This post grew out of several simultaneous conversations I had on Twitter on the morning of Friday March 27th, 2009. It began with me asking: Is Follow Friday almost over?
Before I go any further, please allow me to reiterate something I stress on my Twitter homepage: I am NOT a social media expert. I’ve never pretended to be a social media expert and never will be. The opinions on this blog are my own, until you comment. I welcome hearing from you. I learn the most once I step away from the keyboard and listen to you. Also, I will use no names in this post. I’m aware the comments can be researched but I’m not sure the names are relevant.
Here is a taste of the responses I received to, “Is Follow Friday almost over?”
X: LOL! No such luck, Sweetie! We need to invent a really strong breakfast cocktail, a Follow Friday, to help us make it through!
Y: Now that websites exist that are showing #FF rank (can you believe it?), I see it going on indefinitely. It should've been 1 week.
Pecan: Even one week a month would have been fine but 52 times a year?! *slams head on water bottle*
Z: I think it just started. You don't like follow friday?
Pecan: It started many weeks ago.* I liked it when it was a novelty. It is good to appreciate 1's followers. But not lists & lists every week. *Follow Friday was started on January 16th, 2009 by Micah Baldwin.
X: The dirty little secret about Follow Friday is that people--even the people who tweet them--ignore them.
Pecan: What is so secret about knowing people do the same thing I do?
X: The point is that people who play that dastardly little game seem to think they are helping others to build numbers, but no.
Pecan: I think they are (helping) among the newbies. People with lighter streams are the only ones with time to read those lists.
B: Agreed. It detracts from the 'special' of it in a way that birthdays would be less special if they were celebrated every month.
Pecan: Then you understand what I mean. I'm not against #followfriday. I just don't think it should be EVERY Friday.
C: Sometimes I feel like rebelling and listing my recommendations on a different day, so people might actually read them.
Hopefully from the above you can discern I like the idea of showcasing the people I follow but I don’t like the frequency with which this is done. To me, the more I see of one thing, the more it appears as static in my tweet stream. I am also disheartened when I see a tweet that lists nothing but a group of user names preceded or followed by #followfriday. This does not tell me why the tweeter thinks their recommendation should be followed. Maybe it is enough that I am following the person who tweeted it to my stream? Maybe that should be enough but I am still getting to know some of the people I follow and this takes time. I value the tweets that tell me something about the person being recommended – they are funny or wise or kind, a talented developer, a great writer, or a tremendous humanitarian. I’ve since learned I am out of touch.
A new follow contributed to the conversation:
Mentor: Re #followfriday- then you have missed the point
Pecan: Why don't you educate me then?
Mentor: It would take too long to do properly: short version - Friday occurs once a week, ergo Friday Followers follow once/week . Logic?
Pecan: If it would take too long to explain on Twitter, why don't you write a blog post about it as a service to the rest of us?
Mentor: I don't have a blog site, but if you u really don't get it, I'm happy to place some advice on yours.
Pecan: If I can find the time, I'll write a post about #followfriday and you can educate me and the rest of us there.
Mentor: My pleasure...and yours, I'm sure. Deadline???
I’ll admit that last tweet tweaked me because I said I would write a post “If I can find the time” only to find myself being asked about a deadline. I do feel manipulated into giving up time to get this out of the way during the busiest part of my month. (Please don’t get any ideas because that won’t work again.) The benefit to getting this out of the way is, I will hopefully soon know where my thinking is flawed. Now it is your turn.
I had a new follower show up in my email on Tuesday. She was someone who was recommended by a #followfriday. Went to her page and I say (no foolin') four pages of #follow. I had no idea what she personally had to say. After four pages, I gave up. Today I chose some media people that have just started. The week before I said, "Follow the people I follow. If I didn't think they were worth it, I wouldn't." Next week, I'm keeping my mouth shut and not adding to the clutter. Also? I'm stealing this post that I made for my blog (but crediting you for the idea), Piddy ;-)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you! When I first started 3 -4 weeks ago it REALLY helped me and I have actually gotten some Good friends thru this BUT I also agree with it takes up the whole day.... and it seems twitter is moving SO FAST and seems FASTER everyday that I have a hard time keeping up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a different perspective though!
I have no love for #followfriday.
