Now, I know that everyone has their own opinions on how Twitter ‘should’ be used and I agree with the thought that it’s really best when each specific user is using it in a way that makes them more comfortable and effective.  I also know that there’s certainly not a shortage of ‘articles’ written out there about the different ‘styles’ of Tweeting.  This is not going to be another one of those posts.  This is more of an observation over the last couple days and I thought I’d share.

As most of you know I’ve been working with Billy Currington for the past few months.  Now this hasn’t been a SkörInc thing necessarily, but more of a ‘consulting / online presence management’ type of thing.  You know starting him off on Twitter, making strategic web moves, gathering content, that kind of thing.  Well, when I first sat down with Billy, he had 94 Twitter followers.  It was a few radio stations and some fans that were paying attention.  Not that big of a deal though, because he had just signed up and hadn’t even started using it.  At that point we decided that we’d take the “follow everyone that follows” approach.  You know, to boost the numbers.  Well, we’ve been using that method for over 15,000 followers now and yesterday we decided to change that.  See, Billy has figured out his Twitter experience and it doesn’t involve managing 15,000 different feeds.  Makes sense right?

So yesterday, literally all day long, Billy and I were clicking the ‘unfollow’ button.  Not because he doesn’t like people, but because he wants to follow the people he wants to follow.  You know, like Twitter was made for.  Now, one thing I did notice in the fifteen hours of ‘unfollowing’ was how much spam there was out there.  I can not believe how many real estate companies, money making schemes, and porn Twitter accounts are following Billy, and in turn he was following back.  Not exactly something you want on your list of “Following” right?   So, in this ‘unfollowing’ process Billy has lost about 70 followers and my guess is that he will lose about 100 more.  But that’s okay right?  I mean who cares if @EarnMoneyFast stops following you, right?

So here’s my thought.  Billy’s ‘Followers” number is dropping the more people we stop following from his account.  Now, that’s less impressive when I go to the label and show them what we are doing.  They see the end result.  The final number, and over the last two days that number has dropped.  They aren’t going to like that.  But I see a number that is free from porn and spam and a more cohesive list of “Followers” wanting to connect with Billy.

So here’s my question to all you “Follow Everyone That Follows” people.  How do you deal with the porn sites, the money making schemes and the businesses just looking for a massive number?  Do you deal with it?  Or are you just another one of those same things?

***And here’s the other thing I realized throughout this whole process.  How can I confidently and morally advise a band like MercyMe to “follow everyone that’s following them”, when I know that anyone with Twitter can check out their list of “Following” and be subject to an array of adult content?  Is it ministry or numbers?

Here’s what I’d advise you to do.  Take a second and go browse a few of your favorite “Tweeters” Following list.  Check out who they are endorsing.  Who they are publicly proclaiming that it’s “okay to follow”.  Who they are okay with “Following” themselves.  Let me know what you come up with.***