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Stop the Twitter train and let me off

April 26th, 2009 | Social Networking


For my own posterity: If I am following you right now and if you have applications and bots running like Qwitter, you will shortly see a message that I will unfollow you, for I’m about to pay $25 to SocialToo for the service of unfollowing all my friends. It’s your prerogative, of course, to reciprocally unfollow me. In fact, you may have services set up to unfollow your unfollowers.

Once my Twitter friend level is down to zero, I can focus on following those who provide value to me–and so I can share that value to you. Ultimately, while I remain collecting unemployment and am only part-time employed, my first priority is to use Twitter as a professional networking and collaborating tool, and second as a social chit-chat tool. On that note, here I am on Facebook.

That lengthy quote sums up one man’s take on dealing with Twitter overload.  Ari Herzog is giving up following everyone, or just about.  His strategy is sound even if it seems harsh and unforgiving.

If you’ve been an avid follower of his, and he you, you were likely notified of his recent unfollow.  This isn’t because you’re a bad person, your tweets suck, or your avatar is ugly.  It’s all about focus.

Ari is trying to bring increased value to his Twitter stream.  Some portion of that value is derived from the social aspects; “my first priority is to use Twitter as a professional networking and collaborating tool,” says Ari though.

Could I do the same? Probably not. My primary focus isn’t about earning more dollars, finding a new job, or becoming the #1 source of anything in particular.  For Ari though, this begins a reboot of his Twitter experience, and for us, those that follow him, a change in how he contributes to our stream.

Asked how he intends to keep up and know when to add people back to follow, Ari shared this:
Ari Herzog, @ariherzog, answers how he'll find folks to follow on Twitter

And that my friends is sound advice for us all. You can’t follow every tweet of every person that might by some chance be relevant, but you can follow tweets that are relevant by using groups and searching. Try a Twitter client today that allows both or either.

Will you be unfollowing folks because of this? Do you think his idea is solid? Is he going to go back and end up following thousands again? What about you?

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  • I think Ari should be allowed to use Twitter in the way that works best for him. I haven't decided yet whether to follow his lead and start unfollowing people, but I can totally see where he's coming from.
  • Definitely! Ari is his own person. Why the heck shouldn't he run his Twitter account as he sees fit. And yes, we don't have to agree.
  • Perhaps I've become jaded myself, but who are we to judge how Ari uses his Twitter account? If he wants to unfollow all and start again, so be it. That isn't the choice I'd make, but it isn't my call.
  • Thanks for chiming in Chuck. I totally agree.
  • I commented on his site, saying he's doing the "right" thing because it's what he chooses to do.

    Of course, from a larger perspective, I think the whole debate on following/unfollowing has gone completely nuts. There was a time when bloggers were screaming for everybody to be "social" and follow-back. No it seems fashionable to un-follow because people over-followed.

    Everybody uses Twitter differently. I do what I do. You do what you do. And Ari does what he does, even if he's probably pissed off 3,000 peeps. Or maybe not - maybe the thousands of his "followers" weren't paying attention to him either.

    One thing's for sure: for Brands/Companies, etc. mass unfollowing isn't a very smart thing to do imo. But for personal accounts, people can do whatever they please.
  • I'm with you. I wonder how many were really sharing anything he cared about to start with or were even paying that much attention to his stream.

    Good question. I sometimes drop stuff on my stream to see who's awake. It's interesting too see how much of reaction I get. Varies by all kinds of factors though.

    I'm glad to see you supporting Ari's stance.
  • nancyclaeys
    The Twitter do-over concept has been around for a few months. I don't think Ari was the first and certainly won't be the last as follower numbers reflect less and less regarding the quality of a person's overall Twitter value. It comes down to using Twitter in a manner that benefits you, not your followers. My opinion, of course.
  • Ari isn't the first, nor last I'm sure. And this doesn't just apply to Twitter, but to any other network one my be part of.

    What's interesting is the bashing he's taken over dropping his follows on so many folks. Several peeps, friends even, have given him negative feedback about it.
  • I understand the want to "clean out" the Twitter feed. It's something I hope to avoid by actually looking in to every new person I might follow - regardless of how I find them. The goal is to build up the network I want to be a part of from the start, but after a few months tweeting, I can see how easy it can be to lose your original focus.

    Good for him for trying to reclaim his Twitter goals.
  • jhoysi, It is difficult to keep up with even a handful of follows, let alone thousands. For me, it's the gestalt effect. The best stuff bubbles up to the top. I rarely miss anything good. The problem I have is there's too much good stuff. Ha.
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