The Problem

I participate in a number of weekly TwitChats. These TwitChats are often very educational and can be a lot of fun; that is, for the participants. For everyone else, they can be a real hassle.

The problem is that while you’re having a heated debate about the merits of origami (no offense to origami fans), you’re going to have followers who couldn’t care less. Moreover, if you fire off fifty or sixty tweets during an hour long TwiChat, you can really flood some of your follower’s streams. I’ve had plenty of people unfollow me because of this and if you participate in TwitChats, I’m sure you have too.

The Solution

Now, you might say that Hash Tags (#) are the solution, but they’re not. The Hash Tag evolved as a way for Twitter users to more easily find tweets on a specific topic. TwitChats are dependent upon them (just add a #Topic to any tweet and set up a search to find them).

Unfortunately (as mentioned above), when people whom you follow are participating in TwitChats, if you don’t filter out those tweets, you’re going to see every single tweet they send. Also, while Twitter does nothing to help you filter out unwanted Hash Tags, TweetDeck does have a filter feature, but I’ve never bothered to use it. Have you?

Finally, while I find setting up searches in Twitter and TweetDeck easy, many people simply do not. However, even if they do set up searches, it still does nothing about a user’s stream being flooded with unwanted tweets. Fortunately, there is a solution that Twitter could implement, and that solution is creating Channels.

How Channels Can Benefit the User

A Channel would simply be a Twitter stream that is parallel to the main Twitter stream, but isolated from that stream just as one TV channel is isolated from other TV channels. A user would only see that Channel if they intentionally visited that Channel’s page or followed it.

When in a Channel, the user could dispense with adding a Hash Tag to each tweet as everything being tweeted in that Channel should be on topic. Alternately, the user could use a Hash Tag if they’re discussing a related subtopic, or they could create a new channel (a SubChannel) under a main topic Channel, and it could extend from there.

For example, a Directory of Channels might look like this:

• Main Channel: Medicine, or Healthcare (whatever)
  • SubChannel: Diabetes
    • Sub(Sub)Channel: Type 1 Diabetes
    • Sub(Sub)Channel: Type 2 Diabetes
      • Sub(Sub, Sub)Channel: Type 2 Diabetes Research

We can figure out the nomenclature for SubChannels later, but I think the above structure is clear and simple enough.

A Few More Notes on Channels

• Channels would differ from Lists because while you can follow individual Lists, you still see every tweet of everyone on that list regardless of topic. Channels would create topic specific conversations.
• Users could set up Channels as being either Public or Private and invite participants.

How Channels can Benefit Twitter

While Channels could be setup by any Twitter user for any topic, they can also drive revenue for Twitter in two ways.

• Branded Channels: Companies and/or brands could setup their own channels and SubChannels and pay Twitter for the privilege. Perhaps Twitter could even charge different rates depending on Channel size. For example, $X for a Channel with 100 users following it and $XXX for a Channel with 100,000 users following it.
• Targeted Advertising: Since, by definition, Channels are topic specific, Twitter could charge much higher ad rates for Sponsored Tweets in those channels. Why? Because tweets in those Channels would be noticed by the target audience at much higher rates than on the main Twitter stream. Additionally, the Channel audience would be much more likely to respond to a Call to Action.

Btw, I know there are a lot of third-party services that enable groups in one fashion or another. In my experience, they don’t work all that well. Also, they tie you a specific third-party service and given Twitter’s recent history with their third-party developers, I would expect most of those services to disappear in the near future.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Neal Wiser is Vice President of Digital Strategy and Operations at The ODM Group where he leads teams in the creation and execution of digital marketing campaigns. You can follow Neal on Twitter (his handle is @NealWiser). Neal is also the Cofounder and Co-host of the Addicted to Social Media podcast. You can also read is blog at NealWiser.com.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Why Twitter Needs Channels

I’ve previously written about Twitter’s behavior towards its third-party developers and the risks they’re taking if they focus only on developing Twitter-based tools (See Twitter Commits Suicide and Twipocalypse Now). The bottom line is that building a business that is entirely dependent on a single partner isn’t a safe model to follow.

Surprise, Surprise?

So, should Twitter’s actions come as any surprise?

Yes! And, No.

Yes, because Twitter was built on the backs of tens of thousands of third-party developers who added much need functionality and played a key role making Twitter what it is today. These third-party developers, along with the broader Twitter community, were the ones who implemented hash tags, RTs, @ replies and many of the features that Twitter now takes for granted. Even Evan Williams, one of Twitter’s co-Founders, admitted as much at the 2009 TED Conference. See the embedded video below (thanks to Tac Anderson reminding me about this in his post Twitter Grows Up Figures Out Its Business Model And Doesn’t Need You Anymore).

