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Maybe it’s time to stop tweeting

March 2, 2011 by Marc Gordon divider image

In case you haven’t noticed there’s a trend on Twitter where people follow as many accounts as possible in hopes they will be followed back.

While some view this method as a quick way to build a huge following, I believe it goes against everything that social media is all about – people getting to genuinely know and take an interest in each other.

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About the author

Marc Gordon is a professional speaker and marketing consultant based in Toronto, Canada. His firm, Fourword Marketing, specializes in helping companies create a strong corporate identity and develop effective marketing campaigns. Marc has worked with such companies as General Motors, Johnson & Johnson and Bally Total Fitness. However, his core client base is still startups and small business. To contact Marc, call him directly at (416) 238-7811 or visit www.marcgordon.ca

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  • Susan Varty

    Hey Marc,

    Thanks for the mention – but you kind of dissed my comment… I usually use searches and follows to just listen in on what’s going on. If you don’t do any competitive analysis, you can miss out on a lot of buzz and events going on in your industry.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment Susan. I agree with keeping your ear to the ground for industry news, as I know you and I both do. But I believe in doing a competitive analysis only when starting a marketing strategy. Successful businesses should be too busy making money to worry about what their competitors are saying.

  • http://www.yesfreeclass.com Phoenix Kong

    Hello Marc, as usual I like your Expert talk. Agreed or Not? Pro and Cons. You have mentioned there are only two major social medias to use, Facebook and Linkedin, as approved by you. Would you consider this emerging rough diamond: http://www.yesfreeclass.com And by the way, I would like to include your show on Yes! TV, would you be interested? How about a TV interview?

  • Anonymous

    HI Phoenix, of course there are lots of other SM sites, but as of today, Facebook and Linked in are by far the biggest in their fields, that’s why they got mentioned.

  • http://teachmequickbooks.com Grace

    Marc,

    I enjoyed the video. It was thought provoking.

    Denise

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Denise, glad you liked it.

  • Judycullins

    Wow, Marc, Another winner I totally agree with! Got me laughing too. Thinking of dumping tweets completely. My best traffic comes from blog and LI efforts and URL, so why bother? (Even if I do delegate it) .

    Your book coach who just updated my LI profile with key words–Love LInkedin,
    Judy Cullins

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Judy.

  • Jim pagiamtzis

    Marc You are right on. (BULLSEYE) with the information. All about focus and energy on what provides value to you clients and customers

  • Terry Holdershaw

    Awesome post, and looking forward to your episode on BOSS… I’m a member and love their systems
    Terry Holdershaw
    http://www.scotiaentertainment.com

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Jim. Always great to hear from you.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Terry. It will be a fun episode.

  • Anonymous

    Great video. Love the jump cuts!

    When I see any of these things in a Twitter account, I try to be as cautious as possible if I haven’t zapped ‘em completely:

    1. They call themselves SEO/SEM “experts” – in my opinion, SEO/SEM are part art and part science and virtually impossible to conquer. It’s like telling your sensei at the dojo that you don’t need to train anymore because you’ve got your blackbelt -> goodbye blackbelt (and maybe the ability to walk straight)

    …which brings me to this red flag…

    2. “I’m a social media NINJA!” C’mon…really? Ninja assassins were meant to stealthily find people, kill them and get out – quietly. Sounds like the perfect thing to call yourself <- sarcasm. Same goes for Samurai, a soldier trained (albeit ethically) to protect wealthy important people and to kill…not so quietly. I'd hesitate at someone calling themselves a social media expert. I might not zap 'em…I'd watch 'em.

    3. People with a gazillion followers and following same, but have no tweets! How the heck do they do that and why the heck do they want me! ZAP!

    4. So-called professionals who call themselves "social media experts, ninjas, samurais" but seem to only like the sight of their own tweets. No engagement. <- SO crucial if you want it to work…

    If I had to pick a nickname to add to my profile, in place of ninja, I might pick "Social Media Peter Pan". This has nothing to do with wearing tights or green or both. I rob from the rich and give to the poor. Or…I take really, really useful tools, ideas, tips and other things from interesting people and try to help those who want it, need it and are willing to pay for it. One of those people I might start robbing is you Marc.

    Good stuff.

    Stepping off soapbox…

    Sam Title
    Chief Executive Cofficer
    http://www.TheCoffice.biz

  • Speakwithease

    Marc, great information…now I don’t have to feel guilty when the odd person from California wants to connect and I scratch my head…Why? I work in the area I live in and don’t travel…and so why?
    Then it hit me…most of these people want to sell their services to my people and I don’t even know them. They have not earned there way into my life yet…That’s what the whole social media explosion has done.
    Your insights are always interesting. Tks
    The Shy Buster!

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the great email Sam. Feel free to rob away.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment!

  • http://twitter.com/john_pags John Pagliacci

    Hi Marc. As a newbie to the whole Twitter thing (yes, I know, where have I been all this time, right?!) I’ve been grappling with the question of how one manages so many “relationships” on Twitter, how one can possibly find the time to follow thousands of people amidst an already busy work schedule, and where’s the tangible benefit of it all. I have to agree with you that any relationship that isn’t based on something meaningful isn’t a quality relationship at all, so why bother?!

