Social Media is No Place for Robot Behavior

December 29, 2008 · Comments

tweetdeck **Warning: this is mostly a bitchy, moany, inside baseball post about Twitter. Skip it. The next one will be useful.**

I’m sick of robots. Truly. Your automated direct message back thanking me for following you does three things exceptionally well:

  1. Irks me because it’s a robot.
  2. Annoys me because you ask me to click your junk.
  3. Tempts me to go back and unfollow you on principle.

tweetdeck You don’t need to use robots to thank me and click on your stupid website. If you’re too busy to be an actual human on a social network, don’t join another social network. It’s okay. We understand. Lots of people think Twitter is stupid.

tweetdeck But if you’re going to stick around, maybe reconsider the robot thing. Please? The only robot I ever liked was Wheeepony, but Twitter killed him (to make glue?).

If You’re Sticking Around

Here are some thoughts for you, should you decide you want to spend a little time on Twitter and hang out with other humans.

  • Follower count doesn’t matter. What matters is who you follow.
  • Instead of answering “What are you doing?”, answer “What has your attention?”
  • Conversations are way better than “new blog post” tweets.
  • Share the good stuff when you find it. (Hint: your blog isn’t always the good stuff.)
  • If it feels like too much work, you’re either doing it wrong, or maybe you don’t need to be here.
  • The best folks to follow on twitter is highly subjective. Use Twitter search to find the folks who might think like you.
  • Twitter is a communications platform (like a phone). It’s not a marketing channel. It’s a phone that can be used like a marketing tool, if that’s your angle.
  • It’s an opt-in platform. Use it however the hell you want. If we don’t like it, we don’t have to see it.

So there. Let’s not bring robot behavior to Twitter. Okay? We already have voicemail and email autoresponders. Maybe just let the follow go unacknowledged. That’s okay, too. What service are you doing me by direct messaging me sending me your links? It goes back to my “putting your tongue in my mouth” analogy.

Thanks. Now stop.

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  • Excellent! ...... I hate those too.
  • "thanks for the follow" responses are annoying enough, that ones that say check out my blog (usually mlm or marketing) get me unfollowing quick.
  • Holy Crap! I'm glad you got that off my chest for me! Well Said!!!!!!!
    I am a very cool guy and 'Hate' never enters my vocabulary, but I HATE twitter auto-responders!
  • Robot feeds are a total party foul. I get this all the time on facebook too, someone random follows you and then right away hits you up with random events and group invites.. Great point about being tempted "to go back and unfollow you on principle." I do that all the time!
  • Great article. Another thing to think about is the damn Be A Magpie junk that is going on at Twitter right now.

    Most of the people I follow are smart enough not to use it, but alot of Twitter users are.

    I dislike it so much I created the Dont Be A Magpie website to help people understand how ridiculous it is.

    Twitter is definitely for building community and making friends. And that is the way it should be kept.
  • I'm with you on this one, CB. I know the logic in most of these cases is "one more touchpoint," but I just don't see the payoff. It smacks of "the old way" of communicating/marketing.

    If you really have additional information about yourself that you simple MUST convey to a follower, create a Twitter landing page on your blog/site and link to it in your Twitter profile.
  • also known as mechanical douchebaggery
  • I couldn't agree more.

    I used to use tweetlater to auto follow and send a welcome message. I quit though. I remembered I am here to meet people and communicate with them. The only thing I use it for now is the @replies digest every hour. It is a quick way to see if there is anything I just have to respond to right away.
  • rafiq
    Agree 100% Chris. Automated self promotion AND those blue pills are the last things we want or need on twitter.
  • I am a robot and this post hurt my feelings (or at least those bits of code that create emotional responses).
  • Oh Chris you make me laugh every time I read the "putting your tongue in my mouth" theory... it so, so... so true. I don't normally like the "rules" of engagement because I can usually see reasons why some of the rules can and even should be broken. But thank you for this post. If I followed you I'm probably interested in receiving a little of what you have to say anyway. No need to beg for a click.

    I'd like to add that if every single tweet (or, say 50% or more) is just to the same link, you've missed the entire concept of twitter. Just saying.
  • Chris, you are such a wise and honest man. I am glad I am following you. I don't think there is a post you have that I haven't been inspired by. Im glad Im not the only one who doesn't like the direct responses to follows. I already checked out your profile before I decided to follow you and saw you had a link to your blog. Don't need another reminder.
  • Thanks for putting this out there. I'm for authenticity - across the board - whether on Twitter or elsewhere. (One thing worse than a robot message is a robot message that actually pretends to be personal when it isn't.)
  • Javier Romero
    Thanks Chris, you are right on with this post.
  • Love the title. Should be a sign-post on Twitter's home page.

