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3 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Follow Friday Experience

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Twitter And Follow Friday Follies

I have put off writing on this topic for months now. It’s been on my mind for the longest time and I haven’t written about it because I didn’t want to rain on anyone’s parade. (Not to mention I thought it was pretty trivial considering the homeless, the oppressed and the sick and dying of the world)

I put a category on here for social media self for a reason. I’ve decided, screw it. If anyone’s offended so be it. My heart is in the right spot. 🙂

So here are the 3 things about #followfriday on Twitter that I hope you consider before you participate this this week.

*ALL names below are to the best of my knowledge fictitious and do not bear any resemblance to anyone on twitter. If you find your name below…oops. Complete coincidence.

1. The #followfriday Mashup

I think you’ve seen them. Short lists with 3 to 5 peeps with at least a little understanding of why to follow, makes sense to me. But what doesn’t…

iamatwittergod #FF @get100000followersnow @youareawesome @myunderwearisblue @mysocksarepinktoo @twitterisdumb @getmorefollowers @youaremyfollower @followmeimcool @ilovecorn @getprettywhiteteethnow @cabbageisyummy @canisqueezeonemorein

Ok so I was TOTALLY guilty of this one way back when. I get it, your heart is in the right spot. You’re basically endorsing people you like. You’re calling attention to a mass of people who you admire and believe add value to your twittering experience. I get it.

Here is where I started waking up. I mean, on a Friday when you see about 100 of these things go by they just start to run together. I used to pick a person who I enjoyed their tweets and go through a few of theirs, but after a while It just lots it’s luster.

The sincerity was lost for me. It was the equivelant of someone running up to me in a networking event, shouting a bunch of names at me to check out and then running off to the next person. Extreme? Maybe but true for me never the less. Not to mention I don’t have time to weed through the list to find someone I may have some common interests with.

I realize it’s work to actually do a followfriday like this:

mytwitterrule @beeniebabiesRus is one of the coolest authorities on beanie babies! He interacts with you with his extensive knowledge. Very cool guy! #FF

I understand you can’t do that with 150 people but I do also understand easy always runs deep in the herd.

If you’re going to do it, do it with sincerity and give us a solid reason. This makes you stand out amongst the herd and you provided value to me by giving me a reason why. People with more authority are not going to take the time to go through your mashups.

2. The #followfriday Train of Mashups

This one had me jump up and want to cut my fingers off after a while, you know this one has to erk you as well.

iamatwittergod2 #FF @blog4cashtoday @mybrandisbetterthanyours @iamapornbot @worthlesstwitteraccount @eatabanana @anothergooglebizop @workfromhometoday @workfromhomeyesterday @make10milliondollarsnow @kmartiscool @browneggsmakemesick @thisisanautotweet

iamatwittergod2 #FF continued: @mymomissantaclause @get100000morefollowerstoday @followmeimgodoftwitter @makequickcashnow @positivequotes @morepositivequotes @evenmorepositivequotes @theultimatepositivequotelist @spammeimontwitter @youlovethispost @greeneggsandspam

iamtwittergod2 #FF continued even more @forexiscool @makezillionswithforex @forextradingontwitter @tweetandbepretty @mylistisbiggerthanyours @ilovefollowfriday @didimentioniloveforex @twitterguru @chrisvossisnotaguru @iautomatemytwitterlistandsoshouldyou

I think you get the point. I’m sorry but this is not sincere to me, nor does it make me want to dig in and follow your recommendations. If anything it makes me hit the unfollow button because I can see you’re really not either aware of what it means to personally engage or you’re just really good at copy & paste.

3. RT’ing Someone Elses Mashup

This is the one where I just lost my noodles. I really can’t think of anything lazier than retweeting someone else’s mashup list. I mean for the reasons already stated above I can’t handle it. But when I see someone who just RT’s someone elses mashup it reeks of insincerity.

imabettertwittergod RT iamatwittergod2 #FF @blog4cashtoday @mybrandisbetterthanyours @iamapornbot @worthlesstwitteraccount @eatabanana @anothergooglebizop @workfromhometoday @workfromhomeyesterday @make10milliondollarsnow @kmartiscool @browneggsmakemesick @thisisanautotweet @mynameischrisvoss

I’m sorry, this is the fastest way for me to ignore you or even delete you off my friends list these days. It’s just lazy.