ReplyDeleteI feel much the same about it as I do about people just tweeting huge lists of their new followers.
I don't see the point, nor do I see how it's adding anything to the conversation. I enjoy when some people will say, without any dated reason for doing so, "Have you met so-and-so? He/she is cool because x,y and z."
Genuine, not arbitrary, and doesn't fill up my feed for no reason.
Oh, and I'm unfollowing the next person who does a #followfriday on a Tuesday.
I always figure #followfriday was just another part of the echo chamber. I think that most people do it in hope of reciprocity. If I recommend you then maybe you'll recommend me. Obviously, that's not everyone's goal, but I think that's all it is to a lot of the people that just list of massive lists of people.
ReplyDeleteI think I've only been recommended maybe once or twice, and they gave their reasons those times. But really, I don't think I'd ever tweet who I think you should follow (other than @JeremyHerbel, he's totally awesome). Not because I don't think they don't deserve it, but because I'm with Jay: If you want to know who I think you should follow, just look at who I talk to.
I loved reading your ruminations on #followfriday because lately I've found myself thinking along similar lines. When #followfriday first popped into existence I thought it was an awesome idea, yet as time has moved on I've come to value it less and less, and have rarely actually participated in it myself. I've come, in fact, to terming Sundays #unfollowsunday, as I see all of those followers who have jumped on the proverbial bandwagon and followed me on Friday, unfollow me on Sunday because I have not followed them in return, I am not their cup of tea, etc.
ReplyDeleteI do, however, truly value those followers who list their reasons why I am a good person to follow. For example, just yesterday one of my friends tweeted, "I follow @abartelby because he's the funniest gay man I've never met and a good writer to boot (and those would be fashionable boots!)." Not only does that kind of recommendation let me know why the recommending person follows me, but it also gives potential followers at least some idea of what to expect from my stream. I think those are the most valuable kinds of #followfriday tweets, because they at least attempt a more genuine kind of connection between people, rather than just "whore for followers," as I've come to call it.
Really insightful post, my dear, with a lot of good points about which to think!
Now there's a fella created a gimmick (topfollowfriday) that keeps score on Followfriday -- and is looking for a way to monetize it. (sigh) As a friend described it, "Social Media without the Social."
ReplyDeleteI can't believe your self-esteem is so tied to what complete strangers who, for all you know, could be complete psychopaths, comment about you on the Twitter! It seriously concerns me that someone who seems so intelligent could be so susceptible to "manipulation." You are fortunate that I was only following you on the recommendation of a squirrel that I trusted and had no real evil intent. As far as #followfriday goes....I didn't even know what it was until this Friday....but, as far as I can tell, the objective is to celebrate Friday, which, to the best of my knowledge, occurs regularly once a week, by recommending people to follow. And, as far as I'm aware, it's not compulsory...ergo, don't follow if you don't want....THAT was my point. And, btw...."cogito, ergo sum" was most definitely NOT Shakespearean (see Renee Descartes).
ReplyDeleteI wish you well, but am unfollowing & blocking - just don't see the point.
WOW, talk about taking memes too seriously! I bet anonymous is one of those people who always has to be right or she doesn't like you.
ReplyDeleteIf #FF was more about recommending a new person or two every friday and less about HEY I RECOMMENDED YOU SO NOW YOU RETURN THE FAVOR, then I would be into it.
But it's not.
People have recommended me and then when I don't play, they send angry DMs about why I don't show them any love like they did for me.
Blahblahblah.
It's mostly become a narcissistic attempt to be 'popular'.
Also, Anonymous is an idiot. Talk about tying up your self-esteem with TWITTER!! OH THE IRONY.
All I can say about follow friday is that if *I* follow someone, they're obviously worthy of following IN MY OPINION.
The end.
xoxoxox
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2HAroA12w
ReplyDeletePeople get so caught up...don't they?
don't misunderstand, I LOVE tweeting! But like most of my life....I've learned not to take ANYTHING too seriously.
Follow Friday is just the latest meme, like all memes it will run its course. Next, it will be how many tweets you post with the letter q in them or some silly thing.....
Stephanie
hey...follow me on Twitter @stephanie2967 hehehe :)
Actually, I wouldn't mind #followfriday every week, provided that:
ReplyDelete- only the best follows were highlighted, as opposed to just dumping one's follows to Twitter;
- the same follows weren't repeated week after week.