    It's OK to bitch. Especially about stupid uses of something that's (mostly) stupid.

    I'm sure a lot of us feel the same way.

    (I also like "unfollow you on principle")
  • I hate those too. I try to mix in both conversation and new blog posts.

    Should I unfollow people who haven't followed me in weeks?
  • I wonder why people with a lot of followers are the only ones who say "follower count doesn't matter"... It matters. A lot. Because with a lot of followers, your message - if crafted well - will spread farther and wider.

    Twitter and FriendFeeds main use is not having conversations. We already have internet messengers for having conversations. Its main use is quick distribution of news. And having a lot of quality followers definitely helps with that.

    Sending an autoresponse is not the problem. The content of these autoresponse messages is. Many people forget the first rule of networking.

    First rule of networking = you need to have something that can help others. You need to help others first before you ask for help yourself.

    So if you use the autoresponder with a message that says how you can help others - without asking them to visit your website or check your stuff out - you won't be abusing the system. And people will appreciate it.
  • Chris,
    You're right. I RT'd a post about autoresponding because I found myself being lazy re: going back and following people after they followed me, but I now realize that the robot thing is exactly what's not needed in the social networking space. Duh. -Sam
  • Thank you, Chris, for saying what I've been thinking for months! Robots have no place on Twitter. I will say I also enjoy following people who challenge me and stretch my thinking. Who knew you could learn so much in 140 characters with links?
  • Is it possible to agree and disagree at the same time with your post? I agree that Twitter should be about the people and not the robots. I agree that people trying to promote themselves through an automated message are annoying. But I disagree that the service itself is annoying. Even if automated, I like receiving a simple 'thanks for following, looking forward to your tweets!'. Even if it's automated, I feel compelled to answer back and open the line with this person. Whether it's via reply to thank them for following, or a direct message, if it's non invasive and remains polite, I still feel like I've been acknowledged by that person.
    So yes, death to the robot auto responders that are trying to push the links to their blogs, mlm crap and anything else that just seems insincere and full of self promotion, but long live the polite use of this feature that makes life easier for the 'followee' and still personalizes things for the 'follower'.
  • With every new place where people congregate real or virtual the marketers will follow. There are a lot of great marketers out there that 'get it' and a larger number that don't. I have left so many groups on Linkedin due to the same behaviour "Hi I am new to this group if you need _______ then go to my website at _________.".

    Being on the agency side I have always had to be the bridge between the marketers and the audience and help find the unique and appropriate way to communicate the message to the audience.

    Now that twitter is here there is an impulse to market directly in this channel without the use of a professional guide or agency or even an understanding of what works best for this new medium. With Twitter it is conversation and I am not sure that this group gets it, nor do they want to. This group of marketers just jump from one medium to the next spewing the same brazen and crass style of marketing. I have a saying that goes "If most marketers had their way we would have a sky full of aerobatic skywriters getting the message out" Big, bold and unimaginative messages for all to see.

    The only place for robots is on the dance floor with some block rocking beats!

    JP
  • I wish everyone would put their twitter names in comments. I would love to follow everyone that commented here so far. Not trying to be spammy. I like to follow like minded folks :)
    @keithburtis
  • @Keith Burtis good point! On Twitter I'm @wendypeters
  • (aka as BlondeByDesign)
    THANKYOU! omgosh .. I'm not a fan of being annoyed, but when I follow a new person & they automatically send a DM with a Thank You & a link so I can "get to know them better" I immediately think "unfollow".
    I almost want to say, "hey! You don't know me well enough to LINK my DM's"
    But, of course, that might seem a little dorky. ;)
  • I use a robot "thanks" (she says sheepishly). But since I'm not getting my new follower notifications for some odd reason, it's helping me too - I just look through my posts for those automated welcomes and decide who I want to follow back.

    HOWEVER, I never have responders with links to anything - that's spammy, but my theory on life isn't. You'd have to get the robot reply to know what that is though!
  • good call, Keith. I'm @salpert
  • Hmmm. Well, I do see one oddity here, in that I got here due to a tweet about a post. It's weird because I have gotten a few of those auto responses and I found myself thinking, "Oh, gosh. Is that the socially correct thing to do? because I never do it." So I was actually kind of impressed. But perhaps if I got it times a hundred it might get old. But so far, I don't mind, frankly. I have to assume their intention was to be polite.
  • @Ankesh - most folks with a large twitter following got it by being helpful or reasonably interesting, not by worrying about it. I guess that's my point, not that the number is good or bad.

