Five Ways to Get Unfollowed on Twitter

Twitter Unfollow Five Ways to Get Unfollowed on TwitterIt may not seem like it sometimes, but there are rules to Twitter. They’re largely unwritten, but most people who take Twitter seriously subscribe to them. If you are starting to get unfollowed and don’t know why, chances are you’re committing a Twitter infraction. There are a lot of reasons why you might get unfollowed on Twitter, but here are five of the more popular reasons:
 
1. You never tweet

Twitter is like a child in a lot of ways. Sure, it can be cranky and, despite your best efforts, unwilling to yield the results you’d like to see. But regardless of the results, you need to pay lots of attention to your Twitter account. I saw a stat recently that stated that 80 percent of all Twitter accounts were inactive. Don’t become a part of that 80 percent and you won’t get unfollowed. Devote a few minutes every couple of hours to tweet something. Being active is very important.
 
2. You tweet too much

Chances are, even your loved ones don’t want to hear from you 10 times per hour during the day. So why would complete strangers want to? Don’t abuse the “Tweet” button. If you clog up a follower’s Twitter stream, you’re likely to get the boot. Like I said, a couple of minutes every few hours is definitely the way to go.
 
3. You don’t follow back

In my first few days on Twitter, I discovered that if I wasn’t willing to follow someone back, they’d likely stop following me. Now, that’s not to say that you should follow everyone who you get a follow from, but it’s a good idea to at least look over the follower’s profile and see what he or she is all about. If they have a common interest with you, give them a follow. At least put them on a trial period. See what they offer for a few days and, if you don’t like what you see, you can always unfollow them.
 
4. You swear too much

Twitter is loaded with adults using adult language. That’s off-putting to a lot of folks. If you’re going to use profanity in your tweets, there better be a really, really good reason. If you’re using four-letter words as adjectives far too much, you’re going to get unfollowed. Clean up your tweets and you’ll keep more of a loyal following.
 
5. You don’t use common manners

I’m going to go ahead and assume your parents raised you to say “Thank you” every once in a while. You should probably employ the use of it on Twitter. If you don’t thank people for following you or retweeting you, they’re going to notice. A simple “Thank you,” along with the person’s Twitter name you’re thanking, can go a long way to creating a solid Twitter connection. No matter what, always be gracious.
 
Have you noticed other Twitter practices that will cause people to unfollow?

Jay Adams is a graduate student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University focusing on new and social media. Jay spent six years in the newspaper industry as a sports reporter before going back to school to pursue his passion of social media marketing. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JayAdams70.
  • http://twitter.com/gaetane1371 Gaetane le Grange

    i *loathe* and will unfollow people who bulk tweet their nonsense – so that it takes up the entire page of the timeline – and then do it repeatedly…

    space. it. out.
    find. new. content.

    ;-)

  • http://www.loisgellermarketinggroup.com/ Lois K. Geller

    1. You might be “unfollowed” if you're boring. I am loyal to the people who point me to good content (links), and let me know more about themselves (on their blogs.

    2. Not sure why some people want to spew out quotes all day. They're good once in a while, but as a steady
    diet? I unfollow them.

    3. I also unload those people who just found me on Twitter and start “selling at” me…like Forex (whatever that is?), Trump, and multi-level marketers. They'd be so much more successful if they had a relationship with me first.

  • janrieger

    Promoting your business in every tweet.

  • ThePlayer403

    I thank you for the checklist. My goal is zero followers by noon tomorrow!!!

  • http://33bowls.com/ 33bowls

    There are a few who followback, DM, then unfollow. Not clear is it is autobot, or if they actually do that manually. Regardless, that gets a final unfollow from me, as it appears they are not interested in a connection.

    Also, there's more to life than selling! I have something available, but the majority of my Tweets are about related, varied subjects of interest.

  • jayadams

    Great points, all! There are certainly more than five things that will definitely get you unfollowed, that's for sure. Thanks for reading!

  • http://www.aplaceforthoughts.com/ aplaceforthoughts

    So true! I still consider to be new to twitter but find these to be common sense. Not sure where others get their thinking! Thanks for pointing out manners that should be used on twitter! :)

  • mwforhr

    Yes, it's the quality of the content. I unfollow fluff! Bible verses and quotes are not going to save anyone's life. It's fluff. Vital information that's actually useful gets me to follow.

