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What Will Get You Unfollowed?

July 4, 2012
The main objective of keeping a Twitter account is to be able to share information to a wider network of people. This means you should have a considerable online following. The rule of thumb to get a decent number of followers is simple: be nice to get nice in return. Also, share information that is not only valuable but also relevant to your specific audience. If information dissemination is your goal in the micro-blogging world, then there's no worse feeling than seeing your 'follower' count decline each day. What are the likely reasons you will get unfollowed on Twitter?

5 Common Reasons You Will Get Unfollowed

1. Your posts are not only irrelevant but also self-serving.

So you're excited about finally getting a new set of speakers for your car. Before you go on listing your new purchases and rattling off how ecstatic you are, consider this first: will your followers find your tweet relevant to them? While personal posts may be funny and entertaining to your close group of friends, they might not come out savory to your other Twitter followers who expect to see good information on their timelines. Take note that while you have all the freedom to post anything on Twitter, you have a responsibility to your followers. And if maintaining your network and adding to them is a key concern for you, it's best to mix personal anecdotes (toned-down, of course) with actual information that will be appreciated by all.

2. Your Twitter account is not an RSS Feed.

Don't overdo the information bit of tweet sharing. Your timeline is not an RSS Feed and your followers will certainly not appreciate seeing only URLs or even their shortened versions?when they visit your home page. If you must share links, start it off with a personal message on why you think your followers should click it. Moreso, you don't need to post a tweet every ten seconds 24/7. Don't be a spammer.

3. Don't overdo the retweets.

So you're seeing interesting stuff from all other users everywhere and would like to share these with your own network. That's perfectly fine, but if that's all you do, then you're not maximizing your Twitter experience. Interaction (or engagement) is the core of micro-blogging and if you're only acting as a regurgitator of news, then you diminish the humanity of your online presence. Interact. Post messages. Engage in conversations.

4. Don't ask people to RT your tweets.

Unless, of course, it's an important advisory that will benefit a lot of people. If it's just a quote or a piece of gossip you found online, then leave it your followers' discretion if they want to retweet or not. Bossing your followers around is a surefire way to get yourself unfollowed, or worse, blocked.

5. You don't follow back.

The point of Twitter is to connect with others. If you have a throng of followers and you never follow back, you'll come off as snob. It's okay to be choosy over who your follow, but it's a totally different story if you're keeping to yourself and very small group of people entirely. Being a social media snob defeats the very purpose of social media. Twitter is a public space and while nobody's really stopping you from posting want you want, except of course if it violates Twitter Rules, bear in mind that respect begets respect. If you want to have a good reputation on Twittersphere and be respected for what you do, make sure you mind how you project yourself online. Read Twitter Etiquette 101.  

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