    @Wendy - it's nice to hear thank you, but does it diminish the feeling if it's a robot? Maybe not. Your mileage may vary. : )

    @Anybodyusingarobot- it's not that I'm right and you're wrong. It's just a perspective. Opinions are like assholes, as they say. : )
  • {golf claps} agreed.

    Once ppl learn that it is rude, it will stop.

    I hope.

    {sigh}
  • Way to go, Chris. You said what so many of us think. There are people out there teaching this stuff, actually telling people that the "right" way to use Twitter is to follow every account (can't even say "every warm body" in this case) they can because by sheer numbers they'll get their volume of followers up. The theory being the more eyeballs that supposed get their messages, the more valuable they become. That's lead to those of us who are truly on Twitter to use it as a social media vehicle having to sort through their garbage.

    It's a shame, because it's junking up the system. Do I think it will stop? Heck no! It's just begun. Wish I knew a way to clean it up. Your post here today is certainly a step in that direction. Thank you very much.

    Be well, my friend.

    ~ Lizz
  • Yes good call, Keith. @jaypiddy

    You will not get a robot DM back!

    JP
  • @Kathryn - my point with "new blog post" is that those are usually robot, and mine are always personalized and often as a question. : ) Twitter's great for blog traffic. Just try to use it like a human communicating.
  • No beating around the bush on this post;-) I agree with all your suggestions. Most people that want to build a like minded community, WILL review your profile, and your link. Michael D. pointed out a issue (MLM) that I am working hard to resolve. Every Sunday I host a call to help Network Marketers learn how to socialize and build relationships, give the resource/links when needed. Great post CB! Thanks for helping us out!
  • I couldn't agree more, Chris. Especially since I have directs set to go to my phone via text, it greatly annoys me when it is a stupid "Thanks for the follow!" robot. These need to end, and the sooner, the better.

    @seanpaune
  • Coincidence, coincidence ....

    Could it be that posting every 2 minutes on Twitter is a symptom of "robotic" posting behaviour? I tend to think so.

    I was thinking about that this morning:
    http://sparkplug9.com/2008/12/28/how-to-get-un-...
  • Thank you *so* much for this! Will definitely RT. I'm on twitter for the people, not the number of impressions or to show how cool I am.

    An auto "thanks" basically tells me you're not a real person or genuinely interested in me or my updates.

    I'd really like to know *why* people choose to follow me. Did you find me through another person on twitter? Facebook? A website comment? Or did you just find what I had to say on XYZ witty or insightful? Or are you just looking for more local people to follow?
  • "Tempts me to go back and unfollow you on principle. "

    I've actually unfollowed a user, in which I added out of a "follow-back" courtesy, as soon as I received an auto-dm. It's just one of those actions that I will not stand for.

    So Chris, feel free to continue to "bitch." :)
  • Oh, sorry, @KeithBurtis, I'm @LizzHarmon.
    Chris what's your "putting your tongue in my mouth analogy"?
  • You rule.

    And, FYI, @wheeepony lives! http://twitter.com/wheeepony

    I love that fuzzy little bot. Because it is whimsical and silly.

    I DO unfollow bot welcome people.

    The people I follow I follow because I dig what they are doing. As an insanely prolific and profane Tweeter, I don't want the inane song and dance of foolish random "adds." If I see you have a jizzillion people you follow, linkheavy tweets and bottastic responses, congratulations. You have achieved a Trifecta of Douchebaggery and I send a hex on your nether bits, that lo, they are plagued with locusts and boils.

    And boiled locusts.

    Oh yeah. I went there.

    Kudos for the post dude.

    Peace

    @mollena
  • Jack
    Some common sense... and sooooooo lacking in the the way lots of folks get awkward about the social stuff. Makes you think: why is the internet taking off like this in Web 2.0 (Social networks)? Does it have anything to do with human need for contacts aka relationships, etc????
    But here's the rub: relationships are DANGEROUS, because when we let our defenses down, we might get hurt... that's why anonymity on the internet helps lots of us put ourselves out there... without the FEAR (false emotions appearing real).
    But since we are conditioned thru X number of training years of living in Fear, we "attack" in "defense" in anticipation of an attack........
    Still with me?
    So if you are among those who are twitting like robots (I think I was for a day or so)....cool down!
    The anonymity is real! Relax and twit authentically. Enjoy the satisfaction of putting youself out there for the universe to rejoice in you, and you can rejoice with the universe.... and when you cool down enough, you can blog, or podcast or whatever..... and as we evolve in cyberspace, we may even begin to find enough tranquility to (respite from the frantic pace) to let it spill over into the real world.... in flesh and blood relationships.
    Ironic... Twitter seems like the ultimate Rat Race Tool... and it can be if you chose to stay in the race.
    But..... if you open yourself up to PEOPLE like Chris Brogan, this can actually be a ticket out of the race. Homeopathy..... treat the RatRAcePoison with [seemingly] RatRAceMedicine.
    @JackBresler
  • Ivy Clark
    Yea, it's like having a poster stand with your photo put up at a dinner party. Nobody's going to want to talk to that! Social is what it means - Social! Otherwise it would be called auto/robot networking instead. I feel the same thing applies to paid marketing online... it's not really that person's opinion anymore, which to me diminishes the value of the opinion.
  • @Lizz - I linked it in the post - here's the URL - http://www.chrisbrogan.com/when-not-to-sell-me-...
  • Anyone who thinks Twitter and FriendFeed are primarily about broadcasting a message is missing the entire point and probably doing it wrong.

