Twitter Reciprocal Following: Ack!
November 16th, 2009 | by Mitchell Allen |
Photo by lepiaf.geo
Early this summer, I started an experimental blog called OrangeJackass.com. It is a compendium of ideas, grouped into two categories, Sweet and Stupid.
One of the Stupid ideas was Twitter Reciprocal Following. Mind you, I don’t prejudge anything without experimenting and evaluating it first. However, it quickly became apparent that Twitter Reciprocal Following is a patently stupid idea. The OrangeJackass twitter account quickly amassed over one thousand followers, yet nobody said “boo!” to me. Worse, the click-through rates on my links were abysmal.
Unfortunately, as part of my experiment, I infected my main Twitter account. I will admit that I thought it would be pretty cool to “boost” my follower count. Sort of like Norman Osborn or any other mad scientist… So, I’ve been following a bunch of people I don’t even know, burying my friends in an avalanche of noise. An interesting graph depicting the typical break-down of followers can be found on Michael O’Connor Clarke’s Uninstalled blog.
Ironically, these systems keep adding followers, even when you supposedly opt-out. In fact, one unscrupulous service hijacked my twitter account! Therein lies the simple secret for regaining control.
Change your twitter password!
About the photo: Notice that none of the birds is paying attention to the others?
4 Responses to “Twitter Reciprocal Following: Ack!”
By Karen Malvorlagen Kostenlos on Nov 18, 2009 | Reply
I just wonder why you chose this picture for the article!?!
Interesting tips, thanks…I am going to change my twitter password right now!
[Reply]
Mitchell Allen Reply:
November 20th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Hi Karen,
Thanks for reading and I hope the tips help you!
I chose that picture because everyone else is using happy little bluebirds.
This image is bleak, cold and really looks like a bunch of twitterers that are simply ignoring each other
Cheers,
Mitch
[Reply]
By ashok on Jul 20, 2010 | Reply
On stumbleupon and delicious. When I was first on Twitter, I was not a fan of the number that wouldn’t follow when you followed and proved yourself credible. Then I realized – after I got bombarded by the 139847927349729th social media specialist or marketing guru – why that was.
ashok also wrote Emily Dickinson- “It is an honorable Thought” 946
[Reply]
Mitchell Allen Reply:
July 20th, 2010 at 6:33 am
Hi Ashok! Thanks for the link love.
I took nearly two years to start using my Twitter account, precisely because of reasons you mentioned: no attention and too many gurus. When I finally started using it, I didn’t have a plan, a clue or a roadmap through the social minefield.
I blew myself up quite a few times, as this posts attests. Now, I rarely use Twitter, except as a pass-through device for services that use its API.
Cheers,
Mitch
[Reply]