The articles and posts here on TwiTip are informative and useful to for twitter users. But today I would like to do something a little different.
I have upset one of my twitter followers and I am asking for your advice.
Here’s what happened. One of my twitter followers, we’ll say his name is Tom, came across my blog and was kind enough to stumble several of my blog posts as well as re-tweet them. This sent additional traffic to my website which I was grateful for.
Tom then e-mailed me with some questions and ideas and I responded to his e-mail thanking him for his ideas and answering his questions.
He had followed me on twitter but I had not followed him back. In fact I follow very few people (about 20) with my main twitter account. I only follow people that I am genuinely interested in.
I had looked at his twitter feed and decided that it wasn’t something I was interested in. So I didn’t follow him.
A day or two later I searched twitter for my handle @NicksTraffic. And I saw the following tweet from Tom:
@NicksTraffic after all I’ve done to help you out, I find out you’re not even following me you SOB. Lose my name and number you shit
Tom had never asked me to follow him and I had never said I would. Yet he was filled with indignation.
Since he was generous enough to stumble & re-tweet several of my blog posts and follow me on twitter, am I obligated to follow him back?
Is there some rule of reciprocity that I am breaking? What do you think?
@euphoria12
I’ll make this short. You are not obligated to follow anyone back. IMO It’s kind of silly for someone to get angry over something like that.
Why would you be obligated to follow him back? We all retweet posts and don’t expect a follow from it. The bigger question: Why does HE feel you are obligated to do so?
Im with you, I only follow those Im interested in. I dont want my screen filled with stuff I have to weed through. I think if you thanked him for the RTs and mentions youve done your part. I think he has a poor attitude and is kinda acting rather immature about the whole thing with the name calling. Personally I dont think those that are following over 100 people can really grasp the content they are receiving to really appreciate it.
I wouldnt let it bother you.
@gedeon
Not in the least Nick. Like you I follow few people. I find that once I pass around 130-150 users I can’t keep up with everyone’s tweets and the entire point of Twitter is lost.
You have no obligation to follow anyone. The fact that people expect others to follow them back is something I’ve never understood about the service.
@shersteve
There is absolutely no obligation to follow someone back. His tirade actually proves your initial decision as the correct one.
@mauerswald
Clearly: no. No obligation at all, quite the opposite actually. When I see someone following me who is being followed by 1000+ people AND also follows that many back, I know that that person does not actually read those tweets, thus is not really interested in what I have to say and instead just collects me as a trophy. If people have nothing of interest (for me) to say, I won’t follow them. Also, if I’m already following people who basically post similar stuff, I also don’t follow more on that topic. It’s hard enough to keep up with tweets from a hundred users, more is just idiotic.
@leeholcomb
I agree with Laurie, you shouldn’t feel obligated to follow back. Sounds like “Tom” just needs some confirmation. I personally try to reply back to those who RT me with a thanks, but use my own judgment in following them.
@flapic
Twitter’s nature is non reciprocal, so it’s normal that A can follow B without B following A. I personally follow people who can bring me some added value, and for instance don’t follow those account who simply report links to blogs I am already subscribed via RSS, in order to reduce noise and avoid duplicates.
You did nothing wrong and he should not have expected reciprocation, furthermore proved his being mean calling you names.
@bobkieffer
Yeah, seriously. I wouldn’t lose one iota’s sleep over this. The minute you start EXPECTING people to follow you, for WHATEVER reason, is the moment you become dead in the water.
@socialmedia411
You have no obligation whatsoever to follow anyone back for any reason. Playing the following/following game is for those with deeper issues/needs, and the sooner this nonsensical expectation of reciprocity dies the better.
I highly recommend reading Pete Michaud’s recent post; Achievement Porn – The Fake Achievement Treadmills of Friends and Followers – http://bit.ly/b3Mwb6
@rmsimons
I am not aware of such a rule or common practice. I agree with Laurie and think that “Tom” is missing the point of Twitter on this aspect.
So how do you deal with this situation?
a) if his flame has ignited your interest in what he is tweeting about: then follow him back
b) if you are still not, or even less interested in what he has to say: then just ignore him.
PS. why don’t you drop him a line on Twitter or email to come and join the discussion here?
@DJUCH
Definitely not obligated. People are strange about demanding to be followed really.
