Today Twitter is all abuzz about Tweepme.com.
There are a lot of people signing up for the service and they’re each sending out an automated tweet announcing the fact. And there are a lot of fellow Twitter users up in arms about the “wrongness” of the Tweepme.com service.
I am very please the Tweepme.com service has come along, because — aside from anything it may or may not achieve for those who have signed up in the hope of gaining lots of followers for no effort — it has caused the Twitter community to throw around (again) the question of what Twitter is actually for. And clearly there is no consensus on that question!
Here’s my opinion, as someone who spends most of the day with Twitter in view — more or less.
Twitter is NOT primarily a conversational medium. I should hope that is not a controversial point, but if you think it is, ask yourself — if Twitter really was first and foremost a conversational medium, why are “conversations” not threaded? Indeed, Twitter makes no effort to make group conversations easy to participate in or visualise. Even a conversation between two individuals on Twitter is only obvious to another person if they use a third-party tool like Tweetdeck (with some customizations).
Further, the more successful you are on Twitter (i.e. the more followers you have and the more effectively you’re messaging out to them) the harder it is to maintain any kind of conversational “flow” with individual followers. The Twitter elite have more DMs and replies than they can possibly respond to. Enough said.
So let’s agree that Twitter is not engineered as a conversational tool. That’s a by-product, as it were.
I believe Twitter is at its core a messaging platform… simpler still, a messaging protocol — a tool to allow one person to blast messages out to a group of “followers”, while at the same time electing to “follow” the flow of messages from certain other people. It’s a brutally simple messaging platform, indeed protocol. In its simplicity is its genius. That very simplicity is what doesn’t force people to use Twitter as a conversational tool. They can most easily use it just to blast messages out to others. Conversations are a little harder to do (well).
It follows then, that Twitter is not a social network (a category of web app that IS designed for conversation and shared activity). So why are people complaining about “spamming”, about cultural no-nos that implicitly assume that all kinds of caveats should be imposed on the nature, number and flavour of messages people send out?!
For example, I have no problem with someone using Twitter to exclusively send out commercial messages. No problem at all. I would however reasonably assume that that person will struggle to get anyone to follow them. And that’s their challenge, but I will not complain that they do not have a right to blast out messages of a commercial nature. They’ll just be lonely doing it, that’s all!
The sooking of many about Tweepme.com seems to center on the complaint that it’s not right to “artificially” inflate your Twitter follower numbers in some “non-organic” manner. Rubbish. Twitter does it! How else do you describe Twitter’s own new member recommendations page?! iJustine, for example – as wonderful a person as she may be — probably doesn’t deserve the 5,000 new followers per day she receives from people who I can guarantee have almost universally never really looked at her Twitter timeline.
I would put to you that the volume of non-organic followers she has amassed amounts to the “gap” between her existing follower growth curve and what that curve would have looked like without her inclusion on Twitter’s recommendation list. And it’s a bloody big gap!
If Twitter should have chosen such a non-organic way to massively boost the follower numbers of a(n arbitrary) select group of so-called “elite” Twitterers — “non-organic” in the sense that new Twitter users are for the most part blindly selecting these people to follow — then it calls into questions the very significance of this organic vs non-organic dichotomy… at least in Twitter’s “official” mind.
I have (had) much to say about how a person should conduct themselves on Twitter… about the tone of voice, the “best practice” approach to building relationships, about strategically complementing other online activities like blogging, etc. But I have nothing much to say about building a following. I say, go for it. Do whatever you can to get as many people following you as you can!
To use a blogging parallel, I advise my clients and students to use “social media” means — like Digg-bait blog posts — to accelerate their SEO activities and gain more links, faster. A client of mine may be selling to the scrapbooking market, say, but for the most part it doesn’t matter where they get (organic) links from… they just need to get a lot of them before they’re going to rank in Google. While I eschew FFA directories and other “dodgy” approaches to getting links, I assure my clients that the sorts of people who will give them those new links — off the back, say, of a promoted Digg story — are not likely to be in their target market, but it doesn’t matter because they’re good for a link, and that’s reason enough.