  • http://crosswordbebop.com/ Douglas Bass

    A practice that inspires me to unfollow people is following, then unfollowing, then refollowing, in order to appear as a recent follower when one isn't, and generating multiple “so-and-so is following you” notifications

  • http://tgcgs.com/ Daz

    When you follow someone who has just followed you, then you get the follow-hawks from their follower list who are just following you to get a follow back.
    I just can't stand people that follow for following's sake, and who never want to really interact. You just know that as soon as their following gets up to around a few thousand that they're going start a Tsunami of affiliate tweets… Nothing wrong with affiliate tweets, but not when it's 500 an hour!

  • rahoffmann

    Thanks, this is a solid list. I offer a few others: ReTweeting a lot, but not generating much original material; defaulting to repeated harangues; too much anger; and over-using a limited playbook for source material (e.g., pulling quotes from famous or near-famous people).

    Ending on the manners note was especially good, and should be basic, but, it seems isn't. (Mom's “more bees with honey” advice comes to mind…)

  • Batman

    Usually, I unfollow people that tell me how to tweet.

  • Batman

    That's the problem with Twitterfeed, actually, as if you blog, or reblog other things with it, it sends them out all at once…..

  • http://twitter.com/gaetane1371 Gaetane le Grange

    wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't all trying to sell me something… and then to respam me shortly thereafter! earns a definite and brutal unfollowing… ;-)

  • Batman

    Indeed.

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  • http://twitter.com/zoozees Susan

    re: number 5: I have to disagree with the idea that one should thank for following or RT-ing. I think it's better to reciprocate where possible, by making an extra effort to RT good tweets by people who have retweeted me. I'd never thank anyone for following, either. (And “thank you for following” in a DM REALLY annoys me.) I consider it much better to read the person's tweets and respond to at least one, to demonstrate that I'm actually interested in what my new follower says. If someone doesn't have the time or inclination to respond to me in particular, I don't need to hear from them. This may seem curmudgeonly, but, I really don't think “thank you” on Twitter is quite the same as IRL “thank you.” Where “automatic” politeness may be important in real life, I find it grating on Twitter.

  • retrogirl02

    Retweeting someone else's Follow Friday list, you're out. Sending out your ENTIRE list of people you follow every single Friday? Please, you're SO out. If you are going to recommend someone, it reflects on you just like it does in real life.

    On a job interview, would you bring a list of references that include your entire 8th grade class? Not if you actually WANT that job! Why? ? It's a waste of time and no one will actually contact that many people. Honestly, your resume will end up in the trash.

    When your entire list is THE BEST, no one on that list is worth a damn. Is damn a *Twitter violation*? LMAO

    @retrogirl02

  • http://elislids.blogspot.com/ kara-noel

    I unfollow if someone ONLY tweets about themselves. I mean, no one is that cool… unless your Ellen… and even she interacts on twitter!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/guardianstar77 guardianstar77

    Extremely helpful list of don't for Twitter. I learned, too, from the comments. I was never sure about the “etiquette” with regard to acknowledging when someone follows me. I know that I personally do not like the DM with the canned “thank yous”. I also check out the people who follow me before I follow them back. Not to be snobby or anything, but there are some people who find me that I definitely do NOT want to follow! I also loathe the Twitterfeed, although some of my favorite people use them. It is irritating, however, when I pop over to Twitter and find most of the first page is from the same person. Ick!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/guardianstar77 guardianstar77

    I am so glad you posted that. I DO that, and now I feel as if I should apologize to the world at large. I personally love READING inspirational quotes, and it just never occurred to me that it might irritate others. I shall stop doing that IMMEDIATELY. I appreciate your sharing this!

    • http://www.march27designs.com Mara

      I think it depends on your audience…

      I have purposefully followed people because they inspire me with their quotes/sayings throughout the week. Some people like it!

  • http://www.kiaranfinn.com kiaran

    Some good Points-alternatively getting unfollowed is not always a bad thing unless you're chasing pseudo stat credibility LOL-Would prefer 100 genuine connections with two way dialogue than 100k pointless connections-also is it just me or does anyone else hate automated DM's? Hope averyone's doing well out there in twittersphere!!

  • http://twitter.com/SmurfGalak Shirley Thomas

    I have this reporter on my list, a kind of insider news list I enjoy. He is funny and he tweets interesting insights about articles shortly to be published in an online news site he manages.

    But… I still haven't followed him due to the fact that he live tweets sport events. I am a football (OK., soccer) fan and I enjoy F1 as well but no way am I going to let others' tweets buried under numerous, play by play tweets about sports games I am likely watching myself.

  • http://smedio.com Douglas Idugboe

    That's a very valid reason to not follow/unfollow someone. He made your list but not your following which is far more important than being on a list you hardly check on.

