So You Want to be a Twitter Expert: Part 3

Post 3 of 4: Danger! Just because you CAN unfollow doesn’t mean you should.

By now, you are probably happily unfollowing with the tools of my last post. But I feel it’s my duty to forewarn: practice moderation.

Twitter is known for keeping an eye on its tweeps, and you WILL get banned if you unfollow in what it considers a “bulk size.” I know its boring and drool-worthy dull, but you should always read a social networks’ guidelines. If you’re serious about managing a network, you need to know what you can and can’t do. It’s as simple as that.

So, how many is a bulk size? Well, only Twitter knows that. Kind of foreboding when you think about it, but I’ve found that sticking to unfollowing users once a day, no more than 125, is a safe bet. However, the fact of the matter is you shouldn’t need to unfollow any more than that. If you are, you aren’t doing your social networking duties. Think about it. If users are dropping off like flies, you need to analysis the “why.” Is your content boring? Are you all about “me, me, me?” Sometimes, all you need to do is make a slight attitude change. Other times, you just need to mention users to get them to follow back.

For me, I generally use unfollowing tools to list the users I need to contact. As a rule, I give them 3 or 4 tweets before I call them a lost cause. I know this is hard to do today, but always think before you click.

Tags: building followers, marketing, online marketing, Sarah Rising, Social Media, social media tactics, tweeting, Twitter, Twitter expert, unfollowing