Manage flitter: a cool device for unfollowing on Twitter
It’s a fact of life: these days we have to cull “electronic friends” to cope with Sheer Influx of Cluttery Information. I think we all accept this, right? It’s not personal; it’s professional. I keep my “following” list at 108…it’s partly an auspicious thing.
But how to clear the clutter? This little gizmo – ManageFlitter – does it sniper-like.
It works by sorting your Twitter followers list into:
- Talkative or Quite – They tweet too much or too little.
- One Sided – They don’t follow you back.
- Possible Spam – They have no picture on their Twitter profile
You can then hit the unfollow button if you feel it suitable.
And, nope, don’t feel guilty.
We kinda have to realise that it’s not about the person, it’s about what information they’re sharing. I use Twitter to get my news updates – I mostly follow journalists and news services. I also follow a few bloggers who share fab links. I don’t use it to keep up with mates or personalities. I don’t follow Lady Gaga. I don’t follow Ashton Kutcher.
I mostly delete people when their messages get “unhealthy”. I deleted Deepak Chopra a while back because his tweets were almost manic…they got me agitated!!! I’ve deleted a few comedians when their tone has got snarky and cynical. The effect of being bombarded with bitchy asides is powerful. You start thinking in the same tone and seeing the world as something to be poked.
What about when YOU get unfollowed?
Just. Don’t Care. Practice it as an art form. Twitter is meant to be about sharing information. I CHOOSE to not see it as a popularity contest. Keep sharing good stuff and the right people will want to listen. This is the point of it.
Digital Inspiration has this list of gizmos that help you see when others stop following you. I advise NOT using these. A fetid breeding ground for paranoia!!!
I also recommend veering clear of this: tweet beep sends you an email when you’re mentioned on Twitter. Stokes the ego in a really annoying, addictive way. DON’T NEED IT. SLIPPERY SLOPE!
How do you manage your Twitter? Do you have any formulae you recommend?
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Have a look at this Sarah : http://powazek.com/posts/2522
you know, 108 as a number is oh so overrated. 109 is cooler. And especially if you manage to, you know, find a fellow bondi-ite. Ahem
Aside from that, like anything that has numbers attached to it, the best thing to do is avoid the numbers. Watching them doesn’t change them but it sure does use up a lot of time (this goes for blog stats, twitter, etc…anything with stats). Best to avoid unless there is a strategy woven in there for some sort of cyber world domination that means you will actively act on them. For me twitter is all about connecting and fast access to information when I’m looking for it. It’s addictive, probably unnecessary but still useful in its own way. A bit like coffee but more like coffee 15 times a day.
I do feel guilt unfollowing but will be needing to do a declutter myself soon. That gizmo is a very handy link….
Hi, thanks for the extremely useful ap info. I awarded you a Versatile Blogger Award today.
Louise Curtis
Lovely post – and thanks for the link to sort who I follow out! I used it and managed to cull a few people:)
I mostly follow media and publishing types. I’ve got one or two personal friends on there, but as you said Sarah, I don’t use it to socialise either.
Thanks Sarah for recommending this! I’ve been managing my friends manually until now (impossible really) Twitter is so interesting I really hope to learn more about it, a library trip is in order.
Oh, how very nifty! Thank goodness I’ve kept my followers to a minimum, but thank you for the useful tool for the future.