    Why is everyone so hell-bent on thanking new followers? They didn't really give you anything. Unless you're focused on numbers.

    Do you put in as much effort to thank those you're following? The people that you follow are actually providing value to you.

    @rahsheen
  • Thank you! There are a load of ways to be an entertaining, interesting presence on Twitter and still manage to promote/ market yourself/ your biz without being an auto-responding ass.
  • A-MEN! W.o.r.d. for w.o.r.d! Unfortunately this trend will continue as new people join and misguidedly think it's better than no acknowledgment... No matter how clever the DM, I know it's going to a 100 other people so there's nothing personal about it. Yes, auto responders are the same when one signs up for a newsletter but at least there you signed up for it! Not so in twitterverse. Although I feel a little bad for the people who are now the icons for robotism on this post .. but at least you removed their @names! Now if only twitter would just take away these pesky autoresponders!
  • Add me to the hallelujah chorus. Those messages are pretty much an instant unfollow in my book. The only way to get me to unfollow you faster is to use magpie.

    Chris, once again you've voiced what so many others are thinking.
  • @ChrisBrogan Thanks. I agree that being helpful and interesting is the key. I believe - with Twitter - math and reciprocation plays a role too.

    (Also - wanted to let you know - that I like what you write most of the times. Hope that my comment that negates your view points with this post didn't bother you a lot.)

    Thanks.

    Twitter: @ankeshk
  • Tammi
    Thank you! If I wanted to communicate with a robot I'd go to a site that offered that. I want PEOPLE people.
  • Matt
    As someone who just started using Twitter, I totally agree. I've spent the last couple days trolling around looking for interesting people to follow. I've encountered the bots and I also think it's counter-productive.

    I immediately thought it was spammy, in that if you don't have something real to say, don't say it. I don't appreciate the extra two minutes you spent crafting a boring and generic greeting. Especially if there's a link to your blog/website.
    Great post.
    @mattcheney
  • @Ankesh - if the only people I listened to were those who agreed with me, I'd be a sad, shriveled head. Your perspective was great, and I don't disagree with it. Glad you're here. : )
  • Twitter robots are good if you want automatic replies to new followers - the bad of course, it is an impersonal reply. The reason why I don't use it is because I don't follow everyone who follows me, although I do follow 95% of the time. (Luckily there are desktop clients and tools that can send you all direct messages in "Daily Digest" form or else your head's gonna get bigger! And thank God, I don't need to reply to every Twitter message directed to me.)

    @StevenSanders I am Be-A-Magpie user but I personally set it to once every 20 tweets so it doesn't "act up" everyday. Still I have no idea what people are getting after every 20th my of tweet, so may be you can give me a clue to how a Magpie tweet looks like?

    Thank you for the discussion here Chris!
  • Karen White
    There is nothing more annoying then getting those bot DM's. People, those bots lack personality, character, and dehumanize the whole twitter experience. I'm new to twitter and certainly not where I'd like to be with my tweets, but botting myself through the experience of connecting and building relationships just seems like a major cop out to me. I like the way @molena phrased it as the "Trifecta of Douchebaggery" lol.

    @KarenWhite_LV
  • Okay. Now that made me delete about 5 people on my "following" list.
  • A couple of thoughts:

    1. I hate them. I even hate the ones that aren't trying to ram something down my throat. And I hate them because they clog up my DMs, making me work harder to see what people I actually enjoy conversations with are asking me privately. I'm not lazy--I just don't like having to work hard when things should be easy.
    2. I understand some folks have good luck building lists this way--but people also have great luck with squeeze pages, and I despise those, too. By-and-large, I don't like anything that's seductive and/or manipulative; these bot things tend to be both.
    3. I wonder if you (meaning you, Chris, or anyone else in the conversation) have a better idea. When I started on Twitter, I would actually visit each follower's twit stream, look at his/her website, and send a personal "thank you" note with a thoughtful comment or question, because that felt good, right, and respectful to me. But now, I'm averaging 40-50 new followers/day, and at ten mins per person, you can see where my very personalized approach just isn't feasible from strictly a time perspective.