On Twitter, this same strategic approach means going after followers wherever you can get them. If you “suck” they’ll unfollow you soon enough, but if you don’t suck, you’re getting yourself to the position of a “Twitterer-of-note”, and that’s a good thing. I may sell scrapbooking supplies to women in Australia, but if I have a 50,000 strong Twitter following, I have influence and “reach” and it will only serve to strengthen my more specific and focussed sales and marketing activities to my target market.
Is anyone going to argue with that?!
Yes… I am (almost) suggesting that gaining followers as fast as we all can is quite acceptable. Be very careful arguing me on this point… because a follower is only an “unfair” or “unreasonable” follower if they didn’t want to follow… and on Twitter there is not, nor needn’t there be, any such thing. Unfollowing is easy.
Please let’s not complicate all this any more than absolutely necessary. And leave Tweepme.com alone.
70 Comments
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I’ll leave TweepMe.com and its dumb users alone as soon as the promo spam comes to an end.
Thank you for making it a point to show me the link on twitter. It has been enlightening. I feel that everyone will always have his or her own way of enjoying their engagement experience, whether on Twitter or on any social platform. I guess the issue of followers will always be there and its a matter of ones discretion which way they want to increase their number. For me its still the quality and not the quantity that matters. I am there to share and learn = ) Thank you for sharing.
Well, Twitter is a conversational platform for me. I spend hours in discussions on there. And Tweepme looks again like quantity over quality. So no, sorry, not for me. Cheers
Luckily most of my followers share both my purpose and my value system for being on Twitter and have similar interests including being Australian. Autofollows completely kill the integrity of my “follower database”. Instead of 4,000 Australians interested in the same things I am interested in , I end up with 20,000 who aren’t interested in anything I like at all. Autofollows will kill Twitter’s value for anyone who uses them.
But I don’t mind. Let the spammers buid their following, and spam each other – I’ll keep quality over quantity, thanks.
By the way, think of Twitter as a party. A big party – if you fill the room with interesting people you can dip in and out of many conversations during the evening. You don’t have to be in all of them at once. But if you fill the room with people you share nothing with except you all invited each other, you will have quite a different kind of evening.
Alister by framing Twitter as essentially a one-way messaging system to reach as many people as possible, you have offered an excellent defense of tweepme.com.
Truly, this controversy swirls around how one defines Twitter. Your definition is a reasonable one, making your argument pretty well airtight.
The question remains does the monthly tweepme charge reduce Twitter to simply a paid advertising tool?
Very well said.
There’s a difference between following and reading on Twitter in the same way there’s a difference between subscriber numbers and actual video counts on video sharing websites. People can follow on Twitter or subscribe on YouTube and never use the service again; there’s no relationship there. [And I know in my own personal experience that people have followed me for using a single term once and they have never read a word I've typed subsequently.] So they inflate the number and that means… what exactly? I mean there’s no great harm in the practice but I really don’t believe there’s much potential benefit either. My judgments on who to follow are based on what people ‘tweet’ about and how they construct a thought in 140 characters or less, not how many followers they have.
I tend to agree with Laurel. For me Twitter is entirely conversational. It might not be as linear as a phone conversation or even an instant messaging service, but there are all these interpersonal understandings and interactions between my core twitter people and myself.
The best post I’ve read on Twitter. It’s certainly not for conversations except the occasional update. I’ve got less than 200 followers and already it’s a mess.
I suspect that those most vocal about TweepMe are the so-called ‘social media gurus’ who have forked over $150 for one of those applications that does the same thing, in a less consensual fashion (I refer to mass follow/unfollow scripts). If TweepMe breaks that market, that’s not a bad thing for the average user. This whole business with follower counts is silly anyway. 5000 people with 5000 followers will certainly make follower counts redundant, and bravo.