And, No, because there has been ample warning about the risk of developing for Twitter – just read my posts mentioned above, and I certainly was not alone. Also, in their announcement, Twitter stated that enterprise tools such as Seesmic and HootSuite and special-purpose apps are welcome.

So, why is Twitter doing this?

For some insight, consider the following:

• Usage: While Twitter claims that 90% of users are using official Twitter apps, the blog Mashable disagrees claiming that only 58% of Twitter users access the service through official Twitter apps. That leaves a whopping 42% who never see the Twitter home page or those Twitter apps. This means that 42% of Twitter’s users may never see any of the various advertising features that Twitter has been counting on to actually justify its valuation.
• Money: Investors have poured $360 Million into the company over the past 5 years and it’s easy to understand why they might want an out. While these investors certainly could find eager buyers for their shares, they want to maximize their returns. That means pumping up the valuation of the company and finding an appropriate buyer who can afford it.

Buyer Beware

Unfortunately, there aren’t too many adequate suitors for the company, especially when it has a rumored price tag of $8-10 Billion. In order to justify that valuation Twitter needs to do the following:

• Work the kinks out of its advertising model so it can maximize ad revenue. To do this, Twitter needs to…
• Increase the number of people who use Twitter properties, thus maximizing exposure to those ads. To do this, Twitter needs to…
• Get those users to stop using third-party apps and “come home.” To do this it needs to…
• Kick those third-party apps out of the loop. This ultimately means putting an end to the Twitter ecosystem. To do this, Twitter needs to…
• Prevent third-party app developers from getting into the game and making conditions for those who are already there too difficult for them to operate, thus they’ll be forced to close down. To do this, Twitter needs to…
• Add more features to its properties. Something it’s already been doing.

My Prediction

I could go on, but to me the path is clear; within the next 12-24 months, as Twitter slowly improves its mobile apps and website, it will eventually cut off ALL third-party apps including TweetDeck and Seesmic. Then, once its numbers (traffic and review) demonstrate clear upward momentum, it will be sold to the highest bidder. Perhaps after that, Twitter’s new owners will remember the goldmine of innovation that Twitter’s third-party developers provided the company and invite them to return

One can only hope.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Neal Wiser is Vice President of Digital Strategy and Operations at The ODM Group where he leads teams in the creation and execution of digital marketing campaigns. You can follow Neal on Twitter (his handle is @NealWiser). Neal is also the Cofounder and Co-host of the Addicted to Social Media podcast.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Twitter’s Black Friday Signals an Exit Strategy

The most important concept to grasp about luxury is that it is a perception. What attracts ultra-rich consumers to buy is not associated with colossal prices as a deciding factor. In the world of luxury quality and experience are the highest characteristics for purchasing decisions.

Twitter has features that allows users to enhance their experiences. Now you can implement vibrant, visual Twitter campaigns that reflect a luxury lifestyle. Using Twitpic, you can upload photos that are shown inside your Tweets. However it’s vital that you do also write the 140 characters that will be actually engaging to your followers. This will improve the response to your campaign and re-tweet exposure to spread the message.

Example:

Click to enlarge image

1. Launch

When launching a luxury Twitter profile design, appearance plays a major role. Use graphics in high resolution that represent your expertise to help set the ambiance for the profile. You must attempt to stage an image that reflects what you do and that identifies you as an expert in relations to the subject matter.

2. Brand

Here you want to develop a strategic plan and approach to increase brand awareness. Concentrate on becoming influential regarding your expertise and it will help enhance credibility for your brand strategy. Learning how to brand inside Twitter is critical because the more influential you become the greater opportunities you have to influence purchasing power, referral decisions, and branding sustainability.

3. Engage

The single most important factor for a luxury Twitter profile is engagement. If you focus on engaging over building followers you will be on your way to achieving an influential profile in no time at all. Focus on a variety of topics related to your expertise to engage with other Twitter profiles. Additionally, expand by building relationships and networks inside Twitter.

Happy Tweeting!

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



How To Launch, Brand, and Engage A Luxury Twitter Profile

Twitter only allows 140 characters. There is an infinite amount of things you can say, but only so many ideas to pull from. It’s hard to keep people entertained with your tweets.

The best way to keep from burning out and giving up is to have a brilliant plan that will allow you to reach your goals and meet amazing people.