    Better/different ideas? And, is there any conceivable way one could use an autoreply that *wouldn't* be horrible?

    S
  • The Dm robots and auto-tweet welcomes drive me crazy. So does autofeed anything when you get 5 billion of them at once. I think I need to pare down some of my followings because it's getting too noisy. Magpie - ugh.

    I do have a few blogs set to autofeed - but you will see many more tweets of me actually on Twitter talking to gardeners and other random silliness. I probably talk a lil' too much on Twitter - but I work from home all day. It's me posting almost everything up personally :)

    @treesandshrubs
  • I'm @Tajah btw. =P And now I need to go reconsider my followers.
  • Feel the love for another great post.

    I don't have tons of followers or followees, and I don't auto-follow; I'm trying to keep the stream manageable so I can actually get to know the people I follow.

    I figure if people choose to follow me, it's either a) they saw something of interest in my tweets (geography, common interests, links to resources they like, something about my bio) or b) they want to sell me something. I look at the profiles of new followers and make a quick decision based on the bio & first page of tweets.

    Today I tweeted my top 3 reasons for not automatically following my followers back--very similar to @mollena Trifecta, although I include "no bio" as a pet peeve along with all tweets=sales pitches and no sharing (as in, pointing out resources from someone else, not just self-promo) evident in tweets. Lo & behold, lost some followers. Maybe I should do that every so often, if that was indeed the cause.

    I like @rahsheen's idea of thanking people WE follow, not our new followers. A few weeks ago I started making a point of sending an @ msg to people I follow, telling them how I found them or why I'm following them. It kickstarts the potential relationship, which is the point.

    @BarbChamberlain
  • >if you’re too busy to be an actual human on a social network, don’t join another social network.

    Fantastic sentiment, I wish more people thought about it!

    In some cases I think there is very much a sense of "me too, me too", everyone is in a rush to be everyplace, without stopping to consider what adds value and what doesn't. You don't NEED to be on twitter, so if you're doing to be, make it a valuable experience.
  • Hi, okay, this was the needed kick I needed to get off Auto-DM. What also helped was the fact that the new Tweetdeck shows outgoing DM, and it looks a tad stupid to have a dozen times the same message in the DM-timeline.

    @shtikl
  • Oh, and the second part of the "no-robot behaviour" piece -- don't update your twitter with your facebook, and your linkedIn with your twitter, and and and...

    again, if you don't have the time to update them all evaluate why you're on the differing platforms. This is particularly true in the case where you have the same groups of friends/followers/associates across the different services. If you're not differentiating between the different services, why are you using all of them?
  • Great post Chris.

    To me the social web is about authenticity. Getting to know real people, not brands, not marketing pitches, but real people who interest and are interested by me. The social web is not another broadcast medium to shout out branding messages and "target" influentials in my "desired demographics".

    People that use auto-responders to Twitter follows demonstrate to me a lack of awareness about the environment they're in. It's a little like yelling in a museum. It isn't against the law, but it sure feels off.

    Twitter is real-time, unfiltered, authentic content (except for spammers and those that don't get it). An automated response in this environment doesn't align with that reality. I don't want to hear "thank you" for following you. I'll thank YOU when you say something interesting.

    The auto direct messages offering a link to your web site, a free e-book or whatever are the first sign that you as a person don't get what is happening here and that you don't value me as an individual. I know everyone gets the same message - it's a wasted interaction at least, and at worst it makes me think of you as a phony. It typically gets me to unfollow you rather quickly.

    Give me you and your time. Say something interesting (it's with that hope that I clicked 'follow'). Don't give me an auto-responder. Give me some respect for the time that I'm invested in you - that's all I ask.
  • Saying "I hate robot messages" is the same as saying "I hate people messages" because they are all different. You can't lump them all together. (Granted, there is less variation in the robot messages.) I use them when I have something worth saying to people who follow me. I don't always have something running.

    I used a robot message with a link to my favorite Twitter joke for awhile. Huge positive response—a great conversation starter. Another time some family matters had me spending very little time on the web so I shared a little about that in a robot message and promised to be more active again when things settled down. Another HUGE positive response (of empathy). LOTS of conversations started.

    Robot messages let me find out who communicates back. I can't write everyone who follows me a personal message. And why should I even check them all out? Those that respond to a robot message teach me something about themselves.