Lord “R”,
How could you stomach an hour of that? I saw one 15 second clip of that CEO who had what appeared a few physical symptoms of chronic use of alcohol, blathering on and turned the TV off.
The demagogue Barney Frank is even more of a puke. Of all people, he ought to be hiding his hand in the sand. Instead, he’s acting as some spokesman for honesty and looking out for the American taxpayer.
Believe it or not, what AIG is doing is not terribly uncommon. I’ve sat in two board rooms as some executive’s lackey and observed how the game works. Under the guise of blatant cronyism with approval of their buddies on the board, some executive will use the buzz word “retention bonus” to situate his friends for the rest of their natural life. Sickening, isn’t it?
Makes me mad that I spent 20 years of my own career like you did working for people I wouldn’t trust my dog with.
This comment was originally posted on http://rutherfordl.wordpress.com/)”>The Rutherford Lawson Blog
Breaking News: Dodd Says loophole that protects AIG Bonuses added per request of the Obama administration. The video is about a fifth of the way down.
http://www.butasforme.com/2009/03/17/obamas-stimulus-bill-explicitly-grants-aig-the-legal-right-to-hand-out-bonuses/
Obama should take full and direct responsibility for this mess.
This comment was originally posted on http://rutherfordl.wordpress.com/)”>The Rutherford Lawson Blog
What a world! This product isn’t for me, but I appreciate your article. It’s good to be informed. I guess the ‘moral’ is: ‘Be careful what you wish for!’ Best regards, P.
I’ve struggled to grasp the true usefulness of Twitter for about 4 months now. I’ve been pretty active, but I have to say that it is precisely the fact that it is not an efficient conversational medium that makes it difficult.
I believe that Twitter is, by its very nature, a spam platform – it’s greatest value seems for use in promoting blogs and/or other, more conversational services – it’s a great tool to market & drive traffic to your other web presences.
That said, I do try to buck the trend and use it in a more conversational manner. But often that’s frustrating and fruitless. Many Twitter users seem to rarely check their @Replies tab to see if there are messages that were directed specifically to them. So, as the sender, you’re left wondering if they simply aren’t even aware that a message was sent or if they got the message and felt no need to respond.
I’m not giving up on Twitter, but by the same token, I’d still rather spend the bulk of my limited time on blogs or on forums that are truly geared towards meaningful bidirectional communication.
It’s true, Obama, Dodd et al literally changed the turd so that cash went to those pukes.
But who cares, President Dice Clay is inexplicably on the boob tube serving up retard jokes to the masses. Bunch of piss coming out of one of those clown flowers, if you ask me.
Maybe our own Emperor Commodus will don the gladiator garb and play in the Final Four?
What’s with the incessant campaigning? Am I only the one that finds all of this a bit creepy? Dude is always on television. Yet, it’s not transparency. It’s trickery!
This shit is weird, man.
This comment was originally posted on http://rutherfordl.wordpress.com/)”>The Rutherford Lawson Blog
1. Rutherford would have a point if it wasn’t for the fact that 165 million dollars of tax dollars were paid to the very people who crashed an economic piss missile into the god damn world economy via blatant fraud. I don’t care if “R” does have some deeper understanding on the nature of “retention” bonuses, that’s too much damn loot and those people are too damn evil. Read up on the the notorious Purple Gang of Detroit, they also demanded “retention” bonuses.
2. Obama is either a sociopath or a minor league propaganda hack. Fact: He knew of the existence of the bonuses months ago. Fact: He feigned outrage when news got to the street about the magnitude of the bonuses.
3. This thing stinks so bad that Chris Dodd (who also blatantly lied about his knowledge of the bonuses, the very bonuses he himself wrote into the bill) snake bites Obama! You can’t make this stuff up!
4. You’re President Obama and have more egg running from your face then a hooker on an aircraft carrier. What are you going to do?
Try out new bits on the Jay Leno show??????????
WEIRD. I say WEIRD!!!!!