1. Stay Creative

Tweeting looks so easy, but we all know it’s not. There is a lot of thought that goes into each tweet. Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist (@penelopetrunk) has each tweet reviewed by an editor before she sends it out. Well that’s what she told us.

You need to find new ways to get onto other tweeters’ radars. Don’t be afraid to switch around words. Tweeting is an art and sometimes you need to stand out by being different. Don’t be afraid to disagree. Don’t do this too often, but every now and again you can spur on an exciting conversation.

It’s the routine that kills the most tweeters. All they do is link back to their blog and they wonder why they aren’t meeting cool people and having fun connecting with other tweeters.

2. Find a Brilliant Quote to Share

I love finding really cool quotes and posting them on Twitter. It’s amazing how many people will retweet a good quote.

I posted a quote from Gandhi that said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

The CEO of Zappos (@zappos) liked it and retweeted it to his billion + subscribers. I gained over 200 subscribers in one weekend. I was lucky, but any of you can get lucky too; you just have to keep tweeting stuff you believe in and people will want to follow.

3. Just Listen

When I first got on Twitter I wasn’t very active. I just read and listened to others. I began to see what I liked and what I thought would work well for me. After a little while, I jumped in and began tweeting.

I learned the value of just listening to other tweeters. Instead of just getting on there and posting my tweet and leaving, I hang around. I notice when some people are jerks or humble or fun. It’s during these ten or fifteen minutes that I become more attached to the people I’m interacting with.

You’ll burn out quickly if all you do is broadcast your stuff and you don’t listen to the other brilliant people out there. Believe me, there are some smart people using Twitter.

4. Ask a Question

You may want to know what it feels like to stand at the top of the Eiffel Tower, or if anyone has a long commute to work and how they pass the time. The questions you can ask can be crazy, fun, or serious.

I would suggest that your question stay in the theme of the tweets. People like routines and expect to receive a certain type of tweet from you. If you shake it up too much, they may not stick around.

I’ve put out plenty of questions that were never answered. Don’t sweat it. Just post it again in a few hours. If you still don’t get a response, move on and try a different question in a few days.

5. Top 5 Tweeters to Follow

Darren wrote an excellent post about creating niche lists of tweeters that you should follow. For example, “top 5 marketers on Twitter” or “top 5 most interesting people on Twitter.”

When you send out some tweet love you might get a follow from a really cool person. I know that I would love to be included in the top 5 tweeters in the business category.

Don’t be afraid to give other people attention because it’s all about Twitter Karma. The more you give the more you will eventually be given back. The more people who love your style of tweeting, the more motivated you will be to connect with other tweeters.

6. Take a Break and Recharge

There will be some days when you just don’t feel like typing even a tweet. Then take a break and just let everyone else tweet their hearts out.

Stress occurs when we push too hard to accomplish something we aren’t ready for. If you don’t feel like tweeting then don’t. It’s better than sending some big sour puss of a tweet out there and everyone reading it and thinking “Man he is having a bad day.”

That’s when people decide to unfollow you.

7. People Will Unfollow You

Some people aren’t going to like your tweets. Just like every guy or girl doesn’t think you are hot stuff, there will be tweeters that just don’t like your personality.

Don’t take it personally. Your thoughts are not everybody’s cup of wisdom. Even Kevin Rose (@kevinrose) has people who stop following his tweets. He is in a position to add way more people than he loses, so his numbers keep growing anyway.

8. Be Yourself

Don’t try to be like @problogger because you’ll fall flat. I fell into this trap when I first started blogging. I tried to be like @stevepavlina. I only started succeeding when I let go of trying to be someone else and let my true personality come out.

I’ve taken a lot of great ideas from fellow tweeters, but always incorporated them into my own style.

You have to trust that your interests will excite other people. As long as you are authentic, people will catch on. I promise.

9. Copy a Leader

To step on my own advice, I’m going to tell you to copy a leader and his/her style for a day. See what happens. Are you getting more attention?

There is nothing wrong with learning form the masters of Twitter, such as @guykawasaki, and trying to incorporate their style into yours. Be very careful of taking this too far though, because in order to get people who want to follow you and stick with you, you have to be you.

10. Retweet Great Tweets

Retweeting other people’s thoughts is a great way to connect and share with your readers. I retweeted a @lizstrauss tweet and she sent me a thank you note. The more that you connect with talented people, the more likely they will be able to help you in the future.

If you’re not sure exactly what you are trying to accomplish then you must ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” When you figure out the answer, avoiding burn out will be much easier.

11. Know Your Goals

When you know what you want to accomplish with Twitter it’s much easier to justify using your time and energy on it. If you have a blog, static website, or an offline business you can define your goals and start to make your dreams a reality.

