FULL DISCLOSURE: I’m new to Twitter. Really, really new. I’m not using any of the automatic tools.
Some of the things I am noticing are not impressive. Twitter isn’t bad itself, but how people are using it begs the question, “are you joking?”.
For instance, today I searched for a topic I was interested in learning about. I saw 3 people with good comments, so I followed them. I have no idea if this is how Twitter intended it to work, but intuitively, it seemed like the thing to do. I want to learn, so I am going to listen to people who are talking about that topic.
I immediately get a Direct message from one of the people telling me “thank you” for following them (seems polite to me) and then asking me a question.
Cool, I see this as someone is really on the ball and using Twitter to really expand their network. I’m psyched and so I click “reply” and immediately type out a response to their question. Lo and behold, when I click on the “send” button I am gifted an error from Twitter that tells me I can’t send a Direct Message back to the person who sent one to me because they are not following me.
WHAT???
Why would someone send a question in a direct message knowing that I can’t answer them?
Ah, third party tools are obviously being used. They also seem to be used incorrectly. I’m betting that this person is using a tool to automagically deliver a response to someone who follows them. I’m betting that they wanted to say someone nice and make sure to interact with whoever is now following them. Interaction is good. Responsiveness is also good. Ending the potential conversation with a slap upside the head doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy first impression.
How about example number 2:
in the same day as before, I saw someone’s name next to a post that interested me, so I clicked to follow them. I immediately got a direct message that said, “We should connect on Facebook!”.
WHOA!!!!?!!!!!
That’s the social equivalent of asking a girl out for coffee and her response is, “what do you think we should name our first 4 children? Let’s go meet my parents now”.
Hang on a second. I don’t know anything about you other than your obvious psychosis. Again, I clicked on the “reply” button to send a hopefully politically correct response like, “can we just have coffee first?”. And again, I am greeted by an error in Twitter about how this person is not following me so I can’t respond to their direct message.
Ouch. So exactly how do I contact these people in order to tell them that they have completely lost out on a first impression? If I do a Mention, then I embarrass them in front of Twitterville (Twitterland, TwitterWorld, Isle De Twit) and make myself look conceited or snobbish as though I know everything (obviously, I know very little about Twitter).
So, I simply unfollow and continue trying to find people to learn from. Using the automated tools only works for you when you understand how and why you are using them (i.e. focus on the concept, not the tool).
Toff Ward
Open Source Marketer
Accelerate your business online using Twitter.