    Thanks for the comment Shirley.

  • http://smedio.com Douglas Idugboe

    That's the point Kara. 'Conversation' is the breath of the Social Web. Thanks for the comment.

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  • pamperry

    Seven Habits of Highly Effective Tweets http://bit.ly/bBP3L6

  • http://dogandogs.com/ Dino Dogan

    Great post….

    Of course..one must use his/her judgement but I will offer a different view on points 4 and 5.

    4. You swear too much
    Too much is bad..but a little is great. It shows you are real and not salesy. You'll never hear a sales guy or a corporate pusher use bad lenguage and its a good way to distinguish yourself as a real fucking person :-)

    5. You don’t use common manners
    Please and thank you is cool…but it can get overwhelming if you are (for example) Guy Kawasaki. That dude tweets for others and makes and breaks careers (well…mostly makes :-) …if everyone thanked him he wouldn't have time to sleep, eat or …tweet :-)

    I am really enjoying this website…found it a while back but then couldnt remember the name…in any case…I dig it..thnx for an excellent post :-)

  • http://www.calgary-webdesign.com Calgary Web Design

    I usually think in terms of business – I tend to follow company Tweets if its a good mix of relevant knowledge and stuff that applies to be (with a little bit of sales promotion if it makes sense). Been seeing local companies just hammer out sales promo tweets lately (had one plumber shoot off 15 tweets in an hour with nothing but 'I'm great with service XYZ, link' which was crazy…

  • Chris Slay

    It’s the spammers I can’t stand, the odd bit of advertising we can all accept but sending me 10 new jobs – bang , unfollow and report as spam.

  • http://twitter.com/Spencer_Hunt Spencer Hunt

    I’ve enjoyed reading this post & especially all of the comments…some from some of my own Twitter friends.

    I unfollow (or don’t follow in the first place) people who have no avatar image, no name and no bio…and then follow 1500 people and only have like 10 tweets. It comes down to … be genuine, be willing to open up to people a little bit (be social), and try to share worthwhile or interesting information that you may know. I RT what I find interesting to let people know that I would like to see more of that. I rarely block people, I just don’t follow if I see their tweets as little interest to me.

  • Natan Bes

    Hello, I am Brazilian and live in a fortress city in the northeast of the country, I have no mastery of English, but thanks to my browser have the opportunity to follow your posts. I have learned a lot from your blog and certainly all the knowledge gained here will have great importance for my training. Here in Brazil this area has grown, but there is still no professional expertise in the area, I am dedicating this issue to get me so highlight this area. And I’m getting this also thanks to your blog. Thank you and success.

  • http://www.nburmandesign.com/ Media Designer

    Automatic, repetitive tweeting is super annoying. Generally, impersonal tweets are a big turn off.

  • http://twitter.com/JesseOguns jesse oguntimehin

    #1 if I follow you and you immediately send me a DM advertising your blog, it makes you a victim for unfollowing.

    #2 I also unfollow people who use too much profanity and swearing

  • http://hypnotherapy-in-london.blogspot.com Kjchopping

    Your advice is really helpful to a twitter newbie like me ! thanks

  • http://twitter.com/helpstring Andreas Ostheimer

    3 does only work if you are a superstar, right.

  • Anonymous

    its all the positive thinking quotes that get me, its like a lot of people cant think of anything to say and think “oh i know i will make myself look really clever and quote such and such” once in a while is fine.
    def right about the not following back and people who dont tweet, i have a clean at least once week to keep it all tidy.

    great article

    • http://www.nixonvs.com Nixon Virtual Strategies

      Oh good point, Tristan.  I am so tired of the positive quotes from everyone all day long.  

  • http://www.nixonvs.com Nixon Virtual Strategies

    AUTOMATION!  Sure there are many who don’t *really* read their tweets every day or week, but when you get the same #FF message every week, worded exactly the same way, even the same typo, it tells you this account is on auto-pilot and I’m outta here.  I understand we’re not all going to develop deep personal or business relationships with everyone we tweet-meet online, but if I give some kudos for a great article or RT their words of wisdom, I wanna know someone appreciates it.  I’m not so bored I need to communicate with autobots!

  • http://twitter.com/JoJagiello Joanna Jagiello

    I agree Jesse, DM’s especially sales DM’s really get on my nerves…another thing is people that use it as a text messaging service with their mates. Which is fine for those that use it in a personal capacity but not in a professional capacity. I found myself getting sucked into a conversation this morning and was very conscience that I could be annoying people so reverted to private messages.
     
