Why I don’t autofollow on Twitter

The autofollow on Twitter is where a program automatically follows back anyone who follows you. Twitter used to have its own autofollow program limited to a few accounts on a trial basis but discontinued the program stating in an email to its users “We’re going to discontinue autofollow because this behavior sends the wrong message. Namely, it is unlikely that anyone can actually read tweets from thousands of accounts which makes this activity disingenuous.”

Basically what Twitter was stating was my approach to using the service. It is the same reason I use no automated programs to generate my tweets either. One exception may be that in the future I may use a WordPress plugin to tell my followers that I have written a new blog post, but I am contemplating even that as not a correct use of twitter. Twitter is about me and about you and about the connections that can be made between the two of us or in the case of several twitter users the thousands of us. It is personal connection.

Now of course look at the level of my followers, currently 237 followers, so who I am to say what should and shouldn’t be done on Twitter – what the hell do I know? Well I know who to follow and to listen to what they are tweeting. Some of the bigger names in internet marketing and social marketing that are on twitter are complaining about Direct Message (DM) spam and some have even started campaigns to unfollow people, Eric Farewell (@ericfarewell) comes to mind. Others have turned off their autofollow programs such as Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) and still others have never used an autofollow system, Ed Dale (@Ed_Dale). These guys are heavy hitters in the internet marketing world and are not using autofollow for a reason. I may be stretching here but it maybe because it is not personal and does not really represent what they are trying to accomplish with twitter and that is to make personal connections. From a marketing perspective it is the quality of the connections that you have not the quantity of connections. I would much rather have a following of 1000 people that I can send something to and they will act on it because they have trust and actual interest in what I am saying vs even 100,000 followers that ignore what I say and do not act. The way to do this is not to autofollow every Tom, Dick and Harry that follows you. Instead follow those that you have an interest in what they are actually saying. Now I realize some of you are getting over 20 followers a day (lucky you!) so then you should do what I do, follow only those that start to make connections with you. Anyone that @’s me and takes a real interest in what I am saying deserves to have their profile examined and usually gets a follow back. A person that takes action and joins in the conversation is someone I am interested in finding out what they are saying. These are the people that are the shakers and movers, the ones with opinions, the interesting people, the ones with actually something to say – the people I really want to follow. So if you are one of those people and you are following me and would like me to follow back just @ me, or respond to a tweet, or even retweet one of my tweets if you like it. Let me know you are alive and breathing and not some automated robot that just happened upon the keywords I put into a tweet.

I truly believe that I will be able to generate a lot more quality followers just by reply, respond and retweeting what others are saying. Joining in the conversation and saying something of interest is what gets more followers not autofollowing.