I’ll see imatwittergod send out a mashup and less than 30 seconds later I see imabettertwittergod RT the same list. Does he even know anyone on the first list? Did he take the time to really give a great recommendation?

Probably not. Hence, zero reputation with me.

Am I Being a #followfriday Scrooge

Not at all. I still thank people for their #followfriday acknowledgments but I myself don’t engage in it. Maybe I will again but I haven’t in the past few months. I remember @chrisbrogan saying he doesn’t participate in #followfriday because it disrupts the discussion. But then again I’m not Chris Brogan.

I mean #followfriday has a lot of great spirit behind it I believe and I did make one of, what I consider mistakes, above in the beginning. However I learned from becoming aware and really stepping back for a second and going, “wait, would I do that in person?”

I know not everything we do on twitter totally relates to being in person but it’s pretty damn close.

Remember social media has the power to expose or promote you and everything you do is a reflection of that. In my personal opinion social media exposes your social skills so take the time to stand out and really give a few solid recommendations this Friday. Let’s create a better quality experience for everyone.

Hell I may even participate now. 😉

Have anything to add or want to gripe about my post? You know where the comments are!

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Comments

  5. Sharla says

    I totally love your post and think you are so right on.

    I too used to use the massive mash of suggested people to follow and really found it to be ineffective. Plus, I feel that it kinda gives that feeling of “throwing names against a wall and seeing who sticks” versus really sharing insight on why someone should befriend this great person in your twitter world.

    I love your post, I love that you’ve created the Social Media Self section-RIGHT ON THE MONEY!!!

    Hey have you seen me hanging from silks yet?
    http://bit.ly/4YQJ2w

  6. Sharla says

    I totally love your post and think you are so right on.

    I too used to use the massive mash of suggested people to follow and really found it to be ineffective. Plus, I feel that it kinda gives that feeling of “throwing names against a wall and seeing who sticks” versus really sharing insight on why someone should befriend this great person in your twitter world.

    I love your post, I love that you’ve created the Social Media Self section-RIGHT ON THE MONEY!!!

    Hey have you seen me hanging from silks yet?
    http://bit.ly/4YQJ2w

  7. tony says

    Thanks Sharla! I’m glad you dig the Social Media Self section. Seems there are quite a few peeps who think it makes sense lol. I saw your hanging from the silks news cast! Veddy Nice! Mostly I’m glad you had the insight to realize the “bulk follow’s” are just that, bloated. Trim the fat 😉

  8. tony says

    Thanks Sharla! I’m glad you dig the Social Media Self section. Seems there are quite a few peeps who think it makes sense lol. I saw your hanging from the silks news cast! Veddy Nice! Mostly I’m glad you had the insight to realize the “bulk follow’s” are just that, bloated. Trim the fat 😉

  9. tony says

    You bet Dawn! Thanks for stopping by, I KNOW you must have liked it if you commented lol. Much appreciated! Let’s spread the word 😉

  10. tony says

    You bet Dawn! Thanks for stopping by, I KNOW you must have liked it if you commented lol. Much appreciated! Let’s spread the word 😉

  33. Misty says

    Tony, this is a great post. I am a twitter promoter and fan of the #FollowFriday concept. However, lately, for me it has become difficult to keep up. I sincerely appreciate and welcome recommendations. I give them myself freely, to those who engage with me on twitter and brighten my experience. In recent weeks, I have noticed others giving #follow shouts at random, and I appreciate this sincere approach. I use a few different methods: retweeting a blog post, tweeting a link to someone’s blog, FB page, YouTube, etc., or just a simple #follow recommendation for someone I enjoying following. So, I will try to take the same approach during #FollowFriday / #FF going forward.

    Thanks again for the thoughtful post! 🙂

  34. Misty says

    Tony, this is a great post. I am a twitter promoter and fan of the #FollowFriday concept. However, lately, for me it has become difficult to keep up. I sincerely appreciate and welcome recommendations. I give them myself freely, to those who engage with me on twitter and brighten my experience. In recent weeks, I have noticed others giving #follow shouts at random, and I appreciate this sincere approach. I use a few different methods: retweeting a blog post, tweeting a link to someone’s blog, FB page, YouTube, etc., or just a simple #follow recommendation for someone I enjoying following. So, I will try to take the same approach during #FollowFriday / #FF going forward.

