8 Things I Don’t Love About Twitter…
27
Dec

I want to first say that I think Twitter rocks! I’ve only been using it for a month or so and I am loving it. I’ve connected with some awesome people, made some great contacts and learned a ton.
But being the nitpicking, analytical, OCD type person that I am, I have a few grievances already. Or maybe I just like to complain…
Here are some of my least favorite things to see on Twitter, and I’m probably not alone here:
- People that auto blast their tweets. Even if you have some incredibly interesting things to say, nobody wants to see them every 2 minutes. Does anyone really need to send out 200 tweets in one day?ย Can you say unfollow…
- Automatic DM’s. When I find someone who seems to have something interesting to say, I follow them. When I get a DM shortly thereafter thanking me for the follow and letting me know about their kick ass blog, Facebook URL, and links to their eBook, it’s going to make me do one thing. And that’s unfollow you ASAP. People may think they are being personal by sending a ‘thank you’ for following them, but it’s actually a lot more impersonal. Send me an actual Direct Message and I will respond, otherwise I will ignore you.
- Endless streams ofย sales pitches. I get it. Internet marketers need to make money and this is a great way to get in front of people. However, when you promote something 50 times each day, it’s highly annoying and reduces the chance I will buy something from you to zero.
- Quotes. I like quotes as much as the next guy, but Twitter is saturated with people streaming “life changing” quotes incessantly. If I wanted to read quotes all day, I know where to look. It’s called the Internet. Say something about the quotes you send. Add something to the conversations. Just a thought.
- Spammers. Just annoying as ever. Do they really think that following you is going to result in a sale? All is see is some random picture, no profile, and a slew of misspellings. Well, I guess we will never be rid of them…
- The immense time suck that is Twitter. I have realized that Twitter is a very powerful marketing tool and has helped me connect with people I never would have otherwise. Twitter is all about building relationships with others and that, of course, takes time. Most bloggers I know have a very busy schedule, so time spent chatting on here will be limited. So the question becomes ‘do we spend our time here networking’? or ‘do we limit it and do something else’?
- People that reply to your comments, have discussions with you, yet never follow you. This is one I don’t understand. Are you really that selective when choosing who to follow? If you took the time to talk with me, there must have been some interest there. Besides, if I turn out to be an asshole you can always block me….
- Having followers that never respond to you. I’m not talking about spammers or people just looking to get followed back. I’m talking about the people who are in your niche, made initial contact, maybe made a comment about how great your site is, and then disappear. I realize that people are busy and they may have hundreds of people they chat with on a daily basis, but come on now…check your @mentions. I’m in there….
All in all, the issues I have are relatively insignificant and will not keep me from using Twitter. When my list gets to 25, maybe I will reconsider…
If you would like to add something that annoys you about Twitter, I would love to hear it!!
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(30) Comments
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Michael Guill
Twitter is Twitter. You’ll dial in what you need to get out of it, but it does take time and there is a learning curve.
1. thru 5. Simple… don’t follow them. ๐
6. Manage your time better. It’s OK to automate a little as long as you don’t abandon it.
7. Have you considered that you may be on a list they follow? If someone’s on a list I follow, I want them in that column, not in my main stream.
8. Forget about them. It’s the same as in real life. If you say hi to someone at the coffee shop now and then, and they never bother to say hi back, you eventually get the drift and stop reaching out. Twitter is no different.
Steve
Good points Mike. I haven’t looked into sorting by list yet, so thanks for the idea.
Keith
I agree with Michael above me. 1-5 don’t worry about it, don’t follow them. I also unfollow people that put #quote in their stream because usually they are just bots trying to keep from being detected.
I will say this (and I am writing a post about it as we speak), I use lists, some people I follow, some I don’t but if you are on one of my lists, you can bet your bottom dollar I am watching what you say and will most likely have a conversation with you at some point.