Pity it's turned into a dumping ground.
Numbers or relationships? Can a say that any of my regular conversations on Twutter resulted from follow Friday? I don't think so, although I don't knkow. I suppose it's human nature to count what can be counted and to revel in MORE! Let's give up followfriday for two months and see if it fills a pupose.
ReplyDeleteI took last Friday off because I didn't have any good reasons to post that week. This week I had a few people I wanted to recommend and I try to always put the reason why, or at least something funny.
ReplyDeleteI've picked a few people who were recommended by people I enjoy tweeting with and like you I want to get to know them. The lists without explanation are tiresome. I wouldn't mind it every week if people listed 5 people or so tops.
Once a month may be sufficient. Maybe #firstfridayfollow or some other long hashtag that prevents people from abusing it.
I've been on Twitter for a LONG time and have seen it change drastically since 2007 - before all these social media experts/gurus/entrepreneurs/consultants started popping up all over the place.
ReplyDeleteSadly, Twitter is being consumed by bloated egos such as your anonymous commenter above. Like you, I freely admit that I am no expert. Who is? Really. But to go on Twitter badgering others for expressing their opinion is nothing short of idiocy showing its ugly face in the name of anonymity. I commend you for remaining civil to [insert real name here].
I also agree with others that say they blatantly ignore #ff mentions where the tweet is filled with nothing but names. Give me a reason as to why I should follow these people. True, if it were someone you recommended I may take a look at that user, but then again it may not be someone I'm interested in following and it would save a lot of unnecessary follows and unfollows later on. If someone were to put 1 or 2 names in a tweet and used the rest of their 140 to tell me "why" I should follow them, then I may pay closer attention. It's seems to be only about the # of followers one can get now. Pity.
Unfortunately, Twitter is morphing into nothing more than a popularity contest like all the other sites. It's becoming increasingly difficult to weed out those individuals who want nothing more than to push their junk (blogs, products, & eBooks) on me than it is to find good, quality people to follow. They're still out there, but harder to find.
If someone doesn't have the nerve to put their own name next to their own comment, then the words mean nothing to me whatsoever. Kind of like the "buy 1 get 1 free" deals with rice cakes. They're empty and take up nothing but space.
You are a gem and don't let anyone tell you any different.
Hmm. I have to admit I haven't given it all much thought. Friday comes around...I see lots of #followfriday tweets...might have clicked through once or twice. Cool. On the other hand I'll make my own occasional #followfriday tweets. However, like every tweet I make, it's about making the noise and NOT about worrying if someone's going to read/respond. I mean, once you start overthinking and adding expectations to ANY situation you're going to end up disappointed. Why even go there?
ReplyDeletePoop.
#followfriday for me is nothing to do with my ego that's for sure. I've discouraged folks from listing my name. I've got plenty of followers.
ReplyDeleteI do like to list others though. Especially folks that I think are worth following.
If I want one person to stand out though, I'll mentional specifically why.
But heck, it's fun to shout out a few folks now and then. You know why? Twitter for me gives its best value by who you follow and not who follows you back.
In any case, ignore it if you want. Friends that rail on you have issues. Feel free to block all #followfriday posts. :)
I've been on Twitter since Nov 2006 and watched it evolve dramatically.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably an anomaly here, but I click on followfriday recommendations and see what others are saying and also put out my recommendations.
My recommendations are always based on who has interacted with me that week, which is what Twitter is about, building relationships as well as staying in touch with the world and a world of ideas.
I still think it's valid but as with everything about twitter, you have to actually check out people and decide on merit, not numbers, whether you follow and engage with someone or not. It's a personal thing. And, there are no rules for twitter, which makes is equally frustrating for those trying to manipulate it.
My apologies that I didn't sign my name - but, as I'd already told the guinea pig, I don't have a blog-site. I will sign this one, though, so all your friends can also write blogs about me. I agree with Tood & (oops) the other "Anonymous" above (who also obviously doesn't have a blogsite)...you have the freedom to follow or unfollow whomever you want. Twitter is also primarily about freedom of speech...so babble on.
ReplyDelete@OkayStill
What's funny to me is that someone's ego is so huge that they would assume anyone wants to write an entire blog post about her.
