December 13, 2008
Why I Like to Know Who’s Following Me . . . Extreme Twitter Personalities
ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 9:34 am
Not everyone who does these things is a faker, some are just learning how things work.
Before Twitter got to be such a phenomenon, it seemed only the natural thing to say “hello” and follow back folks who followed me. Every person was an opportunity to learn more about the dynamics of the blogosphere, who hangs out here, and how the conversation really works.
When business conversations came to Twitter it became even more. Client relationships are being formed and forged there. New products ideas are being born there. People are finding jobs and recruiting people fill job openings. Opportunities like that get people talking and that got more people Twittering. It’s almost an explosion of fast and furious growth. Fast growth always has it’s problems — on the people side of Twitter one of those problems for me is how to sort the fakers from the followers.
Who’s Following Me?
You may have bumped into them, the Extreme Twitter Personalities. I’ve seen my share. Some follow you so that you’ll follow them. Then they disappear hoping you won’t notice they’re gone. Some do more nefarious things.
Because we talk about who we are and sometimes say personal things, such as where were going or who we’re with, I like to know who’s following me. I follow almost everyone who follows me, but I check them one at time. I use these traits to watch for Extreme Twitter in my Twitter Stream.
The ones I notice first do of these things:
- The GAMER — sends an auto Direct Message that says “Thanks for following me! … ” It asks me a question or to click a link. When I try to Direct Message a reply, I find out that the person is not following me. The gamer never has an interest in learning about the other person.
- The CLUELESS — sends an auto Direct Message that says “Thanks for following me! Would you tell me, how did you find me?” I followed this person because he or she followed me.
- The MURDER MYSTERY WRITER — follows 2000 people without a tweet. I was feel like I’m in slasher novel where a group of people have been invited to a weekend at a mansion where there is no host. I suppose this could a silent listening account.
- The SEX SELLS SHILLER — has a sexy picture and a tweet or two about how I can make a six-figure income. Again this Twitter usually has a girl’s name with Candylim12 and is following thousands. She’s a friendly girl with lots of accounts.
- The TWITTER TROLLS — talk to people who don’t know them or jump on sentences out of context to criticize or pick fights. The controversy the cause, though entertaining at first, is a waste of time. They do it for followers and attention.
- The INFORMATION FONT — only passes on links to things people might want to read — the links come too quickly for the Twitter to have checked them out.
- The BROADCASTER — has a home page filled with tweets with his or her own url.
- The RETWEETER — reads links that others tweet and passes them on, hardly ever talks. This is a service.
- The INTERNET MARKETER — only tweets about why people need his or her product.
- The MAGPIE — puts ads in an already overly chatty twitter stream.
- The ROMANCER — quickly switches to IM to try to talk about personal romance ideas.
- The PARTY TWIT — Can’t spell on certain occasions and parties every night.
- The LIVE TWEETER — wants you at the conference too and seems to be at a conference every day.
- The CAT TWEETER — tweets as if channeling animal he or she has bonded with.
- The STALKER — is this square box avatar is following 1, 2, 3 people only.
The NOOBIE — Could be doing almost any of these things by accident.
Keep in mind that Twitter does have its glitches and beginners don’t always get everything right from the start.
What makes Twitter so fun and useful is that connects people to converse about almost anything … my guess is most of us have been a few of the above on a given day. And we’re all extreme to someone who thinks far differently from the way we do. Twitter seems to have room for all except those who cause danger or harm.
Some I hope I’ll never be. Some I block right out of the box. Some I wait to see if they’re just getting started. I’m grateful when noobies say so in a tweet so that it’s obvious what’s going on.
If I’m not sure about someone, I usually
- look at who’s already following them
- ask someone who might know
- or do what @KurtScholle told me he does.
When something looks just a little off @KurtScholle told me his solution is to keep a file called Twitter to Consider when he’s not sure whether he wants to follow back. Great Idea.
What other Twitter Extreme personalities have you found? What’s your response to each?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Image: ADOdesign
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23 Comments to “Why I Like to Know Who’s Following Me . . . Extreme Twitter Personalities”
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ernie yacub said
hi, i’m a noob and i started following you cause others were - one of those people you should follow lists, checked out your stream and blog and signed up.
ernie yacub said
ps, i’m following on ff not twitter.
Alex Shalman said
I used to be the CLUELESS, but I stopped doing that. I still have a tweetlater.com auto responder that says hello, and welcome people to download my free ebook.
The ebook is called “How To Get a Girlfriend.”
Usually people respond:
1) Thanks for the great book, reading it!
2) My wife/girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate this haha
3) I’m gay, will this teach me to get a new best friend
4) I’m a girl!
Anyway, I still think it’s nice to offer my free ebook to people, and if they don’t want it, they’re not forced to click through.
Just followed @LizStrauss - if you follow me back you’ll get a chance at the free ebook too, although you’re (4)!!
Amy said
Liz — I love your list. Can’t think of a thing to add… other than perhaps the folks who create multiple accounts so they can talk to themselves and retweet their own stuff. [Note: my multiple accounts are actually multiple personalities NOT used for this purpose ;-)] P.S. I follow at least two dogs and one cat, last I checked… They say some smart things sometimes.
