Since I can’t fit my Twitter policy on my Twitter profile blurb, I’m taking a page from @missbossy’s playbook and made a post about my own personal Twitter policy:
Why I Follow:
Intentional or not, I find you funny.
I follow people who I know in real life (well, those I like anyway).
When you follow me, please don’t expect that I will follow you automatically. I’m not in a race to have x number of followers. I’d like to maintain a manageable number of people to follow because I believe it’s impossible to read posts from a huge number of sources. Personally on Twitter, it’s quality over quantity.
If I’m a fan of your work, I’ll follow you.
If you’re in the same industry, I’ll follow you. (Especially if you’re a competitor.)
I follow people from everywhere not just from my immediate location.
If you have interesting posts yet you don’t link to a website, I’ll have second thoughts following you. I’m wary of people who only take to Twitter for marketing purposes and a lack of website where I can at least contextualize your posts sends up a red flag.
I don’t follow joke accounts.
Why I Unfollow:
You haven’t posted on your account for a long time. I’ve noticed inactive accounts tend to get hijacked by spammers.
You’re a serial ReTweeter (RT). Look, I probably follow the same people you do. There will be overlaps. Occasional RTs are good but if 5 of your last 10 posts were just RTs I’m better off following people you’ve been RT-ing. I followed you because I think your original posts were interesting.
Unless we’re friends in real life, I don’t really care what you had for lunch. Occasional personal posts are okay but if you constantly whine about your work, your boss, your girl/boyfriend — I’m sorry but we must part ways. I have my own stuff to deal with and I don’t have to put up with yours. If you must whine, at least make it entertaining for all of us.
When you say “I just need x number of followers to reach xxx,xxx – tell your friends!” – it would earn you an automatic Unfollow. Because I’m a dick like that.
You’re a hash tag whore. One or two hash tags per post, I can understand. Any more than that and you’re just looking for attention.
You’re a Follow Friday enthusiast. Three consecutive posts filled with people you think other people should follow is bad form my friend. I’m sorry to say, those people get lost in all those @ in your post. And if I like your posts, I most probably looked through your Following list already anyway.
While I don’t enjoy being in an echo chamber, I also don’t like having a discussion with a troll. I don’t mind you disagreeing – as long you don’t do it in a disagreeable manner.
Why I Block:
You mentioned SEO guru, social media expert, etc in your profile YET your posts suggest nothing but cheap tricks designed to game search engines.
You promised 1000x increase in followers if I clicked on a link.
Your username has numbers on them, your profile pic is that of a scantily clad woman, you follow over a thousand people yet your follower count is just 2 digits and your previous 150 posts were sent via API and were made on the same day.
The url on your Twitter profile is from a url-shortening service.
What I find Interesting:
Philippines, Philippine politics, Philippine culture, Filipino diaspora, Filipino-American identity, American politics, history, beaches, entrepreneurship, small businesses, project management, mobile technology, mobile OS, mobile wireless, fighting cancer, cancer awareness, computer technology literacy, bridging the digital divide, OLPC, Filipino food, exotic cuisine, good eats, great restaurants, pop culture, geekery, action figures, comic books, movies, good books, sci-fi, horror, steampunk, writers, novelists, great quotations, funny videos, things that make you go WTF, humor, wit, & sexy geeks.