Follow Your Twitter-quette
Hordes of Twitter users not following the rules
By MARCUS RILEY
Updated 6:29 AM CST, Thu, Apr 23, 2009
Last month NYC Internet savant @fimoculous tweeted "At this rate, God should be on Twitter by early Summer."
Well, it looks like he underestimated Twitter's popularity, because last week @richardroeper tweeted "OK, so God and GodAlmighty are already on Twitter. I wonder if they know each other."
Bottom line? Everybody and their brother -- whether they have something enlightening to say or not -- seems to be jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. And just like other social media sites that experience exponential growth, certain rules should be followed. And by followed, we mean "Follow."
In what some are calling Twitter's "jumping the shark" moment, Oprah Winfrey made waves last week when she tweeted live on her show for the first time. All well and fine, but when you check out her Twitter page, @oprah is amassing hundreds of thousands of followers, but is only following 10 people.
This folks, is bad Twitter-quette. The Twitter world is based on the premise that I care about what you have to say, then in return, you care about what I have to say -- ergo, you "Follow" me back.
Over the weekend, Chicago food blogger @audarshia (Audarshia Townsend) sent the following tweet directed at all those new jack Twitterati who don't follow the rules: "I hate to be a bit of a b*tch, but if you refuse to follow ANYONE on Twitter, you don't deserve any props from me."
Her tweet prompted the following Facebook message from @grahamelliot -- otherwise known as the local uber-chef Graham Elliot.
"Wow, looks like someone needs get a grip and find some new sh*t to worry about!"
For the record, @grahamelliot has 436 Twitter followers, and he follows -- no one.
Think about it. If you had a friend who constantly unloaded their problems on you, but had no interest in what you had to say about your life, how long would you care to continue that friendship? Not very long, we'd imagine.
So yes, we're talking to you @kimkardashian, @aplusk and yes you too, @jimmyfallon. Mind your Twitter-quette.
First Published: Apr 22, 2009 4:41 PM CST
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