I've been noticing a phenomenon over recent months - something that was inevitable, but is alarming nevertheless. I call it Twitter Tit for Tat, and I don't like it one bit.
I see people talk about using tools like Friend or Follow to "clean out their Twitter accounts" - unfollowing people who aren't following them. I see people follow me, and then unfollow me within 24 hours if I haven't followed them back.
I've seen lots of comparisons between networking and conversing on Twitter, and networking and conversing in an offline, "real life" setting - "If someone isn't listening to me in real life, I won't talk or listen to them; so why wouldn't it be the same thing with Twitter?" That's a valid, logical point; but talking on Twitter is not actually the same as talking face-to-face.
Really? Surely not!
I know, it seems like a "duh" sort of thing for me to say; but my point is that if we make this comparison, then we start playing the Twitter Tit for Tat game. Twitter becomes less about sharing valuable information and more about collecting followers (which, unfortunately, it has already). I follow you, you follow me. You don't/unfollow me, I'll unfollow you.
I don't like playing that game. Sure, I monitor unfollows; but mainly for my own improvement. I look at what I said and how I can improve, then I look at each unfollow to determine the value that each person brings to the conversation. If I still find value, I continue to follow. I do not automatically unfollow anyone who doesn't follow me.
I'm not in the game of collecting followers for the sake of collecting followers. That sort of practice completely misses the point of Twitter. I encourage you to please STOP obsessing over your follower count and who's following who - and START thinking about quality over quantity.
