MomCrunch
BAN THE TWITTER BOTS: Why Social Media Should NOT Be Automated
As Twitter becomes more and more marketing heavy, the trend toward automation continues, alas. Particularly now that Triberr has entered the game. But should Twitter be automated?
NO. And here’s why.
Tweet Adder = Bad Form
Tweet Adder is a software you can buy that will scour twitter for you, following people that have a select group of interests, building your follower list in a niche way. It bills itself as “automated Twitter management software.” Because a lot of folks on Twitter follow back the folks that follow them, it’s a fast way to build up your follower count.
You know Tweet Adder is? It’s basically buying followers. Which you can do. But you know what buying Twitter followers makes you? It makes you someone more interested in appearances than conversation.
The problem with systems like Tweet Adder is when folks then UNfollow the people that followed them back so they can maintain that high followers/low following ratio that makes you look more influential than you are (full disclosure: my numbers look like this, but not because of buying followers, but from being on a Twitter recommends list for a year, which got me lots of bot-type followers).
Scheduled Tweets Make You Look Like An Asshole.
Deb talked about this the other day, but I wanted to hammer home her point. I can think of at least three situations in which scheduled tweets bit people in the ass. The Tsunami in Japan, the Gulf oil spill, and Steve Job’s death. If you had tweets scheduled during those events, you probably lost a bunch of followers, didn’t you?
But it’s not just during major events that scheduled tweets make you look like a dick. If you aren’t online when the tweet posts, and a bunch of folk respond and ask questions, and you’re golfing instead of tweeting? Well, you just lost a major opportunity for engagement.
Auto Direct Messages = Immediate Unfollow
Look: I’ve said this here before but it bears repeating. If I followed you, I have ALREADY CHECKED YOU OUT. You do not need to sell me your shit. I already followed you. Back the hell off. Auto DMs change my impression of you from a fun person I’m looking forward to getting to know to a person that is clearly too busy shilling their own stuff to engage with me. The second I get an auto DM, I unfollow, no matter how compelling your bio, website, or content.
The heart of the matter is this: Twitter is a place for conversation. If you’re gaming it with spam, auto DMs, and buying your followers your heart isn’t in Twitter. It’s in making money – which is fine! – but that won’t win you any friends on Twitter, and will prevent you from becoming a true influencer.
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6 Comments
Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] commented on Oct 10 11 at 2:41 pmAnd on a related note, my post yesterday on why I’m leaving (or left) Triberr: http://awholelotofnothing.net/on-why-im-leaving-triberr/
PUH-Lease commented on Oct 10 11 at 4:07 pmC’mon… you float a scheduled turd/tweet everyday for Aiming Low – AND the only “content” you added to Deb’s article were the words “Twitter Adder = Bad From.” In all fairness though, you did take the half second to make those words BOLD though… How very UPPERCASE of you!
Sommer commented on Oct 10 11 at 4:09 pmI am going to play devil’s advocate here. I think that scheduled tweets could be a good thing if your community on Twitter likes to receive facts, information, advice and tips. They might look to you for tips on going green or saving on a budget. Maybe a new recipe each day which is something that could be scheduled to stay on top of it, again could not should.
Scheduled tweets in no way implies a person not interact in their community on Twitter or engage. I think this is where scheduled tweets and automation get people in trouble. Like any tool you have to use it wisely or yes it will bite you in the butt.
cecilyk commented on Oct 10 11 at 5:20 pmOh, thanks puh-lease! I totally forgot about that old paper.li. Appreciate the reminder to delete it!
drhoctor2 commented on Oct 10 11 at 5:54 pmI’m not sold on Tweet Adder or other related software being pointless or not “real” as a tool to attract followers. Expanding a follower list is a crucial step in attempting to frame a successful marketing presence on Twitter. Much like using a search engine to find a like minded list of sites within the parameters of your personal reference preferences. The problem , as I see it that can arise is not using the software properly and filtering your results in some sort of real time action. I.E.blocking most Bot followers. By hand, if need be.
I’m not completely against Bots either. Automated tasks are a very beneficial tool to anyone in business and or running a home. The very heart of organizational philosophys like GTD or Franklin Covey boils down to not wasting time or energy on repetitive tasks. My Bob_Dylan Bot follower is dear to my heart.
Clearly the “problem” is user orientated. Scheduling an INCYMI tweet is fine if you’re using it to catch an international audience..say Australia ? Clogging your followers Time Stream with repeat announcements for most things is inconsiderate, at minimum. Auto Dm’s? Thank you for Following or RT’ing autos don’t bother me Am neutral. “Nice of them to send a note” sort of thing. I don’t care about accidentaly badly timed tweets because *I* don’t expect people to be on the same wave length with each other time wise, much less every biz in the world. Intent is all important.
Confusing the purpose of your Twitter account persona is foolish. Mistakes get made when Business accounts make personal account remarks . I remind everyone of the backlash personal accounts often self report experiencing when over stepping the marketing their audience will bear.. Pilot error, in essence.
Sum it all up by saying.. Pay attention to what you are doing and what kind of relationship you want to have with people on Twitter.
Christy @morethanmommy commented on Oct 10 11 at 7:55 pmTweet adder, lame. But then again, useless. People who auto-follow you and don’t bother to see who you are aren’t reading what you’re tweeting. There are a ton of “influential” bot accounts out there, auto-adding, auto-following, and auto-tweeting. Sadly, you can’t auto-read.
I don’t mind some scheduled tweets used sparingly. We all use Twitter in different ways, but I wish that real people using Twitter would continue to behave like real people using Twitter. It’s weird to RT whenever anyone says anything good about you, or tweet EVERY 4square update, or share whenever someone gives you a +K in Klout. Would you do that at a party? (If so, please let me know, so I know to “lose” your invitation). I miss conversational Twitter and with some rare exceptions for brands that really interest me, I won’t follow anyone who tweets only links, quotes, other people’s links, and streams of “I’m smarter than you are” advice. I want to follow real people.
The unfortunate part of all of this is that when Twitter starting providing people status, folks scrambled to get as many followers as possible. Those who still actually use Twitter then put everyone into lists, because you can’t possibly interact with 20,000 people. But why follow them if you’re not going to pay attention to anything they say? It’s a lot of talking and not a lot of listening.
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