I read this article on Friday that was written by Maggie Mason of MightyGirl.net. I immediately shared it out in my Google Reader because I thought it was SO spot on. I then Twittered about how I was rethinking my twitter existence because of the article, and might have mentioned that some things about Twitter annoy me.
Then…two things happened. One - I discovered that the article pissed a lot of people off. Two - I discovered that I had pissed Twitter off. Since the article mentions the followers/following numbers…I paid attention to the number of people I was following for the first time ever. It was like 450+. I clicked around awhile to see how that numbered compared to others, and when I came back to my profile? It suddenly said I was following SEVEN people. It went from 450+ to SEVEN in a matter of seconds.
I figured it was a glitch because all of the photos of people I follow were still showing up and their updates were showing up on my main page. So - obviously I was following them - Twitter just couldn’t count. THEN…later that day…the updates stopped appearing. Suddenly my front page showed only my own updates. And then…today? The pictures of people I follow disappeared.
Evidently I have angered the Twitter gods. Suddenly I am not longer following anyone. At least according to Twitter. I’m going to give it a few days and if it doesn’t fix itself, I’m going to have to go re-follow them. All because I casually mentioned that there were somethings that annoyed me about Twitter.
So - Let me explain myself before the Twitter gods delete me all together. I’ll touch on some of the points of Maggie’s article that either had me shouting, “Amen!” or “Uh Oh” because I’m guilty of some of the offenses she mentions.
3. Consider pausing between tweets.
Twittering 30-plus times an hour pushes other people’s messages off followers’ homepages, and sends mobiles into convulsive twit-fits (to say nothing of excessive SMS charges). If you have a lot to say, but still want to engage with followers without alienating them, consider making more liberal use of DMs.Also, don’t you occasionally need to use the restroom? Please don’t take your phone in there. Thanks.
I have logged into my Twitter page before and seen 20 tweets from one person IN A ROW. And all 20 of them are in the last 5 minutes. I’ve never un-followed anyone because of this, it’s just something that I find a little annoying. See, Twitter - it’s not you, it’s them!
5. Accept that some people will use lots of @s.
If you’re getting a lot of nonsensical @ messages because you don’t follow the same group of users, either subscribe to the people being mentioned so you can follow the thread, or turn @ messages off. And then stop complaining.
This is the key part: because you don’t follow the same group of users. I follow a bunch of people who follow people I don’t follow. So, yeah, I get VERY confused. I find myself sometimes very lost and that’s exactly why! I don’t follow the same group of people that the people I follow, follow. (Are you confused yet?) Now…I’m not going to turn off the @ messages (yet), but I will take Maggie’s advice and stop complaining. That’s just annoying.
8. What’s rude in life is rude on Twitter.
Passive-aggressive tweets are never as inscrutable as the sender thinks. When you’re being mean, even covertly, eventually everyone figures out the target. And then they start firing the arrows back your way.
I have been the target of criticism a few times on Twitter, that’s never fun. And there have been other times where I’ve seen someone else get attacked in the same passive-aggressive manner. It always makes me feel VERY uncomfortable. Like, I immediately want to cover my ears and run away. I never like to participate in conflict because it upsets the peace-loving hippy inside of me. So this part of twitter? The comfort it gives people? Makes me uneasy. Why can’t we all get along?
12. Leave when you want.
If you want to stop following someone, stop. There’s no need to send a breakup note. Unless you’re having Twitter sex.
I never quit following anyone intentionally. I did accidentally follow EVERYONE following me once, and found out there were a bunch of spammers out there. So I un-followed them, but they don’t count. I’ve never un-followed anyone but I WOULD like everyone to know that I don’t pay attention to who is following me, so if you un-follow me? I won’t notice so no one’s feelings will get hurt! I understand that my tweets are boring…it won’t hurt my feelings at all if you un-follow me!
13. Plug moderately.
Lots of people ignore this guideline, but if you’re almost exclusively using Twitter to plug your blog posts, events, or products, or to ask people to vote for one of your projects on Digg, you’ll lose some followers.
This annoys me. Period. People who ONLY tweet when they have a new entry on their blog. I should probably just un-follow those people. OH, WAIT. Twitter did that for me! As it is right now, I’m not following ANYONE, so NO ONE I’m following does that. Anyway - I do NOT mind the occasional plug, but when that’s all it is? Bugs me…that’s what I subscribe to RSS feeds for.
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So, there’s where I stand. I don’t hate you, Twitter! I just get irritated that - like everything in life - some people don’t want to do it my way! The nerve! I know that’s unrealistic and to be honest? I don’t spend that much time on Twitter anyway. So, not too big of a deal. I think Maggie did an excellent analysis of Twitter and it’s users. And I’m even guilty of some of the annoying things she mentions. If Twitter ever sets my account back right again, I’m going to treat it better. I PROMISE.


It all started with a Google of the name “Merlin Mann” because





