Q&A: Is it wrong to not follow a lot of people on Twitter?
QUESTION: I know I am going against common practice, but right now I struggle to "follow" hundreds of people back on Facebook and Twitter. For me, it's all about relationships, and when I have too many people in the feed or flow, I start missing important stuff. So ... I force myself to limit how many people I "follow" on Twitter or "friend" on Facebook at the personal page level. Am I wrong or right?
This question was originally asked by Gil Gerretsen on LinkedIn. You can find that full conversation here.
MY ANSWER: I would say Twitter can be used in many ways, depending on what you want to get out of it. I don't think you're wrong to only follow a select few that you want to build a relationship with. That's definitely a great way to use Twitter.
Twitter, for me, is more of a discovery and reference engine. To start with, I NEVER look at my home feed. You're right, it's way too much information & noise if you follow a lot of people (which I do). I don't follow everyone, but I do follow everyone that follows me (unless it's an obvious spam account), and I actively seek out people to follow that are talking about things that interest me.
So what are my interests, and how do I use Twitter find relevant information?
Q&A: Is it wrong to not follow a lot of people on Twitter?
Please let me pay for your service. Please.
Everyone is screaming that everything on the web should be free. The only way to do this is by ad supporting the service in some manner. There are some great services out there that do ad supporting right, like Gmail & Hulu.com. I use both of these everyday and love them. Their ads are short and not very intrusive, and their services are top notch.
Sadly this can not be said of most ad supported web services/software. Have you seen MySpace and Youtube recently? The ads are out of control. Facebook isn't near as bad yet, but it's probably coming, and what happens when Twitter starts showing ads?
Would I seriously pay for Youtube, Facebook and other services I get for free now?
Yes.
Why?
Please let me pay for your service. Please.
Scott Stevens