I want to be the one person everyone thinks about when they think about work happiness. Twitter is just another tool that I can use to leverage my expertise.

The best part is that it’s easy to see what is working and what isn’t. If you are sending out the tweets and no one is following then you have to change strategy.

If you are only on Twitter to pass the time and only want to make friends then that’s your goal. Understanding your needs is the most important way to avoid burning out and giving up.

12. Start a 30 Day Challenge

The more compelling the story you tell, the more likely people will want to follow you. One of the best ways to get people involved in who you are and what you have to say is to challenge yourself to become a better person.

I created a “No Complaining” challenge that lasted for the whole month. I blogged and tweeted about it. Fellow tweeters gave me advice and empathy. This is when my tweeting became more personal and more compelling.

People want to know how the situation makes you feel. The Twitter society on the whole is very caring and supportive. So let them know what you are trying to accomplish and let them help you succeed.

13. Remember Twitter is Supposed to be Fun

Twitter should never feel like work and when it does then you know you need to change your habits. I’ve seen some tweeters adding new friends by the hundreds, just trying to get as many friends as possible. They burn out quickly because it stops being fun. They are more worried about how many people are following them instead of the value they are giving and receiving through Twitter.

Let your personality come out because that’s the person people want to see.

At first Twitter can be daunting and confusing, so find the right tools that fit your needs. Darren has plenty of them on this blog. I would suggest Tweetdeck to anyone who hasn’t tried it. It organizes all the tweets making the experience much more enjoyable and less overwhelming.

14. (What would be your number 14? How have you avoided burn-out or overcome it and came back better than ever?)

I’ve posted over 1,500 tweets and I feel like I’m just grasping the art of tweeting. The more that I tweet the better I get and the more fun it becomes. I felt close to burn out a few months ago, but I realigned my goals and I’m back to tweeting up a storm.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



14 Ways To Fight Twitter Burnout

By Neal Wiser (follow him @nealwiser) and Peter Marinari (follow him @krisis)(http://twitter.com/krisis).

First in a series of brief case studies about using Twitter for social good.

Sure, you can use Twitter to tell people about your literal and metaphorical dirty laundry (you really shouldn’t), or you can use Twitter to try to overthrow governments such as Iran and Moldavia (please be careful), but personally, I believe that one of the best uses for Twitter is to rally people around good causes.

And despite the annoyances that can sometimes result when people misuse and abuse Twitter, except for television there has probably never been a technology that can spread the news about events faster than Twitter. As a result, Twitter may just be the perfect platform for charitable causes and institutions.

Getting the Word Out

While some may argue that anything you do to raise awareness of your cause is a good thing, what you really want is to have people take a desired action and actively participate. Otherwise, your cause is just an idea, not a movement, and it’s movements that drive change.

Enter Twitter and its unique ability to instantly disseminate any idea to thousands or even tens of thousands (if not more) people across the globe with just a few clicks. Of course, that’s only part of the equation. Because of how Twitter works, in order to receive any given message, your followers have to be online and reading your tweets at the same time you send them. Or they could subscribe to your Profile page via RSS (or another alert system) so they can catch up on your updates later. Otherwise, they’ll miss the message.

Regardless how you send your messages, we are fortunate that there are many groups who are using Twitter effectively. One of the more interesting and successful examples is BlameDrewsCancer.

What is #BlameDrewsCancer and What am I Blaming it for?

#BlameDrewsCancer is rare for a charitable organization because it’s also a meme.

As a charitable organization, BlameDrewsCancer was founded by Drew Olanoff (@drew), who was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkins Lymphoma. Blame Drew’s Cancer’s mission is to support and raise the hopes of people battling and surviving cancer through the use of humor to erase the stigma behind cancer and by inspiring frank discussions of the impact it can have on the lives of those fighting it, as well as those who love and support them.

The #BlameDrewsCancer meme was born when, as a coping mechanism, Drew thought it would be funny to blame his cancer on, well, anything he could. He blamed his cancer for lost keys, the Phillies losing, Twitter going down, and whatever else he could think of.

Then a funny thing happened; thousands of people all over the world starting blaming things on Drew’s cancer too. From “self-inflicted dehydration” to “blinding migraines” to “annoying trance-y techno-y music,” Drew’s cancer got the blame (you too can blame Drew’s cancer. Just click here to automatically insert the Hash Tag #BlameDrewsCancer into your tweets. Then you can blame whatever you want on Drew’s Cancer).