@davescottphoto
I follow the people that have information that I am interested in. Seriously, most tweets are like a bad reality TV show. “I need coffee”, “I’m out looking at houses right now”, “I’ve had writer’s block for the last hour” are part of everyone’s life. I’m certainly not interested in doing business with people that break up the focus of their day looking for their 5 seconds of fame or sympathy common everyday occurrences.
@astateofmind
It’s pretty simple – if you feel his stream is interesting, follow him. If you think his stream is boring, do not follow him. It doesn’t matter what he thinks especially if he done all the above only to get you follow him. Imagine the situation when you finally follow him – he stop stumbling, re-tweeting and stuff like that, so he’s a useless person on your account. IMO, no one is obligated to follow back. And that’s it…
@Jayne_Martin
I think that is freakin’ hysterical. That guy has “abusive relationship” written all over him. Lots of people follow me that I don’t follow back. I check them out and if they seem like legit people I don’t block them. If it’s porn or spam, I do. If they’re fellow writers or interesting in some other way, I may follow back. Life’s too short to worry about such crap.
@davepeckens
No. There is no obligation to follow anyone, really. I agree with what others have written./
I don’t feel obligated. In fact, I’ve unfollowed a lot of people recently (400 or so) and am really only going to follow people I am interested in or who I think can help me with my job search
@bpapa
You’re not obligated at all to follow anybody and dude seems a little crazy – however, you seriously only follow 20 people? Why even bother using Twitter?
@bestword
You do not need to if you do not want to. Best thing is ignore.
@fantasyclay
I don’t think you every are obligated to follow back. If he saw the number of people you do follow, he should realized that he shouldn’t have even expected it.
I’m in often stuck in that position. I have a lot less followers but I sell handmade. People will follow you in hopes of return follows to tweet about what they’re selling. Spam about items is rampant. Since I know some of these people from other sites, I have tended to follow most(except following over ~2000) but will unfollow quickly.
@nicchick
Sounds like Tom was possibly just “engaging” with you to get you to follow him back.
And sounds like your instinct to not follow him back was spot on.
Its your Twitter, do what you want with it, I say
@onviolence
From a business perspective, I disagree. Especially with real people, not robots.
Ideally, I’d recommend two accounts, one for close friends and associates, and another much larger, more follow happy account for people like Tom.
Tom’s only real mistake, in my opinion, is making the lack of a follow personal. He should have shrugged it off.
@corinamackay
I agree with the general consensus here, in that you are not obligated to follow someone simply because they are following you. I think that Twitter is set up perfectly in this way, so that you can control your Twitter feed to include only the articles, thoughts, and news that you are interested in, or which affect you in some way.
@socialarts
Wow. Unless Tom’s main goal is to increase his number of followers, you seemed to be giving him lots of value via Twitter and other networks without needing to follow him back. You can still have conversations, retweet and more while not following someone. The only real function missing is direct messaging, but you had already exchanged emails!
I understand that feeling of rejection when someone does not follow you, but to publicly make that negative comment shows immaturity and weak character.
I think the only “rules” on Twitter is to be genuine, be honest, show respect and give credit when credit is due. You were following those rules without following Tom back.
@JohnAguiar
It comes down to seeing the benefit in each new follower. I follow everyone, I give them the benefit, if they mess up, I drop them.
I have learned something from people with as lil as 50 followers, just like I have learned from people with 100,000 followers, following back is just right thing to do.. you have lists to stay focused on people you really want to communicate with…
@ssphillips
It seems to me that there is a growing expectation of for people to automatically return follows. I have not done so as I have wanted to keep my list of people that I follow small enough that I can actually read and engage with those people on a daily basis. I’m now at the point where I can barely keep up and I will have to consider unfollowing a bunch of people in order to maintain my sanity.
I think that the opportunity presented by Twitter lists might be my saving grace. I am considering simply following “everyone” and then using a couple of very tight and topic specific lists to determine who I actually read on a regular basis.
@nicksTraffic
Thanks for the responses!
Let me answer a couple of question people had.
I only follow a few people to keep things manageable. I don’t want to spend all day on Twitter.
> Why does HE feel you are obligated to do so?
I have no idea why he thinks I should follow him.
> PS. why don’t you drop him a line on Twitter or email to come and join the discussion here?
