Why People Aren't Following You on Twitter

By Laurel Miltner | Posted July 23, 2009 | 0 Comment(s) | Filed in: Social Media

With Twitter gaining in popularity, I’ve noticed that I receive a handful of new followers almost every day now. I’ve also realized that I have a pretty standard way of sifting through these people to determine if:

They are actually a person and not a robot,
They are on Twitter to share and add value (not just to sell something), and
We have something in common and they are worth following. (I hate saying it like that, but I think other Tweeters know what I mean by “worth” — that they will add value to my Twitter stream, and I understand why I add value to theirs.)

After realizing that I have a few standard red flags when deciding whether or not to follow someone back, I wondered if others do as well. So I reached out to my Twitter community and asked:

Here's what people had to say (though some of these are my own):

If…

You don’t have a picture, or are following 3x more people than are following you
Your number of followers vs. people you’re following is severely out of balance
You don’t have a profile description (tell me something about yourself!)
You are a self-proclaimed “expert” or “guru” (the community should be the judge of that)
Your profile reads like a copy room bulletin board or newspaper’s classified ads
Your profile makes it obvious that I’ll immediately receive an auto-DM, and have to un-follow you anyway
You appear to be a porn star or prostitute
You have not updated in the last month
I can't find valuable info in your first 10 tweets or so (I want to share real, interesting stories and ideas)
There is too much selling of something (don’t tweet bullet points, share life experience)
Your tweets are not interesting or applicable to me
Your tweets have no personality, add no value and don’t elicit conversation, or if you try to sell me something
The majority of the tweets on your profile page say the same thing, repurposed 20 times
All you do is talk about your own stuff
None of your last 20 tweets makes me think, click or laugh
None of your tweets include links for more information/background
You share too frequently (say, when on vacation - seriously, take a break), and without humor, insight or helpful information

… then people may not follow you back on Twitter.

So, what are the takeaways?

Let people know who you are.
If you’re really an expert, people will realize it. You don’t have to tell them.
Don’t use Twitter to sell or only to promote yourself and your stuff.
Be interesting — always bring something of value to the conversation.
Show your personality, but be careful not to overshare.
Engage people, and engage with people.

Thanks to @ActivDefiance84, @cfuller, @decli, @keithmoehring, @j_conner, @LaNovak, @mikebutz, @paulroetzer, @tza2007 and @vnoreen for contributing your thoughts to this post.

Do you have any standard reasons that you won’t follow someone back on Twitter? Comment to share your thoughts.