Happy Accidents; Using Twitter as a Tactic

In one context, Drew got lucky; the humor of the #blamedrewscancer Hash Tag was contagious. It also coincided with heavy media coverage of Twitter from Larry King to the local news. The result; the meme went viral. In less than 100 days, over 11,000 people have blamed more than 25,000 things on Drew’s Cancer, and Drew and his team have raised thousands of dollars for cancer-related charities.

Of course, not every charity movement is lucky enough to have a catchy meme. Fortunately, Drew didn’t depend on luck. Realizing that a mere Hash Tag wouldn’t be enough to capture the attention of the general public, Drew turned to developer Mike Demers to create a web site, blamedrewscancer.com. The web site takes advantage of Twitter’s open API to dynamically track tweets with the #blamedrewscancer hash tag and displays them on animated picket signs.

With the web site generating additional buzz and media attention, Drew leveraged Twitter to build a grassroots team of supporters. He solicited volunteers from active twitter users who frequented the Philadelphia Tweetup scene and used team-building techniques, such as an extensively live-tweeted, blogged, and photographed skydiving expedition to establish an esprit de corps. Drew also empowers the entire team to tweet, blog, reach out to sponsors and even appear on panels on his behalf.

Drew’s Twibbon Avatar

But Twitter had even more to offer. While his team actively blogs, supporters branded their Twitter avatars with LiveStrong bands and Blame Drew’s Cancer logos via Twibbon.com to help spread the word even when they were tweeting about other things (click here to add the Drew’s Cancer logo to your Twitter avatar).

How Successful has Twitter been for Drew?

The combination of Drew’s compelling story, his Hash Tag and his newly launched domain quickly garnered the attention of the media. In the months following his diagnosis, Drew had appeared on CNN, AOLHealth, Philadelphia’s Fox29 and in numerous blogs and print outlets.

And celebrities are even participating with Lance Armstrong blaming a shoulder injury on Drew’s Cancer. This tweet ultimately led to LiveStrong, The Lance Armstrong Foundation taking notice of Drew by inviting him to sign on as an official spokesperson and partnering with Blame Drew’s Cancer to provide a meaningful cause for Drew’s supporters to donate towards.

Since its inception about 100 days ago, and thanks to the media coverage and to Twitter, BlameDrewsCancer has been visited over 85,000 times. Additionally, three well-attended fundraising events have generated over $3,000 in donations with a fourth, Drew’s Blame-a-Thon, a 24-hour, marathon benefit concert and film screening held in two locations and live-streamed globally via the internet, is scheduled for Wednesday, 9/9/09. Drew’s Blame-a-Thon represents the culmination of a summer of raising awareness and donations for the fight against cancer. A sellout crowd would raise as much as $10,000 for LiveStrong.

A Good Meme Travels Far and Wide

In addition to the successes listed above, gene research company 23andMe has joined as an official sponsor, contributing $1 each for 500 unique blamers to LiveStrong and helping with costs for the Blame-a-Thon. Taco Bell has also offered an unsolicited $1,000 to LiveStrong for the next set of unique users who blame Drew’s cancer and are planning to send social-media-driven Taco Bell Truck to the Blame-a-Thon.

Meanwhile, Drew continues his fight against cancer (he has had a chemotherapy treatment the week of each fundraising event and Blame-a-Thon will not be an exception) and plans on continuing to raise money for LiveStrong by using the awareness generated by Blame Drew’s Cancer to help other young people fighting cancer find support both online and locally via social networks.

How to Use Twitter for Charity

While there are no hard and firm rules for using Twitter to promote and organize your charity, organizers should keep the following in mind:

• Use Twitter as the foundation of a viral strategy. It’s the fastest, best way to virally spread word-of-mouth.
• Augment Twitter with other social networks and tools. Twitter is great, but don’t limit yourself to only Twitter’s audience.
• Make sure your virtual strategy is realistic. Setting goals too high will result in disappointments instead of surprisingly exceeding expectations.
• Legitimized by partnering with established brands. Many brands like to partner with good causes organized by smart people.
• Advertise in the medium your users communicate on. In other words; be where your “customers” or likely followers are.
• Don’t focus on top-down advertising. It’s slow and hard to build momentum.
• And if you can launch a catchy meme, do that too.

Good luck.