Since I first wrote this post (about a month ago) he and I have exchanged a few emails. I tried expaining that I wasn’t obligated to follow him and that I was simply not interested in following him. He responded to my email and told me to f*** off.
I don’t think I’ll be talking to him again.
> I have wanted to keep my list of people that I follow small enough that I can actually read and engage with those people on a daily basis
Exactly how I feel.
@dtnorth
One of the design intents of Twitter is that you can follow who you want without having to be “friends” (ala Facebook, for example). The one-way street is all part of Twitter culture. So no, you are not obligated to follow back unless they’re providing content that is completely interesting to you.
@ModelSupplies
You are not obligated to follow anyone on Twitter, however from a marketing standpoint, it is just good business. Most people have a business account and personal account, plus TweetDeck, TweetVisor, etc. can make it super easy to keep up with a large number of people.
I did look at your account, though, Nick, and it appears as if you are only tweeting links to your blog posts, or marketing. Searching the @mentions to you looks super manageable. You would get more interactivity if you did follow back for business and have small conversations with the masses. More blog hits.
Some people are just sensitive. Tom, perhaps more than others. He sounds as if he really went the extra mile for you. Only you and he would know why. The easiest thing to do is hit unfollow if someone becomes a nuisance. Many people feel that reciprocal following opens the lines of communication, so if they are not followed back, they consider that line disconnected. But you are under NO obligation to follow anyone back.
Anita @ModelSupplies
@dariasteigman
Hi Nick,
No, you are not obligated to follow anyone. And if Tom really wanted to ask why, he should have sent you an email query (which I assume you would answer) rather than leaving a nasty tweet.
That said, I’m wondering why there are only 20 people you deem interesting enough to follow. Maybe if you engaged more on Twitter, your Twitterverse would be more interesting.
@bachelorhood
There are a large number of people in Twit-land who are all about building their follower numbers, and the rule of thumb circulating among them is “I follow you, you follow me.” You can even see this in a number of “Get Rich Quick on Twitter” guides.
I even had that philosophy in the beginning, but it left me with a tweet stream full of spam, automated news headlines and motivational quotes.
Now I only follow people who can (or might) provide value to ME through their use of Twitter. I want information on the things I’m interested in, or unique personal views, or at the very least a human level of discussion.
@victed
No, you are not obligated to follow anyone. If you followed anyone, never send a DM just to tell them about your website and immediately unfollowed them. I think it is better not to follow at the first place.
@calumhenderson
I don’t think you are ever obligated to follow someone back.
If there Tweets aren’t something that you want to listen too, then don’t. They need to focus on making their Tweets interesting instead of getting angry.
@midiazozial
to follow back is to allow people to send you direct messages, that means you’re opening the communication channel.
when you’re not an ordinary twitter user, you’re a brand or a professional, to follow someone is not just about follow someone. if you want to read some people stream, you create a list.
as for the people you follow, they are the ones that might or have supported you/your brand or really needed to open a closer dialogue.
that’s just my opinion. regards.
@Scarlettopia
I think Anita and Daria make excellent points. While Tom was out of line with his public tweet-rage and misplaced entitlement, these days there are so many ways to streamline your Twitter experience that only following a very select few is no longer necessary.
I follow back 15-20% of my followers, and in order to keep the stream manageable, I’ve utilized a private list into which I’ve sorted the 50 or so people whose updates I wanted to see on a daily basis. Another great option is to use the newest version of Yoono, which allows you to set up a “Top Friends” group, as well as hide updates from certain people in your stream without unfollowing them.
Just some things to think about!
@bloginstall
Hmm… what a great marketing tactic! and all you need is a stumble account. WoW!!! I should have thought of this before.
I don’t think you should feel to bad about this, especially with such a rude outburst.
@livoutgreen
I think the consensus is clear, Nick: You have done absolutely NOTHING wrong! Obviously, Tom is an immature ego-maniac and should be banned from Twitter. I would block & write him up as spam.
@chucklasker
I didn’t read the many comments so sorry if this is repetitive.
There’s no “obligation.” However, if you don’t follow Tom back, he can’t DM you. There’s plenty of ways to follow thousands, but “really” follow only enough to manage – like Tweetdeck, Twitter Lists, etc.
I like to randomly look at the Tweets of people who follow me (and I auto-follow back) and respond if interesting. I’ve made many connections I would not have otherwise. Don’t limit yourself – open up to the wide world of Twitter!