  • http://webtrafficseo.co.uk Mark

    Hey! I got a mention….Mark here (blogyourworld on Twitter).
    I can agree with you to an extent, but we all use Twitter in different ways, there is no set formula and if someone wants to follow lots of people, or not follow many, then good luck to them! There’s no law against it.
    Personally I follow a lot of people as it gives me more reach and if you look at my timeline you will se that I am VERY interactive, I will respond to just about everyone who talks to me. I don’t bang on about what I do for a living, but if people want to ask me and go to my site then that’s great. This to me is a good and ethical way to use Twitter, and to build personal and professional relationships.

    What we don’t want is any form of judgemental beahviour on how other’s use a system.

    With regard to having time on my hands…I wish! I try and put aside 10-15 minutes per day for Twitter but sometimes I can’t manage that.

    Anyway, thanks for the vid and mention, I did a post a few months ago which provoked a similar reaction, but it is always good to have the quality v quantity debate.

    Cheers!

    Mark

  • Paul Lima

    Agree. 100%. I only follow people if I want to read their tweets, no matter why they might follow me.

  • Anonymous

    Hey Mark, Glad to hear you’re not too upset. If your twitter campaign is producing the results you want, then more power to ya. But I still have to scratch my head when I read a statement like “I follow a lot of people as it gives me more reach”. To me that is so counter intuitive. Btw, still following that Asian chick?

  • Rickey

    You know I’m a huge Twitter fan….much more than you (yet! cause it’s a perfect medium for your type of humor….strange-ish). That said, I absolutely agree with your take on the ridiculousness of following everyone who follows you and the smartness of actually checking profiles, number of tweets, whether or not they’re tweeting MLM, etc. Time consuming? Yep. Worth it to hire an intern to filter through these. Absolutely. The value of Twitter is finding peeps who tweet about things you either really NEED or want to know about. And sharing the same….along with fun, quirky things that might make your followers smile. Like marctv.

  • http://RyanCoelho.com Ryan Coelho

    Couldn’t agree more Marc! THANK YOU for sharing this… people need to get it! It’s so annoying getting those random losers following you just for the sake of… Personally I’m overwhelmed with like 200 people I’m following, I can’t imagine 100K!

  • Amanda Browne Gram

    Twitter virgin here… I do enjoy it and I am tyring to learn all about all aspects of social marketing.. it can be overwhelming… I am a long ways away from the marketing I graduated with many many many.. ugh years ago!! One thing I have noticed is the the constant bi polar additude I keep reading.. one says do this.. the other says.. oh no no no…just when you think you have figured it out.. BAM…someone raises doubt about your choice. I started a blog writing about the start up business blues… but I do think your take is smack on..very similar to my thoughts… love your insight and attitude. Look forward to watching some more videos!! Love how the guy whom you used as an example commented.. Classic!!

    Thank you!!
    Amanda

  • Rod

    Sorry – just getting to this now, Marc, but I agree. To be perfectly honest with you, I even find that many people who I follow (because I’m interested in them) tweet too much – even their own twitter stream is too much content for me to follow. I’d much rather have one good, juicy, tweet a day than 27 containing tiny url links and meaningless updates of their day. And I’m probably a very bad netizen – rarely follow back and block all kinds of people.

    I still think the overwhelming value in Twitter is in the listening (via something like Tweetdeck) on topics meaningful to you rather than following/followers.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Ryan. I totally agree.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the great comment Amanda! I guess in the end it’s just about doing what feel right. Feel free to embed the episode in your new blog if you wish.

  • Anonymous

    Hey Rod! I could not agree more. I believe automated tweets should be banned.

  • http://twitter.com/aknecht Alan K’necht

    As someone who delivers lots of conference addresses and teach on this subject I do agree with all that you said. I must also point out one issue that you didn’t cover. But first an expansion on your primary point. Having more followers isn’t always a good thing especially if they’re not engaging you (retweeting, tweeting to you, etc.) as most of the social media analytic tools look at the ratio of follower to mention and the ratio of follower per RT. So just getting a 100K followers can actually hurt you from a scoring perspective.

    However, there is something to be said about critical mass from a marketing perspective. If your hope is to distribute marketing messages and engage potential customers through twitter than you do need a significant number of followers. Is that 1K 2K 20K or more that depends on your market and objectives. So while more is always good, more quality followers should be your goal.

  • Anonymous

    Alan, thanks for the great fact filled comment. I even learned something new. Just another reason to keep it real and sincere – as all marketing communications should be.

  • Youreventgenie

    Excellent content Marc! I might stop tweeting as most of the people who are following me are not even in my geographical area and the only services I provide are local. I need to be more out there networking instead of wasting my precious time tweeting. 
    Here’s a nice short article that sums it all: are you betting on the horse or the jockey? by Lara McCulloch-Carter (Ready2Spark) http://networkedblogs.com/jBHYp

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the great comment. I will be dealing with this exact thing in a future episode. Give me your real name so I can do a shout out to you.



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© 2011 Marc Gordon