    I am also a fan of quality over quality; I don’t think you should feel you have to follow someone just because they follow you. For example I get IT solutions companies follow me…I have no need for that kind of service so why would I fill my feed with their Tweets?
     
    @jojagiello
    @henleyandco  

  • Tony Tee Neto

    Great tips. As for me, I’m just gonna put it out there: “not-so-smart people” are a huge turnoff. I like being real, and I enjoy following people who have great content and ARE real with their Tweets. If you come across like a fool, well … take care. :-)

    Geat reading everyone’s comments.
    Thanks!

  • Margie_church

    People who only Tweet famous quotes and/or inspirational ideas get unfollowed. I’m looking to meet the real YOU.  I also don’t follow people who don’t Tweet in my native language. Even if I speak the other language, I don’t assume my Tweeps do and that, I think, is annoying. Blasting out constant BUY ME, LOOK AT ME messages gets you dumped too.

  • http://twitter.com/catch108stchs catch

    RT’d everything you read. If you RT the same thing (from different people) 12 times, I will unfollow.

  • http://twitter.com/catch108stchs catch

    Constantly RTing. If I get 12 tweets from you, and they’re all the same thing RT by different people, there’s a chance (a good one) you’ll be unfollowed.

  • http://ClinicalPosters.com ClinicalPosters

    I am often followed temporarily by someone with whom I have absolutely nothing in common. Their timeline does not suggest that they would benefit from my content and they are already following way more feeds than they could possibly read. It is apparent that some people follow only to be followed back. I have posted my guidelines for following on my blog. http://clnpstr.com/q38Nhg

  • http://www.nixonvs.com Nixon Virtual Strategies

    I’m following this string but I have to say that I don’t automatically unfollow just because I don’t see an immediate connection.  Yes, I have business tweets going on, but sometimes a trend is on a funny show I’m watching and I share a few laughs with the bunch.  Some of those people often check out my site to find out more about me and the next thing you know they’re asking how I get recognized by Forbes or asking for tips to promote their blogs or a group on LinkedIn.  All over a tweet about Shedding for the Wedding perhaps.  

    So I don’t discount people whom I see no immediate connection.  

    But ironically, tonight I noticed I have 574 followers and I’m following 578.  I don’t auto follow everyone who follows me so I am tempted to unfollow about 200 people just so that it doesn’t look like I do!  LOL!

    As a sidebar, is anyone here using Tweetbe.at.  That’s the actual website.  Very useful tool that seems to be abandoned to some degree (I’ve spoken to the developer recently about why he stopped improving it) but it’s quick, simple and very powerful for pulling lists together from others.  I left Formulists when I discovered it.  Cool tool on the down-low.

  • http://www.khaledscorner.com خالد

    I hate following people who tweet too much

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  • LdRiofrio

    What about you retweet and only retweet, nothing original. Eventually people will start following your retweeteds  and stop following you.

  • Zeke

    Retweeting yourself, retweeting any tweet in which you were mentioned, being a tweeting crazy person but not following me back, if you spar with your ex constantly, if you act like a petulant child and pick fights, if you like the Tea party. 

  • http://lrhcreative.com bcr8tive

    All good advice. I wish more people would read this.

    Too many of the tweets in my Timeline seem like Commercials and I can’t DVR my Timeline.

    Great blog by the way, very informative. Thank you. ♥

    bcr8tive ♡ »-(¯`·.·´¯)-»

  • Mike Pellatt

    Tweeting a link to this, and loads of others, 18-month old story. Repeatedly.

    The guy calls himself a “marketing professional”????!!!! I don’t think so.

    Bye-bye Douglas Idugboe

    • http://www.nixonvs.com Nixon Virtual Strategies

      Excellent point, Mike.  I actually replied to a tweet from a guy I was following for the same reason.  I mean, I’ll support a good story or something informative without even being asked to.  But when I go out of my way to follow a link and it’s several months or more old or completely irrelevant now, I’m not going to follow or support anymore.  True it may not be much work to click a link, but the action alone says to me this is not an active person.  I assume the account is just on autopilot and I don’t follow machines.  I want to communicate with people.

  • JV

    What are you people still doing on Twitter: 80 percent of all Twitter accounts were inactive”

    Is it time to get a life?  : )

  • http://twitter.com/ArtfulDater Artful Dater

    Great tips!  But seriously, what is up with all the twitter quote machines?  How does that benefit anyone?  My feed is starting to look like a bathroom stall.

  • http://twitter.com/eliesheva liz

    Yikes: auto-updating via some 3rd party… with news articles, or whatever. It can you drive your followers nuts!