@shellykramer
HI Tom,
I agree with Daria and Anita – not only is Tom missing the boat, I think that, with all due respect, you are as well. When you use the medium to primarily broadcast your own message, that’s a misstep, at least in my book. Social mediums are about engaging, learning, sharing, interacting and, last but not least, sharing whatever message it is that you want to share and attempting to drive people in a non-sales-y way to your website, blog, etc.
Tom was doing you a favor, helping you broadcast your message even further via his channels and influence.
And, while you are certainly not obligated to follow him – or anyone back – again, with all due respect, it seems as if you have a bit of an elitist attitude. Can you really say, that out of some 6.5 million Twitter users, that only 20 are of interest to you? Are you that picky about business acquaintances or friendships IRL or is it just in this millieu that you are so particular?
I have many followers and follow many in return. I treat people who are truck drivers or janitors with the same respect (and return follow) as I do the people who are CEOs and muckety-mucks. I never forget that we are all people, and we all put our pants on one leg at a time, and my “strategy” has been very effective. But then, I love people. And I love these mediums. And I don’t believe in just broadcasting my message, I believe in helping, supporting and engaging with others whenever possible.
My business has only grown over 300% this last year as a result of my strategy – how much as your business grown as a result of your involvement in social mediums? And I pose the same question to everyone else who is so vehemently calling Tom bad names.
By the way, I totally don’t agree with him calling you names publicly, etc., after all, can it really matter that you don’t return his follow? And I don’t think you are automatically obligated to return follow anyone. But why on Earth, when someone was nice enough to reach out and help you broadcast your message, which is clearly your main intention in this arena, would you not be kind enough to reciprocate his follow?
Bottom line – there is no right or wrong when it comes to social mediums. There is your way, my way and their way. And whatever works for is what is best for you. But I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that I think your strategy is flawed.
Shelly Kramer
@shellykramer
http://v3im.com/blog
@giftofmoney
You are not obligated to follow him back, but it seems to me like good marketing sense to do so. This person has given you valuable exposure by retweeting links to your blog articles. Why not follow him back? It costs you nothing. To me Twitter is about relationships. I actively seek relationships with people who will retweet me. Whenever someone retweets me, I follow them and check out their profile and look for suitable tweets of theirs that I can retweet. They are grateful and continue to retweet me. If I find none of their tweets worth retweeting, I simple tweet them an enthusiastic thank you.
@JoshuaGuffey
Honestly Nick, just ignore him.
There’s no point for anyone in following someone who doesn’t add value to their Twitter stream. His interests could be different and therefore he wouldn’t really be adding value for you. This isn’t a value judgement. Just that you don’t need what he’s offering right now.
That said, once he starts acting like an ass then you have specific reason NOT to follow him.
He obviously misunderstands Twitter’s larger value and thinks it’s all about getting as many ppl as possible to follow you regardless of relevance.
For you, he is irrelevant. And acting childish. Just forget it and move on. How much drama can you allow for in 140 characters or less?
Best,
Joshua
@moviecarmania
No, you are not obligated to follow, retweet, respond etc to anyone. Now the fact that this person EXPECTED something in return tells you that they were not a true giver anyway. Would you give spare change to a homeless person and expect them to run a few errands for you?
I personally check everyone who follows me and who I decide to follow.
Some reasons not to follow:
1. Person does not Tweet about things I am interested in. Duh.
2. Person does not have a bio. Just weird
3. Person has a Bazzillion Tweets. Spammy
4. Get Rich Quick Tweeters.
There are many more, but most are just common sense.
@JanineLibbey
You are not obligated to follow him but common courtesy dictates thanking him for promoting/sharing your tweets.
@GeekGems
Well said, Janine. I think some people just come to expect replies and retweets without acknowledging them. I often thank people for friending me on Facebook, for example, and people seem genuinely appreciative that I do so. A little courtesy in social networking goes a long way.
@ironbellgym
No “right” way to do things. I am always grateful if I get a follow and will follow back most folks but not all. I would not worry about Tom. Will you follow me if I ask? LOL.