If you really try, you can probably find hundreds of reasons Twitter sucks, but the few reasons it doesn’t suck far outweighs the reasons it does….
Steve
Yea, I have a habit of finding all the negatives with everything. In this case though, the benefits are far greater than the annoyances.
TheNextMartha
“Put forth as much effort as you want to receive” ~ Anonymous. Bwahahaha. sorry. couldn’t resist. You forgot the people who have little content to offer other than to RT others. Bye bye.
Steve
I’ll have to RT that….
Dave Lucas
Hey Steve! Thanks for the follow on twitter!
I must share with you that I’ve been looking for a new design for my blog.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but when I visited your blog (and a few others with similar design layout) I just want to leave. I feel like I’m back in 1st grade reading “run spot, run.”
(1) Fonts are way too big. (please don’t tell me to adjust them, because then they’ll be too small on all the other sites I visit daily).
(2) I hate those articles that continue on another page. It’s especially distressing for visitors on dial-up who have already had to wait for your page to load. (22% of Americans are still dialing in – 56% of the internet users worldwide have dial-up service)
http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com/2010/02/2010-and-still-on-dial-up.html
(3) OK, I vented. Now come over to my blog and help me figure out how to make it better – YOUR BLOG IS GREAT – it’s just the layout – the other thing about all the BIGNESS is that people from across the room can look at my screen and see the headline that goes with what I’m reading. It’s none of their bizness!
Steve
This is actually a brand new design and I love it! Unfortunately, you can’t please everyone. Some people prefer small text, some large. I happen to think big and bold is more attractive and I have had quite a few compliments as well.
As far as my articles continuing on another page, I think you are talking about the article exerpts. That’s a magazine style and it works well with what I’m doing here. Also, I don’t think changing my theme to accomodate all the dial up users makes any sense. I have yet to hear one person tell me the site was loading too slowly or they had a problem with it.
I do appreciate your feedback though. If I could make everyone happy, I would. It’s just not possible.
I’m glad you like the content at least…
And yes, I will be happy to look over your blog and offer recommendations.
Shalon Sims
Hi Steve,
First of all, I want to say that I thought your blogpost was funny and I completely agree with your annoyances, most of them connected to the same issue: people using Twitter unauthentically.
@Michael Guill, while you are right that it is easy to just not follow someone who annoys you, I think this post is very educational for people new to Twitter or who ARE using it solely for marketing purposes. They might read this and learn from it.
@Dave Lucas, what are you thinking putting up a detailed critique of someone’s website in a comment on a blog-post? How uncouth of you. Have you heard of email?
Steve
Hi Shalon,
When I first read your comment, I thought you said people use Twitter unethically, but then I realized that you said unauthentically. What a great choice of words.
That’s exactly it. People seem to use Twitter to self promote themselves like crazy. I do it as well, but really try to interact as much as I can.
If I had more time, I would focus on building relationships every day. I think that’s the key to success with Twitter.
Theresa Bradley-Banta
Hey Steve โ I too arrived at your blog because of your follow on Twitter! And, no, Iโm not going to launch into a critique of your design. Geez, some peopleโฆ must have Twitter/blog envy. Bizarre.
Love your blog and your premise. Twitter is pretty coolโฆ although Iโm selective about who I follow. If someone is clearly engaging with others, playing nicely, I love it and I follow. No complaints really. I get tired of the excessive quotes too โ your idea is a good one. Add something!
Thanks for the follow โ really happy to connect!
~Theresa
Steve
Thanks Theresa,
I don’t mind the critisism as long as I can take something away from it. I look forward to connecting with you on the big T…
Dave Lucas
No envy, and nothing bizarre going on. I’m just trying to figure out how to better present my blog and I’ve been “window shopping” trying to gather ideas – Personally, I’m not crazy about huge fonts, that’s all!
Steve
Dave,
I don’t think you’re envious at all. Everyone likes a certain style and that’s just fine.