    So I could have skipped the robot, and skipped the great two-way conversations that started, or tried to investigate everyone who followed me, or … waste time in other ways. I'm sticking with the robot, because it represents me well (though automatically) and starts great conversations. Isn't that what it's about?
  • @quantumgood - if it's working for you, why change it? Makes sense to me. At least you're clever about it. Of the ~70 I got today, 0 were in the "clever" category.

    Your mileage may very, people.

    For me? No bots. Don't see them starting a conversation with me thus far.
  • Agreed, absolutely. I do think some people do it out of good intention, as a way of saying thanks but I'd encourage everyone to drop the practice - thanks are not required for a twitter follow. (And if you really want to say thanks, pen a personal tailored message)
  • Chris,

    Very well said! I've been "griping" on Twitter the last couple days due to these auto DM's as well. This post nicely sums up my sentiments on the whole thing. If I have chosen to follow someone I have usually done a bit of homework already & don't need them feeding me a line of garbage. I've yet to have an auto DM that I felt the need to engage with in conversation. I also get the urge to "auto unfollow".

    Thanks!

    @DaleChumbley
  • Wow..many people this week have had more gripes with this Auto DM response. I agree with everything. Tired of it.

    I do unfollow anyone (I don't have the urge. I unfollow and BLOCK so they cannot re-add me again!) who sends me an automatic DM especially if they call themselves an expert on twitter and they have only 50 or less tweets.

    Yesterday, I received an automatic DM from a new follower who had about 3000 tweets and the were sharing their free PDF book on how to use twitter for beginners.

    If this individual actually took notice of my updates, I have over 20,000. Hmm..I am not saying I am an expert on twitter but I am not a beginner on twitter. That rubbed me the wrong way : /

    Thanks again!
  • I sorta agree with QuantumGod. If you don't send messages automatically to hundreds in your list, how do you know which are the people who would respond to you personally? But I do agree it's irritating when people do not know how to creatively use automatic "twits". (I have never used 'auto robot messages' other than the ones my blog automatically twits to twitter.)

    Question: What if it's an automatic thank-you to my new followers with a link to a greeting ecard for them? Or a link to a free experimental toolbar (no malware or spyware nor virus) download? Or a digital pin-up calendar you can use on your desktop as a screensaver too? Dan (Dhollings) is using 'robot-messages' with a lot of success.
  • One way I find the people who like to respond personally is to tweet general questions to all(usually about gardening) throughout the day. I get some people responding to me, and often they start talking to each other too.

    It helps me learn what information people are looking for. I learn new things myself, get to help people out by answering questions, and I get to talk about a topic I love. Plus - they can see that I am a real person!

    An auto-DM with a joke or something similar would be welcome. But I get way too excited about DM's, only to check it out and find it's yet another "Thanks for following, here's my website...".

    I have unfollowed a couple of people tonight because of this post, though only because they were extreme cases. I went and looked at one's profile page - the whole thing, except one tweet or two, was the autobot welcoming all of the new followers by name.

    Except for the possibility, I suppose, of noticing people with interesting names, what value do I get when all I see are welcomings and nothing else? As more and more people use these, all the useful tweets get mired by the wayside as the bots parade by...
  • @chrisbrogan Totally wrote about that on my blog, I agree with everything you said, Twitter is about interacting with people and sharing info. not bots interacting with people!
  • Batman
    Great stuff, Chris. Good to finally have an authoritative post on the matter. Thanks!
  • Thank you for communicating with me with this post - I look forward to reading more. You can find out more here:

    http://chrisbrogan.com

    Hehe... ;-)

    Cheers Chris - I've started responding to some of the dumber ones with a DM full of links to useless pages of info - shitdiots! ;-)
  • Chris, I could not agree more with you. I also "unfollow on principle" when I see bot-responses, or lots of "hey, come check out my services at www.don'tknowwhentoquit.com."

    I just don't really like the impersonal way some people handle social networks. As others have pointed out, these are SOCIAL networks. It means you're trying to connect with people. It's just like a regular social setting - it's not how many people you know, it's how well you relate to those people and how you treat them individually and as a group.