Alex — I’m a girl, I’m gay, and my girlfriend didn’t appreciate it. Sort of a 2+4 combo?
If I didn’t hate auto-dms I would probably have one that said “Thank you for boarding. The emergency exits are here here and here.” I’m still not sure why anyone follows me. I talk too much.
Extreme Twitter Personalities, Top Facebook Developer and More | Top SEO Writing Services said
[...] Why I Like to Know Who’s Following Me . . . Extreme Twitter Personalities - This was the post which made me update again today (I hadn’t planned a second post for this Saturday). Why? Because many people, when writing about twitterers whose behaviour they don’t approve, are too radical and aggressive. Liz, friendly as usual, conveys her ideas on the topic without using a single rude word. [...]
TDavid said
Nice list, Liz. Think that we’re following each other on Twitter already. If not, we should be. Why? You put some good thought into this post, which is something always appreciated.
Put me down as … The FRESH - strives to provide value, communication and/or curiosity in 140 characters or less.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi emie,
Welcome,
Ping me if You see that I’m not following you. I like to get to know really people, especially the folks who are new in the neighborhood.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Alex,
I did follow you back and it was a nice answer you sent … though I still don’t like auto responses. That’s a difference that folks aren’t going to agree on.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hey Amy,
I’m really sorry I left out the MULTIPLE PERSONALITY TWEETER. I meant to put that person in. darn. Thanks for bringing the MPT to the party!
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi TDavid!
We are indeed following each other and I tested to be sure by sending you a Direct Message … it went through!
Todd Smith said
Great list, Liz. As a newbie myself to Twitter, I’m learning these lessons too. My favorite is someone who has one tweet seven months ago (or none) and is following 2000 people and nobody (or very few are following them. Hmm… probably not going to have much of a conversation there.
I like to check every person before following. Automatic replies or follows don’t work for me on Twitter. I like to visit their blog or website, and see who I’m talking with.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Todd,
I’m with you. I don’t what to call that one. The OUT to LUNCHER?
Amber said
A year after hearing about Twitter I’m still resisting it though I feel myself weakening.
Your post on the Twitter personality types was informative for when I do decide to take the plunge.
pelf said
I always check out my followers,and I try to decide there-and-then, whether to follow back, or to ignore the follower. I found that ignoring a follower wasn’t a good idea because eventually, I would have to make a decision — to follow or to block (because I do not want my updates available to spammers).
Lucretia Pruitt said
I’m so with you on this.
I’m currently about 900 people behind on ‘follow backs’ because I can’t bring myself to follow someone I haven’t checked out and I got behind a couple of weeks ago and haven’t caught up yet.
Still, I just can’t bring myself to sit down and go through them all. Because far too many will be of the ilk you described above.
JMom said
I totally agree with all you’ve said about twitter. I try to find out who I’m following first instead of just following everyone who follows me.
I don’t want to follow too many people because I really do read all tweets and reply when I have something to add. How can I give attention to a thousand twitters? As it is, with the few hundred I’m following, I lose touch of favorite people’s twitters so I have to go to their profiles to catch up on how they’ve been doing. I don’t think I can ever follow thousands.
I agree though that twitter can be a lot of fun and you get to know some people better.
Chris Shouse said
Liz, LMAO I see these personalities all the time on Twitter. Conversation and getting to know people is best in my eyes. Bless you!
Toma Bonciu said
Hi Liz,
I think I have two more twitter user types but I think you can easily place them under some of your categories :
1. The Confused One : his user name is something like trafficlhbjhhb
2. The Suspended Account : every now and then I get a follower that has his account suspended
So here are mine
WebOptimization on Twitter
What I’ve Been Doing Today - 2008-12-15 - Deerwood said
[...] Why I Like to Know Who’s Following Me . . . Extreme Twitter Personalities [...]
What I’ve Been Doing Today - 2008-12-17 - Deerwood said
[...] Why I Like to Know Who’s Following Me . . . Extreme Twitter Personalities [...]
alison potvin said
regarding twitter trolls - surely you’re not suggesting people should not comment on a tweet or respond to a tweet because they have not already met the other person in a venue other than twitter?
i’ve gotten to know some amazing people b reaching out. as long as you’re not obnoxious about it and take the time to learn a bit about the person by reading their blog or visiting their site or reading their previous tweets.
frankly i’m fine with all interaction except for spamming by marketers and the relentless tweeting by “industry leaders” who never respond to sincere comments directed to them. if you can’t be bothered to respond to someone who reaches out, block them. but they don’t because these individuals have fragile egos fed by high follower numbers I’m afraid.
ME Liz Strauss said
Hi Alison.
I like and follow most folks I meet on Twitter, but it seems you’ve yet to encounter a for real troll. They are unpleasant people who add no value to the conversation and eventually, the best response I’ve found is to let them go.
Thank you for commenting.
Adrienne (talentdiva) said
How about Twitterers who have 2500 followers but only follow 50? Is that a Twitter Snob or Twitter Hog? That irks me. I believe in being selective, but some people are actually good to follow. I don’t follow those who follow me who fit into the list in your article. I like to have genuine dialog, even if it is silly at times. Sometimes I need a laugh during my hectic day. I don’t like to be sold to or spammed.