This comment was originally posted on http://rutherfordl.wordpress.com/)”>The Rutherford Lawson Blog
When it comes to current corporate behavior, I’m just about speechless. My wife still works for the company I worked for years ago, and I’m still amazed at the crap that goes on there.
This comment was originally posted on http://rutherfordl.wordpress.com/)”>The Rutherford Lawson Blog
DR LOL.
Hey, you know you’ve screwed up when the liberal media turns on you! As you know, I virtually live on MSNBC and almost without exception they’re saying “Who does Obama think he is kidding?”
I think it was Tucker Carlson the other day who said “socialism is not easy”. LOL Well, I don’t think we’re quite socialist yet but this is what happens when government (who has their own dirty games they play) gets involved with business and has to deal with their dirty shenanigans … in public no less.
I’m not sure anyone warned Obama and Geithner that when you bailout reprobates, you then have to worry about their behavior down the line.
Kinda makes that old phrase resonate doesn’t it? “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
This comment was originally posted on http://rutherfordl.wordpress.com/)”>The Rutherford Lawson Blog
While I’m finding Obama on the Tonight Show a bit hard to get used to, I’m not ready to call it weird yet.
This comment was originally posted on http://rutherfordl.wordpress.com/)”>The Rutherford Lawson Blog
have you read @tamurajones piece on Tweepme? she has many good arguments against.
Good article.
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Alister,
I dropped by to pay a visit as I always do when someone follows me on twitter. I stayed late because there was a great conversation going on, and I wanted to join in.
Very thought provoking post. Comments were great, too. I think we all use the twitter tool as we see fit. Easy to follow someone, easy to un-follow, easy to not follow. Very democratic, indeed.
My personal preference is to visit, look around, and follow everyone who has something interesting to say. I follow a chihuahua, a planet, a couple of mystical beings, and other fun twitterers. It’s a joy.
Personally, I set my own standards about how to use twitter, and I am rewarded or rebuked, accordingly.
Well, I’m headed back to twitter before \lights out\ to press hard on your follow button. Nice to meet you.
I appreciate the article. My strongest concern I guess against tweepme is that I’m paying $8.98/month for friends. I believe firmly in the Pareto princple. 80% of my subscribers will come from 20% of my client base, meaning my friends and networks I have invested in and built. There are no shortcuts that have long-term results.
Yeah tweep me is a bit dodgy… there are definitely other ways to get alot of followers.
The actual number of followers on Twitter is a lie regardless of how its obtained. Does @guykawasaki actually follow 110k people? TweepMe just helps one see how much of a joke the number of followers one has on twitter actually is
Hmm – anyone have thoughts on this? http://tinyurl.com/dda8sz
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Hmm anyone have thoughts on TweepMe? Interesting take http://tinyurl.com/dda8sz
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Twitter is growing like anything.. in last one year it has grown 700 percent.
I agree. The main benefit of Twitter is not for real time conversation but to provide your target market with your business message and measuring response. This can only be done if you have a relatively large list of followers on Twitter.
love reading the article!
An almost blasphemous take on conventional Twitter wisdom http://ow.ly/5m2B Refreshing,I must say
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Here’s an interesting take on TwitterDom [from @EmailCopywriter ] – get as many followers as you can, as fast as U can! http://is.gd/pCdd
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An almost blasphemous take on conventional Twitter wisdom http://ow.ly/5m2B Refreshing,I must say
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
I don’t know. I don’t buy it. Twitter is whatever you make it to be.
Not everyone in the world is a marketer by vocation or avocation, nor do want to find themselves being the objects of a marketing campaign.
Lovely haikus and poignant musings can be crafted in 140 characters, there is implicit privacy because of its brevity + becomes a safe way to share your thoughts, confessions, etc.
Excellent take on Twitter, especially your points about it being a messaging medium. The pundits have been writing themselves silly about what Twitter is and how, where, why it should be used, including some very moralistic stances about how followers should be gained. I wouldn’t use TweepMe, but if that’s the path some want to take, so be it.
