Do you Unfollow?

Posted by Gabe on November 21, 2009 under Ask Gabe, Twitter, Twitter for Beginners | 3 Comments to Read

I was just asked a question by @RightonMom that, although I have talked about similar situations in the past, I don’t believe I have dealt specifically with this question. So here goes:

“Do you unfollow those who unfollow you?”

The answer to that at least for me is yes and no.  No because I do not monitor who “unfollows” me.  There are tools out there that supposedly email you when you are unfollowed but quite frankly I found them to be unreliable.  I also discovered that I have so much I have to keep track of on a daily basis that the last thing I need is to add something else to that list.

But where the answer becomes “yes” is when I am “massaging” my follower ratio.  Two things I have been consistent with in my Twitter journey are 1) Making no bones about the fact that I do seek out followers, or more specifically connections — the more people who know about Kids Are Heroes the better for us.  (Having said that I will not and have never purchased followers nor have opted in to sites that claim to get you more.) 2) I manage my follower ratio by unfollowing those who do not follow me back or end up unfollowing me.  This practice increases the chances of getting more connections, which is my ultimate goal.  Think about it.  If someone unfollows me they have made a statement that they are not interested in my subject matter.  So how can I connect with that person?  Now does that bother me?  Absolutely not.  There are plenty of subjects that I am not interested in so that may be the reason I do not follow a particular person.  But that is no reflection on the originator of the tweet.

Twitter is such a wonderful tool — through its use I have garnered so many connections that have helped us along the way.  I am always very active on Twitter in the pursuit of new connections.  Mind you this is not intended to be one-sided.  I try also to help as many people as I can.  That’s why I write about Twitter – I have been told that these posts are helpful to some and I am glad to do it.

So how do I actually do this?  When you follow as many people as I do it becomes more and more difficult to keep track.  Luckily there are tools out there to help.  My tool of choice has been Huitter (Mutuality).  That tool is great as it will automatically unfollow all who are not following you.  That’s when I discovered it costs money to use it after a while.  Well I am cheap so I sought out another alternative.  The best one I found was TwitIn by InRev (using their “Flush” utility).  It requires much more work on your part as it is much more interactive, but it’s still free and you are not really bulk unfollowing which can get you in a spot of trouble with the Twitter police.

So that is what I do anyway. Not saying it’s the only way, just my way. I know there are a lot of conflicting opinions on this subject out there, so let’s hear ‘em. :)