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Top Twitter User Unfollows 106,000 People

18 points by AjJi 17y ago

jacquesm 17y ago
To limit the number of followers you can have but not to have a limit at the number of sources you can follow seems to me to be the wrong way around!
DrJokepu 17y ago
"Much like MySpace, it seems, users are learning that having 100,000 “friends” you’ve never met is much less valuable than connecting with a select number of people you know well." That's hardly a new discovery; I remember when I first tried out this "Internet" thing in '95 I subscribed to all mailgroups I've encountered just because I could and it felt cool to receive mail from people in places like South Africa. Obviously I quickly learned that it wasn't a very good idea but the point is that the concept of reducing spam by not giving out your contact details to anyone (or in the case of social networks, not following / accepting as a friend anyone) is not new at all.
- tremendo 17y ago
  Curiously that closing line is one with which I completely disagree. Someone once described the difference between Facebook and Twitter as "Facebook is for people you used to know, Twitter for people you want to know". Speaking for myself, I get a lot of value from Twitter by following people that are smarter than me, and mostly, I don't really "know" them, and they mostly don't know or follow me back. I don't care for follow-backs, I care to get their wit, their pointers, their knowledge, their humor. For "people you know well" there's meatspace, or Facebook when geography makes the former impractical.
chanux 17y ago
Keep it real. You won't get tons of followers but you won't hate it either.
shadytrees 17y ago
Actual article here: http://scobleizer.com/2009/08/05/you-are-so-unfollowed/ http://scobleizer.com/2009/08/05/you-are-so-unfollowed/
- jrockway 17y ago
  Interesting article. I only follow 100 or so people, and there is no way I could catch up on tweets that happen while I'm sleeping or on a plane. Too boring.
tjogin 17y ago
> "When I unfollowed everyone all my spam just stopped. Dead. No more spam. Not since Monday. Twitter is actually quite enjoyable. Not a single DM spam. Not a single piece of spam has come through the home page." I don't think it's fair to call it "spam" when you have chosen to follow the accounts who are "spamming" you (it's certainly not unsolicited tweeting). It's not spam, he's just been sloppy in choosing which accounts to follow.
- cracki 17y ago
  nope, he set his account so that whenever someone follows him, he follows them too. that's how he got so much spam. bots started following him.
  - tjogin 17y ago
    Whether he chose to follow them automatically or not, he's subscribing to their updates. That's does not fit any definition of "unsolicited" I know of.
    - Semiapies 17y ago
      Yeah, that's a problem of the "That cactus is dangerously spiny!" "Well, then stop trying to tackle it!" variety.
    - salvadors 17y ago
      I don't think it's their updates that are being classed as spam as much as the direct messages that they send. It's certainly arguable that if you follow someone you're subscribing to those too, but I think it's less clear-cut.
      - tjogin 17y ago
        True, I wouldn't say he "subscribes" do their DMs. But, he has decidedly opted-in to them sending him DMs.
- jacquesm 17y ago
MicahWedemeyer 17y ago
Follow Friday should be followed by Scalpel Saturday. Cut away all the people whose updates you really don't care about and never read. Make it a 1-1 thing: Don't follow anyone new without purging someone. It really makes Twitter much more enjoyable and useful.

18 points by AjJi 17y ago

To limit the number of followers you can have but not to have a limit at the number of sources you can follow seems to me to be the wrong way around!

DrJokepu 17y ago

"Much like MySpace, it seems, users are learning that having 100,000 “friends” you’ve never met is much less valuable than connecting with a select number of people you know well." That's hardly a new discovery; I remember when I first tried out this "Internet" thing in '95 I subscribed to all mailgroups I've encountered just because I could and it felt cool to receive mail from people in places like South Africa. Obviously I quickly learned that it wasn't a very good idea but the point is that the concept of reducing spam by not giving out your contact details to anyone (or in the case of social networks, not following / accepting as a friend anyone) is not new at all.

tremendo 17y ago
Curiously that closing line is one with which I completely disagree. Someone once described the difference between Facebook and Twitter as "Facebook is for people you used to know, Twitter for people you want to know". Speaking for myself, I get a lot of value from Twitter by following people that are smarter than me, and mostly, I don't really "know" them, and they mostly don't know or follow me back. I don't care for follow-backs, I care to get their wit, their pointers, their knowledge, their humor. For "people you know well" there's meatspace, or Facebook when geography makes the former impractical.

chanux 17y ago

Keep it real. You won't get tons of followers but you won't hate it either.

shadytrees 17y ago

Actual article here: http://scobleizer.com/2009/08/05/you-are-so-unfollowed/ http://scobleizer.com/2009/08/05/you-are-so-unfollowed/

jrockway 17y ago
Interesting article. I only follow 100 or so people, and there is no way I could catch up on tweets that happen while I'm sleeping or on a plane. Too boring.

tjogin 17y ago

> "When I unfollowed everyone all my spam just stopped. Dead. No more spam. Not since Monday. Twitter is actually quite enjoyable. Not a single DM spam. Not a single piece of spam has come through the home page." I don't think it's fair to call it "spam" when you have chosen to follow the accounts who are "spamming" you (it's certainly not unsolicited tweeting). It's not spam, he's just been sloppy in choosing which accounts to follow.

cracki 17y ago
nope, he set his account so that whenever someone follows him, he follows them too. that's how he got so much spam. bots started following him.
- tjogin 17y ago
  Whether he chose to follow them automatically or not, he's subscribing to their updates. That's does not fit any definition of "unsolicited" I know of.
  - Semiapies 17y ago
    Yeah, that's a problem of the "That cactus is dangerously spiny!" "Well, then stop trying to tackle it!" variety.
  - salvadors 17y ago
    I don't think it's their updates that are being classed as spam as much as the direct messages that they send. It's certainly arguable that if you follow someone you're subscribing to those too, but I think it's less clear-cut.
    - tjogin 17y ago
      True, I wouldn't say he "subscribes" do their DMs. But, he has decidedly opted-in to them sending him DMs.
jacquesm 17y ago

MicahWedemeyer 17y ago

Follow Friday should be followed by Scalpel Saturday. Cut away all the people whose updates you really don't care about and never read. Make it a 1-1 thing: Don't follow anyone new without purging someone. It really makes Twitter much more enjoyable and useful.