There is many a time when quality is more important than quantity. Twitter followers is one of them. Maybe it is just me, but if you follow me and your Twitter handle is @fatmamalove, @SEOmillions @IdahoTreasHunt @candycrib or @xhgkuril I’m going to block you.
Not because I think I’m so special but for very different reasons. If someone who is interested in what I do chooses to follow me for the the reasons I am on Twitter (to build business within the legal arena, exchange of ideas, referrals and some fun conversation) I don’t want them checking out my followers and seeing @kissmybutt on the first page along with avatars of women spreading their legs telling me I can win a free laptop (or lap dance), whatever. I wouldn’t want them putting their professional avatar next to naked women or men. Someone suggested it makes no difference who your followers are. Really? This was one of my most recent followers – first on my page of followers. (Warning: X-rated) I suggest it does make a difference.
Online reputation comes in many forms and this includes not just who you are following on Twitter, but who you are permitting to follow you. It remains a form a marketing in a more subtle way. It still impacts your professional image.
There is something very right, not wrong, with taking a moment each day and blocking those who add nothing to your Twitter experience but have the potential to detract from your professional image. (I’m not saying some haven’t slipped through the cracks with me, but I check and block daily.)
Please do not confuse this with eliminating followers who reflect your personal interests like baseball or gardening or wine. This also sends a message, a good one, that you are well rounded and have an interest others can relate to and share with you.
It’s not that hard to get an e-mail notification when someone new follows you on Twitter. Then check them out. If they add to your Twitter experience follow back. If they don’t but they are harmless, don’t block them from following what you have to say. But if they can’t possibly have any real interest in you and could quite possibly reflect poorly on you – block them. It’s that simple.
But do take heed. When I see others in the legal field with 19,000 followers and they brag about this and then I check out their followers to find every spammer in creation it speaks volumes to me about the individual and I do hesitate to hit the follow button. Fair? You decide.
Just typing out loud.
When I receive a spam email with a fake address that ends in “target.com” or with “UPS tracking number” in the subject line, I don’t feel that the sometimes vulgar content reflects on these companies at all. As well, I don’t believe people check a user’s followers list with a critical eye. If they see followers with obvious profanity or other objectionable names or avatars, they most likely won’t click on them.
Since there is no automated way to handle this today in Twitter, unlike email, I believe having followers of this nature is not a negative. These spam followers don’t reflect poorly on your image, they are a price of doing business and being a prolific poster on Twitter.
I’m a enthusiastic proponent of caretaking and pruning one’s social media presence. I agree that if we all have enough time to do this, it’s one more way to present a positive and professional image to our clients and friends. However, there are so many social media tasks already on my list, I simply don’t wish to take the time to address something that few if any folks will view. Likewise, I don’t have accounts on dozens of social networks, even though one could say that I should to do social media the right way because it would take up too much time for little return. Handling these notifications to check and see whether you want to block a user may take a moment, but if it’s an interruption to your flow, the time/attention cost is much higher.
On the law of unintended consequences front, blocking a spam Twitter account could be akin to clicking on a link in a spam email or loading its tracked images. Doing so proves you are a real person who monitors Twitter, not another spam account like themselves. Just as a list of valid email addresses is much more valuable than an unverified one, a list of valid Twitter accounts may be more valuable to these spammers very soon.
Hi Susan. Thank you for writing this post. I recently cleaned up my followers/following (takes SO much time). But I found, once I did it, it only takes a few minutes every few days to stay up on it.
I agree with everything you have said. It’s apalling what is going on with the twitter spammers and the “traffic machines.” How do we escape it???
Linda, you don’t ‘escape’ it, you manage it
I find a minute or two a day when I check my e-mails is a small price to pay.
Great tip. Also worth mentioning – don’t automatically follow those who follow you unless you want to unwittingly end up following the link in Susan’s post!
I’ve been doing that, but these sleazy followers won’t shake off my coat-tails after I block them. They’ve been in my list for at least two days, and it’s been even longer in the past. Is this just the way it is, or am I supposed to something other than block them?
Thanks,
Doreen
Unfortunately, right now there is very little to do but purge. Think of it as swatting flies. It’s unpleasant but it must be done or otherwise they are all over your picnic food.
I completely agree with you that the numbers are irrelevant.
One trick I use is to check my followers only around every month or so to determine who I should follow back. I find that doing that leads most of the spammers to just disappear on their own because they are really only following me to get me to follow back so they can add to their own numbers. When I do not follow back right away, they flee.
Good point, Dan. When I block, though, they can’t follow, again, which is a time-saver, too. Your suggestion is definitely a huge because now you are only purging once a month instead of daily or even weekly. I’ve also noticed Twitter is getting very good about getting rid of spammers on their own so they may actually (hopefully) be doing the job for us in some ways.