Friday, January 17, 2014

To Unfollow or Not?

I'm over at From the Write Angle today talking about Twittequette (Twitter Etiquette). I enjoy the Twitter-verse because it's a no pressure way to make connections with lots of interesting people and to learn a ton. Plus it's fun!

But some people don't seem to understand the unwritten rules and they drive me bonkers ... at least until I unfollow them. My biggest pet peeve is the self promo fanatics. They never tweet about anything or anyone else.

And it's not just on Twitter, I've seen it with a few (very few) bloggers as well. They only talk about themselves and their products. It's probably the same with folks on FB (which I still haven't joined!) and the other social media forums. People don't change their personalities despite the change in venues!

I actually don't unfollow lightly, and I've only done it on Twitter. I know some people unfollow blogs as well, but I tend to just not revisit.

What's your unfollow style? What are some of the reasons you unfollow people?

I haven't unfollowed anyone on Twitter yet, though that is really annoying. I'm new there, but am starting to use lists to really keep track of the people who I want to interact with.

I have started unfollowing blogs. I usually unfollow small blogs of unpublished authors where the person never visits me. I just don't have time to keep reading blogs for people who don't follow back. I understand I won't get visits with a published author or an industry person and don't expect to be followed back.

I try to be more selective about my follows. I check out the profile, and if their feed is full of nothing but self-promotion, quotes from others, or RTs, I don't follow. I look for bits of conversation and interaction.

As for unfollowing someone I already chose to follow -- I've done that if their tweets are offensive, if they fill up my feed with a long string of promos for other authors (with whom they obviously have an agreement) or if they tweet promos during major tragic events ... which proves the tweets are pre-scheduled and the person isn't even there, let alone looking to interact.

I don't use Twitter much (isn't it a lot of noise?) so I can't really comment on that. Regarding blogs, I have unfollowed those who never visit back. Especially when I've repeatedly left comments on their blogs but they're too busy or uninterested to visit me. Simple etiquette I believe.

It's important to take the "me" out of the equation for most posts and tweets, because you're interacting with others. Inflating oneself most of the time is obnoxious. I sparingly tweet about my work. I do it the most for contests and releases, but even then every tweet isn't about me.

I don't do Twitter (which has been described to me as one huge cocktail party and I'm not a fan of those to begin with!).

But I can see unfollowing someone if all they do is talk about their book or feature other books without discussing whether they've actually READ the book their featuring. In other words: their blog/twitter/status/whatever is just an advertisement for them or someone else. I like to know what the blogger feels. I'd like to see a discussion. I want to see the person!

Oh, I know what you mean about self-promo and Twitter. Usually I don't unfollow...it would have to be pretty egregious. Sometimes I get @ mentions with spammy book marketing--if it's repetitive, I'm blocking it. But I rarely look at my Twitter stream, so that's why I'm more immune to it.

I cannot stand people who follow you on twitter, you follow them back because they're writers too, and then a month or so later, they drop all their followers in order to look popular. Kills me! I want to shake them. It's not going to win them any friends or fans. How do they not get that? Great post, Jemi!

Not really. I'm not on enough to follow or unfollow lately! Well, actually once I did unfollow someone on twitter who constantly used foul language. I should probably go through my blog list and at least unfollow all the blogs that haven't had posts in a few years! Christy

I don't unfollow blog posts either but I've started to unfollow a lot of Twitter people. It's for all the reasons you mention, constant self-promotion, plus unnecessary vulgarity or general unpleasant tweets. I also have problems with those who RT everything. I end up being forced to look at their choice of Twitter people as well as my own!

You might realise that this sort of posting that I very much relate to. Oh, before I continue. Great post! Thanks for sharing!

Actually, I have noticed a number of bloggers who only talk abut themselves, never interact, never respond to comments. All they do is blatantly self-promote. Some of them really get on my nerves. They might create some so-called caring, sharing blog hop and all they really are doing is trying to accumulate more followers. I find that very sad.

I have only unfollowed a couple of blogs. They fell into the smug, arrogant category I mentioned above.

I'm not on Twitter yet, but endless self-promotion would annoy me, too.

I haven't really unfollowed blogs, but there are a lot less bloggers posting regularly, so it hasn't much of an issue for me. When I comment on a blog, I appreciate when the blogger comments back, sends an email, or visits my blog. It wouldn't cause me to unfollow him/her if he/she doesn't, but I might visit less frequently.

It's very rare that I would unfollow someone on twitter, but constant self-promotion would do it. It's really in poor taste.I think people are just learning the rules for courteous tweeting, but it just seems like common sense!

I have more of those who follow me at Twitter than those whom I follow :) I don't follow those with a small number of followers because those are always suspicious. And I also unfollow blogs here too if their owners never had the courtesy to visit my place and leave a comment :) And I unfollow those who do not follow back. I'm precious :) and they should know it :)

I am trying desperately to walk that very fine line this week with my release! Feel free to call me out over there if i get to annoying--seriously. :)

The main reason I started the 2nd account you found me on is just what you're saying. When I go back to my original account it's pretty much _all_ author promotion. No chatting, no fun, no camaraderie.

You'll notice the *much* smaller amount of folks I have on the 2nd account--I'm very choosy about whom I follow/follow back because I don't want a repeat of account number 1.

Linda - that's what I do too. Twitter is actually not too bad for a time suck. I find I can spend a couple of minutes here and there and keep in contact with friends without much time. Plus it can be fun :)

Me. Me. Me is a turnoff. Actually, I'd be bored if I did that. I like talking and learning about other people. They have a lot of ideas and write super books. By acknowledging that I learn so much and I stay excited by what I'm doing.

I love Twitter and go through phases of being on it a lot, especially when I get into conversations with other writers/friends. When I need to get writing done I stay away though, because I find it so addictive. I only tend to unfollow if someone DMs me as soon as I've followed with a link to their blog/book. Also I unfollow if offensive/very political or loads and loads of RTs. Re blogging, I always try to comment back and keep a list.

What a fascinating post! I do unfollow people every now and then. I usually will comment on someone's blog about 5 times before I unfollow. If they haven't come back after I have commented 5 times I figure we are not really interacting and my time could be better spent reading other blogs and building a relationship. Like you, I find it hard when I visit a site (twitter, Facebook, a blog, etc.) that is all about the author and their books and nothing else. I like to have authors post about themselves and their books, but it is nice to be able to comment on other posts and topics. :)