ReplyDeleteMore passive-aggressiveness.
Follow Friday has become nothing more than spam to me in many cases. I've gotten to where I don't even pay attention to most of the posts. The only ones I give any attention to are those that actually explain why I might be interested in following someone. Obviously those posts don't list 10-20 user names, but one or maybe two at the most.
ReplyDeleteIt's become another popularity contest as someone else pointed out. At the beginning it was interesting, and I'm sure the intentions of the founder were not to turn it into tweet spam. Unfortunately, it's lost its legitimacy in my eyes, and it's time for something new.
i love tweeting but this whole hashtag stuff leaves me cold - i've only just caught up with what a lot of etsy sellers were doing with the skittles tag in spamming their wares (on the advice of a super-spammy etsy guru) - i'd much rather twitter stayed a social universe. i like interacting with my tiny twitterverse which is why a rarely follow anyone else unless i think i'll be enriched by what they add to my little world (sorry, but no new laptops or etsy goods thnx)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, glad I found it tonight. I was feeling overwhelmed by the last FF and even tweeted to that effect. I just wasn't in the mood to see all those FF tweets in my stream and didn't want to do the same to others.
ReplyDeleteI felt a bit guilty for not playing along and perhaps even a bit resentful that I felt like I should play along. I think I just thanked a couple of folks for the FF love and left it at that. Now I don't feel guilty anymore! I'm relieved to see that others feel the same way.
Now there are WoofWednesdays and MeowMondays - fine, whatever. I've decided I'll play along when I feel like it - no guilt! Today I tweeted about couple folks for WW but I explained why (they are pet photographers) and I was comfy with that.
I don't think I have ever followed someone based on a #FollowFriday request if they appeared in a list such as this: #followfriday @thisperson @thispersontoo @andthisperson @thispersonshouldbefollowed
ReplyDeleteBut ... when people take the TIME to tell me WHY to follow, I may.
When I realized I wasn't following anyone based on a list, I stopped sending out lists of people myself. I do participate, but I try to not repeat the same people week after week, and I try to limit it to 10 or less. I post their names individually and why I think they should be followed.
It has turned into a popularity contest and it seems as though so many people list the same people week after week with no explanation as to why their friends are worthy of following.
It's Friday again, but the #followfriday seems pretty subdued, which will help cut down on #AwkwardShamefulUnfollowSaturdayMorning - good riddance, I say.
ReplyDeleteI don't really do #followfriday anymore. Sure I get recommended but I don't do the lists.
ReplyDeleteWhat I've taken to doing is sharing about that one person that makes an impact to me that my Twitter stream would be less interesting without. I tout those folks and hope for the best.
Regarding those doing it for me. It's a nice thought, but I've got plenty of followers right now.
I've never done a FollowFriday before. They used to really annoy me, but now they mostly get ignored, of course. I did use them a couple times when I was really looking for new people to follow and figured if I was going to look anywhere, I should check out those suggestions.
ReplyDeleteI prefer to send out recommendations on other days, like you suggested. I don't do it often, but when I do send out a recommendation, I hope that some people are paying attention.
Oddly, this came up as just being posted on my blog feed, where it's over a year old. But anyway, looks like I didn't see it back then...
ReplyDeleteBack when Follow Friday started, I noted that it was bad that many people made lists without saying why you should follow that person. At the time, it was dismissed with "well, all the people I've seen have said why!"
Apparently I wasn't hallucinating though, because now it's almost always lists with no context. I wish people would go back to recommending one or two with a reason. Or if it's a list, a themed list (I've done some for speculative fiction 'zines on Twitter). That's actually useful.
Every friday wouldn't be too often if people only recommended a couple of people or one themed list every week.
Not so odd Polenth. Sorry to inadvertently spam you with eleven posts. You see, in revamping my New Media For Everyone blog to create a more generalized repository for my thoughts, I also imported and combined it with my even older blog, Bawstonblog.
ReplyDeleteThere are already enough sites that speak to new media and many of them say the same things so it was getting harder to find different new media related topics to touch on. I'm hoping by going back to my old, more free flowing format, I'll think of more original content to write and update a little more often.
Thank you for reading and commenting. I really DO appreciate it. :)