Dave Lucas
Steve, I LOVE Theresa’s layout! Let me ask you – does this template you are using “stretch out” when it is called up by a widescreen monitor? Some of the WordPress blogs do, and they look mighty awesome. My blog only shows up dead in the middle third of a widescreen, bordered by large swaths of green on either side. I’m on blogger, looking for a template that will “flow” to accomodate widescreen views as well as display well in “normal” screens.
Steve
Theresa’s theme has a nice, clean look to it. It runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress. My site adjusts to whatever monitor is being used and allows for the appropriate amount of ‘white space’.
Theresa Bradley-Banta
Hey Guys ๐
I think the first grade comment sent me into big sister protective mode. I must say I love the engagement in this little thread. Dave – I get what you’re doing, congrats on reaching out and for doing some research. Team all the way. So, actually I’m impressed. Wish I could help you with the ‘squeezing’ issue… I’m at a total loss.
Steve – nice support. You rock!
~Theresa
Steve
Thanks Theresa, I always wanted a big sister ๐
I sent Dave an email with some suggestions for his site, so I hope he finds what he is looking for.
Theresa Bradley-Banta
Yep, you rock! Thank you!
Johanna @ GIJoh.com
Hi Steve,
I am still relatively new to blogging and haven’t done much on Twitter yet. I’ve never tried Twitter before in the past, but hopefully I could have some time with it in the coming days. I liked your post here about Twitter. I’m pretty sure sooner or later I’ll encounter the things you’ve just mentioned.
Steve
Hey Johanna,
Welcome to Twitter! It’s actually a great tool and has helped my blog significantly.
Please feel free to @ mention me or DM me with any questions.
Johanna @ GIJoh.com
Hi Steve,
Thanks for sending my a message on Twitter. I haven’t the time to learn more about the basics of Twitter due to the holidays right now. I believe that Twitter is one great helping hand on blogs, that’s why even if I’ve never used it personally, I will really try to incorporate it to my blog. I’m glad Twitter has helped your blog significantly. ๐
Steve
Hopefully it will help you out as well, it really is a wonderful tool. Good luck with it!!
Barry H
I definitely agree with this post – those are some of the ugly sides to Twitter. Knowing who to follow in Twitter is the battle you have to win to make it worth using. Who are the 100 people who are going to help you in your work or brighten your day by sharing 140 characters of their thoughts and links whenever the urge takes them. That’s the thing with the over Tweeters – it depends if they are interesting or funny, if not can them!
Steve
Barry,
It’s all about finding those people who you can interact with and hopefully help each other. There are a few overtweeters that have great things to say, there’s just too many of them to follow…
Harriet`
Yep I agree with all of your points here. I love Twitter, use it all the time, but when people update every single bit of their life all the time it gets so boring! I definatley unfollow them then!
Ashraf
I humbly disagree with Dave. I think the design and the layout of your blog is simply great!. Keep it up!
Steve
Glad you like the new design! My designer has made some cool changes and I think it’s working well.
Patricia@lavenderuses
Hi Steve
Came over from your comment on another site. Don’t you love those commentluv blogs.
I love your site. Clean and easy to read ๐ Also easy to navigate so ticks all the boxes for me. Plus I love that you engage with your readers.
I am a regular Tweetheart so I love Twitter. Have found lots of great posts there and visited lots of new sites where I can meet more bloggers to interact with.
Do relate to the dislikes and I have no hesitation in pressing the delete button and block spammers immediately! If I have people I follow who don’t regularly interact then I unfollow them too.
Social Media is great for networking if done correctly. For newbies, it’s a way to get seen and known too. Great read. Enjoyed the post.
Patricia Perth Australia
Steve
Hi Patricia,
I do like the Comment Luv!!
I think comments are vital to a blog, so I try to respond to each one. Thanks for noticing ๐
Social media has been great for meeting new people and getting introduced into the blogosphere.
I’m sure I will see you around my favorite spot, Twitter!