    I much more appreciate people who actually read tweets and take the time to respond to comments rather than the instant response to an add. I try to limit myself to people I find interesting, or people I want to stay in the loop.
  • Someone sent me a DM back saying they can't wait to "change the world with me." Okay, I may be pretty profound to some, and even myself at times, but "change the world with me" because I followed you on twitter? Give me a break! So here's my rant to add to yours. This is EXACTLY why all of that talk about automating twitter and creating authority-based search based on number of followers is a bit asinine. SM is not one-size-fits all, and we have to stop trying to make it that way. You may have 2,000 followers but that does not mean you are any smarter or add any more value than the person with 200 who just may not have the time to invest yet.
    Rant over.
    Thanks
    @communitygirl
  • @Kelly - the post and the majority of the comments give you a sense of the answer. If it's automatic, I don't care if it's a free ticket to Scarlett Johanson's dressing room (and it pains me to say that). I just don't want an automated direct message to be the payload of my first contact with you.
  • I was just fussing about this topic last night, and I couldn't have put it any better than you did, Chris.

    There comes a point in one's Twitter Experience -- and how this point is defined in a mystery to me; there are probably online tools I'm not aware of that do this stuff -- in which users appear to be targeted by bot-like "follow triggers," and are automatically followed by these FollowBot users.

    I'm often mystified by why most people follow me on Twitter, and suspect it's not because of my relentless nerdy quoting of "Back to the Future" movie lines, my shameless adoration of AC/DC, or my @replies to my audience.

    Regardless, these days, I reciprocate nearly all of these follows. And like you, Chris, I'm turned off by the spammy intro DM bot-tweet. If anything, it adds credence to my "follow trigger" FollowBot theory, and it feels disingenuous -- even if it's not intended to be such.

    Chris, do you -- or your stellar audience -- know if such "follow trigger" FollowBot software exists? I'm terribly curious about this.

    Thanks for the great post.
  • Chris you went the &%* off on this one.:-) If the auto bots had a link to something I was interested in it wouldn't be that big of deal, but they typically don't. Ok, they never have. lol Maybe they will after they read your blog, but WAIT they can't there automated.

    "THINK, PLAN, EXECUTE!"-JaWar
  • Well, Chris I agree with you on the DM issue. Way too many people are using this for marketing. I suppose the only solution not to sound like a robot is to let new followers unacknowledged. But still first DM serves a means for a polite welcome, a first impression on your follower. When I meet someone I still like to say "nice to meet you", there are not too many variants for that. I don't use robots but answers may sound so since greetings are tedious and repetitive. Still we can't be polite just because there are too many people knocking on the door trying to sell their product and speaking louder than kindhearted people. I don't agree much on the number of followers issue. As someone said above, the more followers you have the more influence your message can exert (valid or not!). You can be a real guru, and your words be those of a prophet and yet they wouldn't be much worthy without followers. Of course, it is wonderful to choose who you follow, not because you want to make more followers, but because you want more friends and new sources of information. That is great and one of the good things Twitter has. On that part of your statement I do agree. You are right about Twitter being an opt-in platform too.
  • Everybody needs a robot!

    Or a ninja.

    Seriously - if you're going to use a robot, that's fine, but write an intelligent robot script rather than just recycling the poorly made bots out there. Twitter's API combined with other tools can give you an initial response bot that would pass a Twitter Turing test.
  • I agree with the folks who don't like auto responders but Rumor has it that Cooper Union and Stanford will be adding a course in their Computer Science Classes this fall in how to communicate with machines ! They will eliminate written and oral communication with the touch of a button (: > ms they are getting pretty close !
  • Well done Chris! Internet Marketers are the biggest culprits trying to hook you into some kind of trash!
  • Ed
    Autofollows help to hide follow spammers.
  • dkdanielson
    Hi Chris - Thanks so much for this post. Just last night I was thinking that the auto thanks were going to be the death of Twitter. But, there is one point in your post where I would slightly disagree with you. You mention that you should use search to find like-minded folks. In my experience, one of the best values Twitter has had for me is that I'm following a few "not-like minded" folk. Since most of my friends and colleagues are "like-minded" folk, Twitter has actually introduced me to groups of people I had never known, nor would likely ever know.
  • You said it so much better then I could! Now want to approach the tweeps that beg for followers by promising to follow back.... Or announce that they are going to some program to unfollow everyone that doesn't follow them?? UGH!
  • Agree completely I tweeted a couple days ago that instead of asking "What are you doing?” Twitter should ask us "What are you sharing?" Seems much more effective to share knowledge than to just list useless, disconnected information (e.g., I am brushing my teeth!).

    The "autobots" (with due respect to Optimus Prime) don't further the conversation, they are just more talking without listening. Whenever I receive one I evaluate whether or not to continue following that person.

    Likewise, is it also necessary for someone to make dozens of public tweets thanking their new followers for following them? It gets so tiresome. In fact I quickly unfollowed someone after the only tweets I started receiving from him were lists of "thank you @XXX for following me."

    Add value, not noise.