@askdebra
Hi Nick,
You are correct: you are under no obligation to follow back. That said, I would advise following back someone who obviously wants to engage in a real way with your content and brand. Forgetting for a minute Tom’s inexcusable reaction to your decision not to follow-back, I’m struck by the fact that you weren’t interested in following back someone who is 1.) your brand evangelist 2.) listens and responds to your online content and 3.) meets the criteria of someone with whom you could have a meaningful online engagement.
In my own Twitter practice, I’ll follow back folks who meet these above criteria, or who are recommended to me by online connections that I trust, or with whom I want to open a relationship. Isn’t social media all about the conversation, the relationships, and awareness? An online fan could have influence, ideas, and content of immense value to you and your company. With due respect, I’ll add that social media is also about sharing – two ways.
@tyronem
I’m a little different – I don’t mandate that you follow me, but I like to follow folks who follow me. I don’t like to follow folks without getting followed back. I like to engage in conversation, and if you don’t think I’m interesting, why should I bother following/commenting on your tweets?
@tyronem
Ah, I ended my post too soon.
I wanted to add: There’s no reason to be hostile about it. Everyone should be able to move on without the attitude.
@thinkartworks
Of course you are not “obligated” to follow anyone!
But it’s a funny thing about Twitter profiles that have a large proportion of people following them and they are only following a tiny number back. When I come across those profiles the first impression I get is “unfriendly”. (sorry folks, but that’s the impression it gives to me) The second impression I get is “elitist” and “go away”. So that’s usually what I do!
I do follow lots of artists and designers and if they don’t follow back in a few days I quietly go away, assuming they don’t wish to engage with me.
@CrookdRiverWmn
Please also ignore anyone calling you “elitist” because you don’t follow a lot of people yourself. I can understand someone asking you for more info on whom you chose to follow and why, but a judgmental rant that reads into your motives? That’s wasn’t even directed at me and I found that annoyingly offbase.
Contrary to your problem guy, I actually am a little chagrined when someone follows me and then I see that they are following thousands of people. When I get followed by someone selective, I feel more confident that they’re actually reading what I send out. It’s more of a compliment than automatically getting followed along with everyone else out there.
I always thank people for RTing, but I don’t follow everyone who RT’s me because sometimes they post too much or a lot of stuff that’s not to my liking. I’m sure other people feel the same way about me — appreciating my comments or RTs, but not sharing my viewpoint on other topics in my feed. So be it.
Relationships aren’t about equally measured parts. We spend more time with some colleagues or friends, but we can value what we get from each exchange.
By the way, lists are a great way to follow more people but to be able to look at one subset at a time. I have about 11 lists, and it’s great to click on an issue area or a group of people I want to read on a given day.
@mrbusinessgolf
No, you are not obligated to follow back. Just follow the people who offer true value..my survey shows that over 80% of the tweets posted are for lame quotes from famous people and just a link to some promotional item. This offers no value to anyone outside the person who posted it and they run close to a 85% chance of getting blocked. So choose who you follow wisely.
@LisaMarieDias
I tend to agree with Shelly. And while you are certainly not obligated to follow-back, I definitely think that there are more than 20 people on Twitter posting interesting comments and content. There are over 20 right here that have taken the time to engae in this conversation and add valuable insights.
That said, I do vette each person before I follow them and if, upon visiting their tweet stream, I saw a post like the one Tom posted to you, I would certainly not follow them. That type of comment is, in my opinion unecessary and unkind.
I often say Who You Follow + Who Follows You = Your Twitter Experience My experience has really been quite positive and productive and I am truly enjoying it. Being careful and cognizant about who you follow truly helps ensure a good experience.
Thank you for starting this interesting conversation!
Have a great day
@tltconsulting
I am thoroughly enjoying this thread. I am a student of the “Internet” as an entity and its cultural, historical and philosophical significance. I believe because of the importance we assign our own Internet presence it can seem an attack on our self worth and esteem to not be followed especially by someone we feel we have been a good “friend” to by RT and referencing etc. These things can be perceived as personal attacks, as if they work with you and when you pass in the hall or at the water cooler they say hi and you ignore them. There was obviously a more mature way to have handled the perceived slight, but people’s web identities are becoming extensions of “real” life. All very good insights people and great additions to my research and book.
@JudeStepaniak
Just say your sorry and follow me… and I will take back my comments.