For More Information

Blame Drew’s Cancer Web Site: http://blamedrewscancer.com
Drew’s Blog: http://www.drewolanoff.com
Blame-a-Thon: http://www.blame-a-thon.com
Follow Drew on Twitter: http://twitter.com/drew
LiveStrong Foundation http://www.livestrong.org
American Cancer Society http://www.cancer.org
Make a Wish Foundation http://www.wish.org
Tweetup scene in Philadelphia http://www.phillytweetup.com
Mike Demers http://mikedemers.net
LiveStrong bands http://www.livestrongaction.org/avatar
Blame Drew’s Cancer Twibbon Logos http://twibbon.com/Search?searchQuery=blamedrewscancer

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



#BlameDrewsCancer for this Case Study

Sometimes in life (and Twitter), you just got to cut your losses and start over. Here’s how to do it right.

Let me tell you the story of Ari Herzog (@ariherzog). Some of you may follow Ari (whose blog, AriWriter I highly recommend) and may have seen his recent announcement that he was declaring Twitter Bankruptcy.

Twitter Bankruptcy is basically the Twitter version of Email Bankruptcy where someone is so inundated with emails that they cannot realistically process them all. In Twitter Bankruptcy, instead of emails, the problem is having to process too many people (decide to follow, organize in groups, etc.) and unfollowing everyone in order to start over.

Although this may seem like an antisocial thing for a social media evangelist like Ari to do, for Ari this was an act born out of necessity.

What Happened Was…

Ari recently reinstalled his OS (including Tweetdeck) and quickly realized that rebuilding all his Tweetdeck groups was going to be extremely time consuming (he was following about 500 people). As a solution, Ari decided to follow everyone.  But instead of following groups of individuals, Ari’s strategy was to follow conversations where the people whom he wanted to pay attention to could be found, along with other new voices. Ari also felt that following everyone would be the best way to, “grow my network, gain potential value from more people and… pass that value on to you (the follower).”

At first, Ari was quickly achieving his goals. He also increased his Followers from about 5900 to about 7000 in only two weeks. But then Ari encountered a problem; Twitter’s Following Limits were severely limiting his ability to follow more people.

After carefully weighing his options, Ari concluded that he had no other choice but to unfollow everyone. This would give him the opportunity to rebuild his network from scratch and allow him to restore control and vitality to his tweet-stream.

Looking for Mister Right

Unfollowing is part of life on Twitter. It happens every day and it happens to everyone. It can sometimes be hard to be unfollowed (and even to do the unfollowing), but no one should take it personally as the reasons are as varied as your followers.

However, what doesn’t happen every day, at least not yet, is Mass, or Bulk Unfollowing, which is the unfollowing of large numbers of people. It’s a drastic step and the decision shouldn’t be taken lightly. In a recent post on Search Engine Journal Gerald Weber makes some excellent points about Why It’s a Terrible Idea To Unfollow Everyone On Twitter. To summarize, Gerald rightly states that mass unfollowing:

• Burns bridges with people whom you may need in the future.
• Doesn’t allow you to truly connect and is like having a one way conversation.
• Diminishes Twitter whose value is in the interconnectedness of the entire community.

With that being said, if you are going to perform a mass Unfollow, take Ari’s example and do it right. So, what exactly did Ari do?

• First, Ari established a Following Policy so that his Followers would understand why he does, or does not, follow them back.
• Second, he clearly communicated his intentions to his followers, explaining in detail what he was doing and why he was doing it.
• Third, he made them part of the process by asking them for their ideas and opinions.

Of course, all this raises a few questions

1. Did Ari have to put so much effort into informing his Followers?
   Of course not, but Ari respects his followers. Also, Ari is a rare social media expert who actually practices what he preaches. He used the tools of social media, in this case Twitter and his blog not only to inform his followers, but to include them in the process.
2. How many people will notice that Ari stopped following them back?
   Who knows. The reality is that now it’s commonplace for users to be following many hundreds or thousands of people. Unless you’re a high profile figure, few people beyond a few hundred of your core-Followers will probably even notice that you’ve dropped them.
3. Why didn’t Ari just backup his data and restore it?
   I talked with Ari while writing this post. Ari said that he did backup his documents, but it didn’t occur to him to backup Tweetdeck. It’s understandable; with almost all Twitter apps being web-based it’s easy to forget that when something is stored locally.
4. So, why was what Ari did significant?
   Because in today’s world where common courtesy, much less simple civility, is in short supply, someone with thousands of followers, the vast majority of whom he probably never interacts with, demonstrated tremendous respect and courtesy towards all of them.
5. Would you do the same?
   This isn’t just a rhetorical question. After all, how many people would really go half as far as Ari did? All things being equal; Ari’s was a classy move.

How To Unfollow With Class

So, you need to unfollow a large number, if not all, of those whom you are following. Here’s how you do it, with class.