    Thanks again for the thoughtful post! 🙂

  35. tony says

    Outstanding Misty! Thank you for stopping by and for the great feedback. I realize we can’t change the twitterverse but we can make a difference in the quality of our engagement. I’m not saying this is all write or wrong. It’s just my standards and I seem to get a lot more value from these kinds of exchanges rather than the shotgun effect. Thank you again for stopping by and contributing. 🙂

  36. tony says

    Outstanding Misty! Thank you for stopping by and for the great feedback. I realize we can’t change the twitterverse but we can make a difference in the quality of our engagement. I’m not saying this is all write or wrong. It’s just my standards and I seem to get a lot more value from these kinds of exchanges rather than the shotgun effect. Thank you again for stopping by and contributing. 🙂

  43. Therese Miu says

    Hi Tony, I’ll be following your advice my friend. I have done all the points you mentioned here hehe 😉 Yup guilty!

    I’ve done the mash ups in the past for sure. I still do enjoy #FF I have followed incredible people from there even when they are not formally introduced only because I respect the person I’m following since when he/she recommends someone I definitely want to follow that person too. I have participated in it.

    But more importantly these days I just want to give a simple ALOHA/MAHALO shout outs to my fave tweeples. Just creating the friendship in a holistic approach whether its RT a quote, to RT a Blog, to saying Hi, and having a regular conversation, to wishing them a great weekend, etc..

    But for sure Tony I do believe every word you said here including “Let’s create a better quality experience for everyone.”

    However I think if you do participate in #FF I would definitely add those people you mention hehe 😉 Just my way of staying in alignment with cooL & enlightened people.

    Thanks for the abundance you shared here. It is evident you know what your talking about and I respect you for sharing this post with all of us here =)

    Thanks Tony

  44. Therese Miu says

    Hi Tony, I’ll be following your advice my friend. I have done all the points you mentioned here hehe 😉 Yup guilty!

    I’ve done the mash ups in the past for sure. I still do enjoy #FF I have followed incredible people from there even when they are not formally introduced only because I respect the person I’m following since when he/she recommends someone I definitely want to follow that person too. I have participated in it.

    But more importantly these days I just want to give a simple ALOHA/MAHALO shout outs to my fave tweeples. Just creating the friendship in a holistic approach whether its RT a quote, to RT a Blog, to saying Hi, and having a regular conversation, to wishing them a great weekend, etc..

    But for sure Tony I do believe every word you said here including “Let’s create a better quality experience for everyone.”

    However I think if you do participate in #FF I would definitely add those people you mention hehe 😉 Just my way of staying in alignment with cooL & enlightened people.

    Thanks for the abundance you shared here. It is evident you know what your talking about and I respect you for sharing this post with all of us here =)

    Thanks Tony

  45. tony says

    Therese, I’ve been guilty of all of this and MORE lol. I think in the beginning I’ve done every Twitter sin there is haha. There are no wrong or right experiences, these are only my perceptions and should only be taken as my points of view. (However good I may be believe it is haha) I’ve bowed out of #FF for sometime now. I will continue to recommend people as I have and use my blog posts every so often to connect people. (I feature my top 6 or so people and share their blog & twitter handle) Not everyone has a blog but I’ve found it creates community and connects lots of people together that may not have known one another. You my friend are an excellent connector! One of the best and most giving friends I am connected to. So here’s a big ALOHA/MAHALO to you my friend!

  46. tony says

    Therese, I’ve been guilty of all of this and MORE lol. I think in the beginning I’ve done every Twitter sin there is haha. There are no wrong or right experiences, these are only my perceptions and should only be taken as my points of view. (However good I may be believe it is haha) I’ve bowed out of #FF for sometime now. I will continue to recommend people as I have and use my blog posts every so often to connect people. (I feature my top 6 or so people and share their blog & twitter handle) Not everyone has a blog but I’ve found it creates community and connects lots of people together that may not have known one another. You my friend are an excellent connector! One of the best and most giving friends I am connected to. So here’s a big ALOHA/MAHALO to you my friend!

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