Love,
Tom
@followLou
Very interesting thread indeed. I am fairly new on Twitter, trying to learn the social aspect for relationship building as well as the powerful marketing potential that it brings. I can easily see how people can become overwhelmed by following everyone, especially when some are tweeting similar content every 2 minutes.
Learning to use the lists feature has helped me immensely to sort out the “noise” from the quality tweets that I am most interested in (and I don’t even have that many followers yet!). By keeping my lists private, I eliminate the possibility of offending anyone by being (or not being) on a certain list. I can go right to a specific list and read the tweets I’m interested in very quickly.
As for being obligated to follow someone, many of the people here are right that there are no rules on Twitter (for who to follow) and you can use your account any way you want, however good etiquette would have you following most people who are open to a friendship or any exchange of ideas or information. Isn’t that why we’re here?
It’s just like in the offline world, there’s no rule that says you have to listen to someone who took the time to listen to you, but proper etiquette would be to allow them to speak as well. It’s called a conversation. In fact, I don’t think I would have as many friends if I wasn’t a good listener.
My choice is to keep the “social” in social media.
@nicksTraffic
It’s true that I only follow a few people (34 right now). It’s not that I am an elitist (at least I don’t think so) but I don’t want to be over run with noise. So I only follow those I am interested in.
I did check out Tom’s tweets and just was not interested in numerous tweets each day. It would have added a ton of noise to my tweet feed.
I have only found 34 people worth following right now. As time goes on it will probably increase. And only I can decide who is worth following. It’s like real life. You don’t have to be friends with everyone. Maybe that makes me an elitist.
I much prefer to interact with people via email. Email gives me less noise and more characters.
I actually list my email address on my twitter account (it’s part of my background). BTW, if you have any traffic questions feel free to email me and I will help you out NicksTrafficTricks at gmail.com
I want to use Twitter to network but I don’t want to be over run with too much noise. I thank everyone who RT’s my stuff and answer peoples’ questions. But I may not follow them.
@chuckdizzle78
I think the analogy of dating can be brought here. Is a woman obligated to do anything for a man if he takes her out to dinner, a movie, dancing, whatever? Of course not. But is the woman responsible for making it clear, that, after a date, or a couple of them, she is not interested, and would not like to go on any more dates? Of course.
My point is, that there’s a sort of etiquette there. There’s an unspoken reciprocity of civility. I think there’s a similar one on Twitter as well.
Should he have expected you to follow? NO. But I only say that because he initiated most of the conversation and emailed you. But if you asked for more information from him and engaged him further, I think, then, that you should follow him.
But just like in the dating analogy, there are those that are going to expect things because they themselves initiated. And there are also those that refuse to reciprocate in kind, while showing interest, engaging and accepting.
I think there’s fine line here somewhere. I think we’re all just trying to figure it out.
Most of the time I twitter on a desktop app and do not see follower lists. My follow/follower lists are fairly small. Occasionally when on the Twitter site I will check lists if the count shows a follower increase. I do not automatically follow followers. Only after looking at their timeline. If interesting, OK, if spammy, block, if indeterminate, let it lay, no harm. Someone bent because they were not followed is someone to ignor.
@USpace123
There of course is no obligation to follow someone back. However, if someone wants traffic from twitter they have to get more and more followers. But if they aren’t already famous, or a major brand, or an exceptionally interesting and original tweeter, they will probably never get to KEEP all their followers that they do get.
This is because once someone is following 2,001 they can’t follow any more until they’re being followed by at least only 10% less followers.
For example, someone being followed by 2,000 can not follow more than 2,200. So, as most people reach the 2,001 following limit they are usually being followed by less so they have to unfollow people in order to follow new people, this includes following back their new followers.
So, unless a certain Tweeter is famous or especially interesting, they will end up losing many of their followers over time.
If someone really wants to gain many followers for traffic they must sacrifice the intimacy of having only a small amount of people to follow.
I follow over 9,000 and have no problem catching much of what they say and communicating with them over time.
The Lists feature is very helpful in this way too, as well as using Tweet Deck and Tweetvisor to manage and keep track of RTs and mentions.
Here’s an interesting example of all this:
http://twitter.com/FollowBackRules
Happy Tweeting!
There is absolutely no obligation to follow someone back.I actually list my email address on my twitter account (it’s part of my background). BTW, if you have any traffic questions feel free to email me and I will help you out NicksTrafficTricks at gmail.com