Why I’m Not Following You on Twitter

I’ve trashed this post once already, afraid it was too negative. A quick Google search turned up about 96,000,000 pages on the subject though, so I guess I’d better jump on the bandwagon. Why am I not following you? It’s not your personal hygiene—although if I could smell you over the Internet, that would probably be a bad sign. It’s not because you’re not cool enough, smart enough, or important enough either. There are dozens of reasons I might not be following you on Twitter; here are a few:

1. Who the heck are you anyway?

Location, Web, and Bio are the first things I look at when I decide whether or not to follow you. Location is less important to me, although I do like to have a general idea of where a person is from. Having a website is good, but the all-important thing to me is Bio. If your bio doesn’t tell me anything about you, I’m not likely to look at your website. Unless I know you personally, if you don’t have a bio, I won’t follow you.

2. You’re just not my type.

Don’t take it personally, but you’re not my type. I mean, sure, you’re funny, smart, and kinda cute, but I’m into word nerds. There are some exceptions, of course—there are always exceptions. If you look at my lists, you’ll see what types of people I follow on Twitter. I’ve found that I have to limit the types of people I follow on Twitter or my Twitterfeed will get out of hand and keeping up with everybody will devour my entire day. There is a loophole though—I might have stopped following you on my Twitterfeed, but kept you on one of my lists.

3. I’m not buying what you’re selling.

I don’t keep a strict “No Solicitors” policy like some people do, but I don’t follow back by default either. If you have something interesting to sell, or if you’re hawking something I’m interested in buying, I might follow you. But if I’m not in the market, I’m not following.

4. I have a short attention spa—Oh look! Shiny!

Just because I’m not following you doesn’t mean I’m not listening. I try to keep my Twitterfeed limited to keep it from becoming overwhelming. I may have you on a list even if I’m not following you. Recently I’ve unfollowed several people to declutter my Twitterfeed, but kept them on one or more of my lists so that I can check in on them from time to time.

So if I’m not following you, or recently unfollowed you, I hope you won’t take it personally—and don’t forget I might still be watching you on one of my lists. Tweet you later!

Tags: twitter