1. Establish a Following Policy.
   All you need is a simple statement of why you will, or will not, follow someone. While some feel any policy is too much, I’ve found having a Following Policy allows me to both clarify what I want to get out of the relationship and allows me to set some “ground rules.” I’ve written previously about establishing a Following Policy here on Twitip. Also, you can use my personal Following Policy as an example.
2. Ask yourself why you are cutting yourself off from your Followers.
   Following is a relationship with a real person, especially if that person follows you back. As such, you should have a good reason for unfollowing because you are cutting yourself off. While that person can still reach you through “@” messages, you will miss everything else they tweet.
3. Know the risks.
   Beware; some people may think less of you and even think that you aren’t organized enough to handle something as simple as following. This could even hurt your career if someone you unfollow is a coworker, client, etc.
4. Decide how deep you want to cut.
   Do you want to cut out everyone, or just select groups of people? Try trimming first before going nuclear.
5. Decide whom to tell.
   While you should tell everyone, there are several tiers of people you must make sure to tell.

• Your Closest Followers
• Your Friends & Family
• Your Co-workers & Clients
• Your Fans

1. Clearly explain why you are unfollowing.
   Keep things in perspective. You are not breaking up with a “significant other.” The best notifications are short and to the point, unlike this post . However, it’s still a relationship and a clear message shows that you respect your followers and reduces the chance that you will damage that relationship. Just realize that some Followers will be offended no matter what you do. It’s unfortunate, but it’s reality.
2. Decide which Channels you want to use for notifications.
   If you are unfollowing from a specific platform, notify people on that platform. Writing on someone’s Facebook wall that you’re unfollowing them in Twitter will only cause confusion (and may make you look stupid). You can also send an email to specific, important followers such as an employer, client or family member. But remember, whatever channel you choose, don’t assume that everyone will see the notification. Expect that most won’t.
3. What Tools can you use?
   The following is a list of just some of the services, tools and resources for bulk unfollowing and backing up your Twitter account.

For Mass/Bulk Unfollowing:

• Tweepular
• TwitIn
• Tweepler
• TweetSum
• Mutuality
• TwiPing
• SocialToo (fee required)
• UnTweeps

For Backing up Twitter Accounts:

• TweetBackup
• TwitterSafe
• TweeTake
• How To: Sync settings between multiple TweetDeck installs on Windows
• How to transfer TweetDeck settings between two computers
• TweetDeck Export and Import Group Script (I do not vouch for the quality of code. Use at your own risk)
• How to Download Your Twitter Archive
• Backup your friends and followers on Twitter
• Twitter Back-up Tools

Resources about “Following”

• To Follow Or Not To Follow, That Is The Question
• Neal Wiser’s Following Policy
• How to Follow Everyone Back on Twitter Without Ruining Your Experience
• The Twitter Followholic: An Epidemic
• Prevent your Twitter stream from becoming a flood
• Why I Unfollowed Everyone on Twitter and Why You Should Too
• Pruning Your Twitter Followers

Ari’s posts that inspired this story

• Why I Am (or Not) Following You on Twitter
• Can You Help My Twitter Growing Pains?
• Why My Twitter Train is Stopping

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



How To Unfollow On Twitter With Class

In this post Claire Chapman (follow her at @coachclaire) shares some reflections upon the ways that she’s been using Twitter to Connect, Share and Be.

I followed @chrisbrogan theme of 3 key words this year – connect, share and be and have been using these to create a clearer focus in all the work I do, including the marketing of my coaching business working with other coaches.

So, how can you use your annual themes or goals to relate to what you are doing on twitter? To share some of my goals I can talk about how I have been connecting, sharing and being on twitter and plan to continue to act in 2009.

Connecting

With a goal of connecting, twitter is a perfect environment. I loved a definition I heard the other day of twitter as “microsharing” (see theme 2 as well!). Because I know I actively want to be connecting with people, it helps me remember that getting the most out of twitter is not just “pile them high” with numbers but creating a sense of community and value. And for me, I’ve actively sought out other coaches via twittersearch to find out who is talking about coaching and coaching related terms – I also use the search columns in my tweetdeck for this.