    Matthew Gilbert
    @doctorious
    doctorious.org
  • Thanks for the post! Looking forward to learning more about you! Message me to chat! I look forward to tweeting with you. Have a productive year. I don't use profanity. Visit http://stevegarfield.com to learn more about me. ;-)
  • Thanks for clearing up the mystery. I'm new to Twitter and was very confused about receiving what "appeared" to be automatic replies. Several were promoting websites that promised quick riches on the Internet, and that was annoying me. You bring a lot of clarity to the social media space for newbies like me and I enjoy reading your posts.
  • I don't know whether they are robots or just stupid people, but I know some Twitterers who start every day with the same tweet and than thank their new followers (with the same phrase every day too). That's incredibly annoying. Of course, it's sometimes difficult for newbies to take part in the conversation, to discuss something etc. (I'm kinda such new shy user too :)), but people should at least try to bring something interesting to their tweets. I suppose the best way to restrict such "robotic" users activity is just unfollow them as soon as you see they can give nothing interesting to you. So, let's try to make Twitter (or at least our Follow lists) better!
    Thanks, Chris, for the great post.
    Helen
    Flash'y'mania
  • Jay
    If ppl really had time to thank Everyone for following them manually, well they are missing the point anyway!
    Instead of thanking for following, start a meaningful conversation, share some information that really interests you and may interest your new follower.
    I did'nt really know these were robots until I started getting the same msgs.... shows how unoriginal these ppl are anyhow.

    No 2 Twobots!
    @jaycameron
  • I fired my robot over the holidays. SocialToo did a great job convincing me that an auto-follow DM was a great idea.
  • Gee the world teaches people to be robots, Take this for instant pain relief, eat this for instant fat relief, push this button for instant smiles. Get real people. Chris hit the nail so hard it nailed some of your to the wall. Learn to write and learn what to say. Write at least one to two articles a week so you can expand your use of the words in the world other than "LOL, TY,YW, etc etc.
    Go yell it from the mountain top Chris I do not think everyone heard you.
    Have an awesome day.
  • First, yes, I can't stand the auto DMs either. Wouldn't use them, but I can understand using them. Just like autotweet of blog posts, which I do use. And, I'm sure this is something that becomes far more annoying when you have God knows how many people doing it to you as witnessed by the pics you include here.

    And, let me say that I enjoy your blog, and find following you on twitter quite useful, helpful, and entertaining.

    But...

    For me, this post leans a little bit toward not remembering where you came from. If we all had 30,000 followers, 15,000 subscribers to our blog and who knows how many pageviews a day, no one would use the auto DM.
  • Bots probably won't be around long, remember IRC? Bots were everywhere but now bots are very rare in IM.
  • Thank you for your post. This is an automated comment.
    I am looking forward to reading your next post.

    ... only joking! Totally agree with you.
  • I received 6 auto-responses within a few hours yesterday...and I hesitated to unfollow. Now I have two things to send back to them: this post & Amber's Click my Junk post. Perhaps an education of sorts might help people to rethink auto-responders.

    Also, thanks for this: "Twitter is a communications platform (like a phone). It’s not a marketing channel. It’s a phone that can be used like a marketing tool, if that’s your angle." (And, we all know where the telemarketing angle is going....just saying.)
  • I hate robots in principle too. I do think they have their place though. I am working on a podcast and created a separate account that will do automated follow back and release updates based on the podcast. But it says in the Bio that it is automated and who to follow for a real person. Some of the blogs that I read I follow their twitter account that is specifically set only to post links to their blog posts. I think as long as the robot actions are separate from humans and we have the option to follow the robots or not, it should be fine.
  • @ Marc Eastman

    I am not sure I understand your interpretation that this post "leans a little bit toward not remembering where you came from." I think these guidelines are sensible and apply to someone with 1 follower or 100,000 followers. It's about authenticity and honest intent.

    As for not needing a DM if you have "30,000 followers, 15,000 subscribers to our blog" I would think someone would be more prone to or supportive of using auto DMs, not less just as a means to manage the volume.

    Having fewer followers almost necessitates a more personalized relationship both because you can physically manage one more easily and because the nature of the relationship is more direct.

    Matthew Gilbert
    @doctorious
    doctorious.org
  • Hey Chris,

    You definitely struck a chord on this one. I'm afraid though, that the people who need to read this post WON'T, because they are off doing something else, while letting their bot, spam the legitimate Twitter community!

    Thanks for the post!
    Bradley
    @OutsideMyBrain
  • Chris it just proves that they really don't get it. One thought - be genuine. Robot = disingenous!
  • Sad thing is, the people who are using robots are probably too busy to read this post. But it does keep those who've considered using robots [*cough* me] from making that mistake. Thank, Chris.
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