As Mark Twain said, “There are lies, damn lies and statistics.” Everyone loves numbers games and how they can be manipulated into good, better, best. It’s inherent in Twitter and how each of us choose to deal with it is up to our own purpose.
nice article RT @EmailCopywriter An almost blasphemous take on conventional Twitter wisdom http://ow.ly/5m2B Refreshing,I must say
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
I don’t know if I buy this either. Twitter can be whatever you make it to be.
There is no proof at this stage that the twitter buzz is going to result in this tool becoming effective in generating business.
An almost blasphemous take on conventional Twitter wisdom http://ow.ly/5m2B Refreshing,I must say
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Twitter: get as many followers as you can http://twurl.nl/t8t2r1
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I hate Tweepme.com and even flashtweet.com acts up at times. I managed to get over 2000 users in one month by just finding those who want to be followed back. I dont care if my following and followers are even, it makes my account look good and even get more users to join in on the bandwagon. I have a few accounts now with 1000 or better, and I now run my own “increase your followers” site that has been tarnished by fake systems, spam, and pay sites. Check mine out, its free, and I simply list all those who want to be followed. Add your name and I bet you get alot of users. We started using #FFVIP as a hashtag and Follow Fridays has given me 100 each friday. Dont believe the other hype, im a social media nerd and half the experts are clueless!
@RT_Help
@FFVIP
on Twitter!
Why do people have so little to do in life that they want to have loads of people Tweeting at them?! It doesn’t mean they know who you are, or that you know them any better!
@Alister – Great article. I think you made some great, very valid points. You’re point about iJustine (and other “Twitter recommended users) in particular is a very good one. Spot on. I agree.
I didn’t agree with Twitter’s decision to recommend users when they announced it – and I still don’t (it gives unfair and unrealistic advantages to celebrities and big blogs like TechCrunch etc). The fact that Twitter built in a “follow recommended users” step to the account set up process shows a blatant disregard for organic growth (and it’s brilliant marketing). Really, why should the rest of the Twitter community then not be able to compete? If the culture and values of maintaining organic growth were upheld by Twitter itself, I could see services like Tweepme as doing wrong, but it’s really all the same thing when you get down to brass tacks, isn’t it? You can do to Twittercounter.com and see the obvious (non linear) effect of the Twitter suggestions page you point to – the numbers for users like iJustine are ridiculous. The DAY they announced it her follower account, the predicted trajectory turns up and stays there. You said it best…there’s a bloody big gap in the difference between organic and non-organic growth and if Twitter is willing to do what they’ve done, I see nothing wrong with Tweepme-like services for people who think it might help them. Good post, great points.
I am not yet using Tweepme.com, i will try that you suggest.
Recently i updated my Twitter profile with my remarks that i going to venture to be an entrepreneur in Online marketing. Until then my profile was inane, but with this comments in profile i got huge influx of followers. I cant comprehend exactly what poked those followers but really i am enjoying such prominence.
FOLLOW ME PLEASE twitter.com/ashaohhstarship
Everybody stop hating on twitter, twitter is coo just all about convo and Getting connects in what ever your doin with your life, if you don’t like it then stay off it and don’t even write about it…to all my people that’s on twitter come follow me… Twitter.com/Mo_Mauri lets gooooo
I got my followers the freeway and appreciate them more.
I’m struggling here with Twitter in general. Now i maybe just another anti techno noob who is just too lazy, but to me, in terms of trying to run a business, for all the continual seemingly personal effort it requires to make up reasonably good twits, tweets (whatever) vs. nonsense – the whole Tweeting thing just seems like another wild goose chase to get on board with the latest marketing fad that soon fizzles out. And i’m really burned out over chasing those. I’m looking for fundamental marketing that I can build upon, where my efforts don’t end up in vain. Any comments or suggestions? Thanks! Tony
Laurel Papworth i love your comment – twitter is like a great party. I happen to enjoy parties more when there are lots of diverse people to interact with. I used http://www.twittrafficpro.com to get a steady stream of followers and have made some amazing tweeps connecting one on one. I do follow some thought leaders on topics I find fascinating to keep up with what’s up on niche topics.
