollow game?
I am truly interested why people do this.
I love Twitter when I can meet like minded people, have real conversations and engage with people that enjoy similar things I do. Some annoying habits going on there, sure, but overall it’s a great platform to interact with others.
What do you think? Do you find these things annoying? Do you find them effective?
If you use them, how do they benefit you or your business?
Would love to hear from you as always,
Have a productive day,
Vicky
Hey Vicky,
The short answer is because some people only have the me me me me me mentality on Twitter. I have about 8,000 Twitter messages that drive home this point. Really, can’t understand why so many people follow the sheep off the cliff.
I remember years back seeing programs where people developed programs to follow and unfollow. All this really does is jack up your Twitter follower count. It doesn’t do any good if 100,000 of those people could really care less if you exist or not. I would much rather have 5 loyal followers rather than 100,000 that never interact with me.
Do you have any tips for starting conversations with people on Twitter. Maybe, some things you should be doing, and things not to do?
Hi Garen,
Agree it comes down to relevant followers. People that you have things in common with…
Great suggestion for another article… What to do and not to do when “engaging” on twitter.
Thanks for your comment Garen,
Vicky
Hi Vicky! What a nice piece you’ve got here! I love your writings since I first stumbled on you on Twitter.
Really, you’ve got a point. The follow – unfollow game isn’t the best. The question to ask is this: “What’s the underlining reason for this?”
For me it’s simple. In my opinion I think everyone believes he/she has a message worth reading. So if I follow you, I see your tweets. However if one person fails to follow back then it means you can’t see my tweets in your timeline.
For some, it makes then feel important having more followers than following. And others just want to streamline the number of irrelevant tweets from their numerous followers so they unfollow. The mute option would have been just fine.
Also, when some other people follow random users, the aim might be to reach out to potential audience. However, the purpose is defeated if those users fail to follow back. With time, one is force to unfollow.
Another case is when two users follow one another and suddenly one stops following the other. The person who was unfollowed could be forced to imagine reasons for such actions.
When you @FridaysWVicky unfollowed me on Twitter I felt really bad and had to ask myself different questions. Could she have felt disturbed by my tweets? Am I flooding her timeline with irrelevant articles? Did I tweet something she didn’t like? and many more questions. But I can’t DM you if you ain’t following me. And I can’t tweet at you publicly to find out why.
Lastly, there are also some categories of people who just take pride in deceiving others. They follow you and the moment you follow back, give them some hours, they’ll unfollow. I think everyone should enjoy the benefit of following. It’s all about making everyone feel important. It’s really complicated.
We could go on and on the topic. Ok? I almost forgot this. Vicky I understand and I agree with you when you mentioned building a relationship first before asking to retweet or the automated messaging and all. I feel everyone just wants to make an impression as quickly as possible but sometimes the approach is what goes wrong.
Thanks Vicky!!! I am a fan of yours but you ain’t following me *smiles*
Hello,
Thank you for your comment.
I’m not referring to unfollow due to if the person is not following back or if you don’t have things in common or if the tweets does not interest you. Those things happens. I follow people, if they don’t follow me back I will unfollow them… That’s not the problem.
The problem is when people are waisting others time, playing the follow unfollow game.
If somebody follows me, they follow me back only to unfollow me, never make sense to me. Just to rack up their followers number with following few. I will then unfollow them, we are back at 0… nothing was achieved only time wasted.
Again if somebody follows me and don’t like what I put out there, I have no problem with them unfollowing me. It’s the people that put this game into a system I have a problem with.
I’m on Twitter to interact and engage with likeminded people. It’s a two way communication…
As far as me unfollowing you, feel free to share your Twitter tag and I will happily take another look. Flooding timeline, irrelevant and inappropriate content I will unfollow (not saying that what you delivered).
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your experience,
Vicky
Internet strategies are like a box of pennies with a button on the front that drops a penny for every button push. If you teach a 6 year old how it works they will push the button until all the pennies are gone, and then mindlessly continue pushing the button hoping more pennies will magically appear.
Some of these strategies may have worked for a little while years ago, but they keep trying and trying thinking somehow it might still work. It not only doesn’t work but is now counter-productive.
The best strategy is the one no one has thought of yet. 🙂
Gary
Hi Gary,
Very true… the internet is constantly changing and we should evolve with it though.
The best strategy is the one no one has though of yet! Love it!
Thank you for your input Gary,
Vicky
Slowly Twitter is becoming a closed network because of these habits you mention. Closed meaning there are too many people selling things to other people selling things. I often prefer other networks because I feel I am reaching more casual users than on Twitter. This will catch up with Twitter sooner or later and the result will not be good.
BTW….love your site and content Vicky. Very personable, real, useful and extremely relevant!
Steve
I totally agree with you, it is more and more becoming a closed network!
What social networks do you prefer engaging with your audience?
Thank you Steve, glad you like my site!
Vicky
Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest are all networks I prefer over Twitter.
I also really enjoy the intimacy and loyalty of the WordPress crowd.
Specifically The WordPress.com crowd because self-hosted WP sites do not tap into the WP community.
Facebook is so limiting with their throttling of organic content that it is no longer worth the time.
If Facebook were to one day open that back up I would use it more simply because of it’s size.
Right now it doesn’t matter how big they are, if I post something and they limit my post reach to 5-6 people their size does not help me in any way. The post reach does increase with high quality posts that get shared a lot but it is very hit and miss.
Steve
Tumblr, never got into it. Tell me more about Tumblr and their benefits please.
I totally agree with you when it comes to Facebook. They got too big, too greedy… Yeah the post limitation is a little crazy…
Thank you Steve for your feedback,
Vicky
Hi Vicky,
Thanks for the tips. I’m guilty of the first one, but just so intent on getting my message out to help women and probably come across as a salesman, which I’m not. Maybe everyone has some similar excuse. Anyway, thanks for your message!
By the way, I notice that you used “waisting.” It is “wasting.” I know, I guess I’m a writer.
All the best,
BD
Hi BD,
First, thank you for your honesty. I’m really curious and would like to know, does it work? Do you see any conversions sending an offer without engaging with your followers?
Thank you for the correction, I will fix that right away,
Vicky
Hello Vicki!
No, for me these methods don’t work! When I first started out online I used all the methods you mentioned, and it got me nowhere! Total waste of time!
Thank you Heidi, I agree with you!