So that gets me knowing who is out there talking about stuff I am interested in. It’s then taking this to the next level. Just as you wouldn’t get to know someone if you never did more than be in the same room with them, I’ve only really started connecting with people on twitter when I’ve taken action or when they have – I’ve written a personal @reply or DM to them to start the conversation and made it relevant to what they are posting. And that’s often started some tweets leading to deeper levels of connection –moving to a more chatty format to deepen the relationship further – phone, email, mastermind groups etc

Sharing

Sharing is a perfect goal for twitter – the concept of microblogging supports the detailed chat and conversation of small updates regularly given. And what I do here is try not to be a tweetyawn – I don’t want to be the person that is like that guy at the staff party who only talks to you about work – so I try to be authentically me, mix it up with what I am doing personally, helping others out, retweeting and sharing ways to do things better. And I do definitely focus on the work side as well – I just do it (and increasingly more so) with that sense of balance. And thinking about whether what I am sharing is going to be valuable to my community. I like that you can use information such as tweetstats to see what the balance of your conversations is @replies to your personal updates – helps me think about what I am sharing and who to.

Being

And the being isn’t really an overt thing, it’s more just about being me. Being authentic. Not spending too much time on twitter and forgetting how to achieve my goals in other ways. Sharing with others how to be in this time of challenge and following others such as @zen_habits who are sharing their own way to do this.

So now you have seen how I have translated my 3 key themes from this year into how I approach networking on twitter, I hope it will give you food for thought on how you align your tweeting with the way you work and who you are, in order to connect with likeminded people. So from the way I have shared my tips here, you’ve got some resources to help you focus on what you’d like to use twitter for and how this fits with other marketing and conversations you have about your business.

3 questions I’ll leave you with:

• How are you being authentically you on twitter?
• Who do you want to connect with and make part of your network in 2009?
• What will help you take that first step towards connecting with them?

Go do it and have fun!

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Connect, Share, Be: Translating your annual theme to the way you use Twitter for Networking

I’m interested to know if anyone would like to share their plans, resolutions and goals for their use of Twitter in 2009?

Are you making any changes or are you Tweeting as Normal?

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Do You Have any Resolutions, Goals or Plans for Your Use of Twitter in 2009?

I’ve written numerous times about the benefits of Twitter to me – what I get out of it – but perhaps a more pertinent question for Twitter users to be asking is not what THEY get OUT of Twitter – but what THEY put INTO Twitter.

Don’t get me wrong – Twitter is a medium which can significantly benefit YOU and enhance your life in many ways – however when you talk to most successful Twitter users you find that they’ve discovered one thing:

I’ve seen this to be true many times in my own 1 year journey with Twitter. The more you put in, the more helpful you are, the more value you bring, the more effort you put in to enhancing the lives of others – the more comes back to you.

On the flip side – the more you ‘use’ your followers, the more you take, the more selfish your tweets are and the more pointless your tweets become – the less comes back to you.

So lets come back to my original question above:

• How are you enhancing your followers lives?
• What are you ‘giving’ them?
• What do they value you for?

Get a handle on some of these questions and deliver on them and I suspect your use of Twitter will become more and more successful.

How to be a Useful Twitter User

OK – so we have to be useful, helpful and add value for those that follow us. What does that look like?

The reality is that useful Twittering will look quite different for each of us depending upon our own situation – but here are a couple of simple questions that will help you to get to the heart of it.

Another similar question.

If you are solving a problem or fulfilling a need that someone has – you’re being useful.

That’s probably one of the most obvious statements I’ve ever made – yet so many people fail to apply it to their lives – and so many are failing to apply it to their use of Twitter. Most Power users of Twitter (and all forms of social media) ‘get’ this and are successful because of it.

Addressing Needs and Problems need not look the same for all of us – in fact it can look incredibly diverse once you begin to think about and tap into the the lives of those that follow us.

What do people need? What problems do they have?

The answers to these questions are diverse.

• Some people have a need for information.
• Others have a need for entertainment.
• Some have the problem of loneliness.
• Others have problems with getting their heads around certain technologies.
• Others have a desire to connect with a community learning about an interest that they have.
• Some want to find the latest news in a niche
• Others want advice on buying or doing certain things
• Some just want to laugh
• Some want to have a vigorous discussion or debate on a deep issue

The list could go on and on and become very specific from topic to topic that we might cover.

Once you’ve ascertained a need or problem that you’re addressing with your use of Twitter (or more than one) you’ll then find other questions begin to answer themselves. Question like ‘what should I tweet?’ and ‘who should I connect with?’

But it all comes down to knowing why you’re using Twitter and committing yourself to keep your use of the medium relatively on topic. This doesn’t mean every Tweet you do has to be fulfilling a need (Twitter is a playful and forgiving medium) but you should keep coming back to fulfilling those needs and problems and adding value over time.

If you do this your become and more and more important part of your followers lives and ultimately will benefit more and more from the medium yourself.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



What’s in it for Your Followers? How to be Useful on Twitter