I think TweepMe is a great way to build your followings and followers. I don’t believe there is anything unethical about it and I have certainly built a following of wonderful tweeters using it. Thnk you Allister for turning me on to TweepMe
Yes Ed I’ve heard a lot of good things about TweepMe too. I would get as many followers on as many accounts as you can before restrictions come in as they always do.
First time reader here and I’d say wow. Its rare and nice to find people who can see things for what they are. I say kudos for your Twitter philosophy.
From day one I’ve been shocked at the excitement and interest in Twitter. I guess I’ve been around the block too many times. To me it was just a simplistic, uncreative little spam tool (whether you’re spamming personal, business or marketing stuff) and IMO it should be used for what it is.
I’m looking forward to reading your other posts.
I only use Twitter once a week, and post links to articles on our website. I get a few followers and a decent amount of traffic from it. But I still don’t feel like I’m utilising it fully. Any suggestions?
I think that having a lot of followers is a good thing with twitter. Although some people just try to have the most they can get, I think if you want to have the BEST followers, you need to have targeted followers who will actually read your tweet and will go to your links.
Itx not intended for a conversation, But conversations too can be done usin it..
Twitter is definitely not a place for conversations, that’s all I can say! how would it be possible to maintain a good stream of conversation when you only have such a limited space? it must be developed for something else.
but hey, it works. who am I to complain?
I largely agree. Twitter’s not meant for anything more than as a messaging and micro-blogging platform. That said, it is brilliant for that. I disagree with TweepMe.com as I think (and in fact, know) that there are better ways to increase your followers and use that reach effectively.
Thanks for the thought-provoking article.
You have provided great information ..but if you want to know how to increase twitter follewers.. then check this out
Thanks for the nice information
Really great!
I personally use it more as an relationship building tool as opposed to traffic generation. I was looking organic methods that bring me in QUALITY followers, rather than simply spamming since a long time. Thank you so much for sharing such an important article here.
A very pragmatic view on the Twitter tool. I think it’s what you make of it, but then again Im just starting to use it….
Good post.
I AGREE !
now follow mee . http://www.twitter.com/macvsalex . I FOLLOW BACK ! : )
Hello
My name is Dorian and I am writing to express my gratitude for all the effort you have put in to your career and it has influenced me in creating a blog about you. Thanks for all your hard work, please visit and comment if you wish on my blog at http://twymand29.wordpress.com.
Your post helps people understand the importance of twitter.
And also help of me with ur great information. Thanks for sharing
Tweep.net not working anymore. Twitter will suspend all your accounts you create. No matter what feature you use, Twitter will suspend and block your IP. Impossible to use a Proxy with this software.
Twitter has revolutionised the internet and I thank them for it!
Great post.
I use TweetAdder to get more followers. Check out a video review on TwitterToolsBook.com
Cheers,
Garin
Wow, what a pointless blog. Aren’t the followers you want on twitter the ones who actually see what you read and respond to the things you put out there? Who wants 10,000 followers if they don’t read a thing you write?
Twitter currently becomes joke, people are interesting to promote themselves and paying very little attention to others, if you not follow them as fast as possible they unfollow you even if they followed you first.
I see twitter followers as some kind of newsletter subscribers that you deliver your ads wraped within short content.
Overall useless service and loss of time.
softxml
Fantastic, this was just the article I was looking for. I have been unsure about whether to use such services to grow my followers or to keep a limited number… The problem with having such a small number is potential clients look at this and think you’re a small fry! (even if that is the case!)
Thanks a lot for the tips.
I used for my egasuslegendary account. It worked a little bit.
For more info on how to be a real man check : egasus.com
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