5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Follow Someone on Twitter

The following post is nothing more than my subjective opinions based on observations I have made over the last year on Twitter, it is not meant to help increase your followers or make you a social media guru… there are already enough know-it-alls making that claim as it is.

I have witnessed a lot of people on Twitter getting quite a bit of attention lately for absolutely no other reason than… [insert psychological disorders here]. I suppose we all have our reasons for joining in on this mainstream online social gathering, where else can you belt out 140 characters of “mostly” crap that 90% of your followers could care less about, yet that 10% that responds to you somehow validates your cause.

I will not bore you with the personal reasons behind this post but I feel like I need to point out a few things to those select individuals that must think that their “almighty words” are typed in gold… most of us really could give 2 cents for what you have to say and your elitists attitude towards anyone that disagrees with you. You are a follower among followers and eventually your insignificance will be revealed!

I have comprised a small list of what I feel are the wrong reasons to follow someone on Twitter, agree or disagree… I am not here to gain your approval.

Reasons not to follow:

1. they claim they know the wrongs and rights of using social media. Ironic? Maybe. There are no rules, its a new medium and there are no czars enforcing etiquette, so someone that lashes out at you because you broke a cardinal rule is only attempting to establish his/her own relevance.
2. they have a lot of followers. Like the wallflowers in the gymnasium, many of you are looking to the the person whom makes the most noise or grabs the most attention, hoping some of that attention will be wielded in your direction. I can only hope we are all grown up enough to realize “that person” will only lead you down a road of discontent.
3. they constantly proclaim their Words of Wisdom. Almost as if they were the first ones to have ever had these revelations or insights, more often than not I happen upon a bullet list of “eternal wisdom” packaged so nicely that you would have thought this person created this series of tubes. (this list excluded, of course)
4. they are a celebrity. I am not saying do not follow any celebrities, I follow a few myself, but I do not pretend they are my friends and attempt to create dialogue with them. If you think for one minute the celebrities joined to “connect” with their fans… you are sadly mislead.
5. your only hope is to make money. Granted, Twitter is a great place to network and meet people; but if you jump right into people’s faces and hit them with your sales pitch or money-making opportunities, chances are you will be ousted… quickly!

It’s ok to think for yourselves people, and it’s ok if you have an opinion or thought without worrying about being persecuted.

Have any thoughts on the issue? Maybe you disagree or have some reasons I missed? I’d love to know either way.

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