January 27, 2009 84 Comments

Unswamp Your Twitter Feed

birds Okay, I reply to a lot of people on Twitter. I have 36,000 followers, and that means several hundred opportunities to either seem rude or attempt to answer back some folks. If you have 100 followers and one of them is me (or Scoble, or Gary Vaynerchuk, or other folks who engage their audience deeply), you might not want to see every @reply I (we) give to those folks. It’s pretty easy to fix this in Twitter.

Here’s what you do:

  1. Go to http://twitter.com/account/notifications
  2. Change @replies to read: “Show me @replies to the people I am following.”

That’s it. You’ve just likely cut out several HUNDRED tweets a day from me (and the gang).

Pass it on? (If you were suffering with this, probably others in your circle are, too.)

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  • Anonymous

    And when I say “me,” I mean the rest of the Twitter universe who haven’t yet learned that they should follow you (how many people do you figure that is? Ten? Twenty?). :)

  • http://annmariemurphy.com Ann-Marie

    And when I say “me,” I mean the rest of the Twitter universe who haven’t yet learned that they should follow you (how many people do you figure that is? Ten? Twenty?). :)

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  • http://KolbeMarket.com BarbaraKB

    Chris, I’m shocked you recommend this esp. to the new Twitter users. Best way to find new friends @ Twitter is to see who others are having @ conversations with, thus a new person who has particular passions either locally or by subject, you follow those folks and see who they’re @ with. That’s the absolute power of Twitter: real conversations in a human stream of information.

  • http://KolbeMarket.com BarbaraKB

    Chris, I’m shocked you recommend this esp. to the new Twitter users. Best way to find new friends @ Twitter is to see who others are having @ conversations with, thus a new person who has particular passions either locally or by subject, you follow those folks and see who they’re @ with. That’s the absolute power of Twitter: real conversations in a human stream of information.

  • http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/ Sue Waters

    @BarbaraKB Sorry but I have to agree with Chris here.

    Perhaps it is just we are both sensitive. But for me there is nothing worse than when someone says to you my partner saw my twitter account and said who is that @suewaters – doesn’t she have a life? Or when a conference account follows you and you go across to see their conference feed to see their twitter widget full of your tweets.

    I also give the same advice on my PLN yourself site as I get a lot of educators who follow me and are following only 20 people.

  • http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/ Sue Waters

    @BarbaraKB Sorry but I have to agree with Chris here.

    Perhaps it is just we are both sensitive. But for me there is nothing worse than when someone says to you my partner saw my twitter account and said who is that @suewaters – doesn’t she have a life? Or when a conference account follows you and you go across to see their conference feed to see their twitter widget full of your tweets.

    I also give the same advice on my PLN yourself site as I get a lot of educators who follow me and are following only 20 people.

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  • http://garryparkes.com Garry Parkes

    So Easy, So Simple.

    Thanks for the tip.

    Shame I didn’t know about it before I filmed my “Dominating Twitter” tutorial !!

    Garry

  • http://garryparkes.com Garry Parkes

    So Easy, So Simple.

    Thanks for the tip.

    Shame I didn’t know about it before I filmed my “Dominating Twitter” tutorial !!

    Garry

  • Mark

    While it’s better than nothing, the granularity isn’t that great. Sometimes you just want to turn off the option for a small handful of the people, not everyone you follow.

  • Mark

    While it’s better than nothing, the granularity isn’t that great. Sometimes you just want to turn off the option for a small handful of the people, not everyone you follow.

  • http://www.tishiasavestime.com Tishia Lee

    Thanks for the tip. I didn’t even know about it.

  • http://www.tishiasavestime.com Tishia Lee

    Thanks for the tip. I didn’t even know about it.

  • http://pamperingu.com Lynn

    I agree with Meg, Joanna and others — we enjoy following the @replies of SOME people…that’s how we find out who’s out there and what they’re up to. Thanks for the tip, though! :>).

    Follow me on twitter: @PamperingU

  • http://pamperingu.com Lynn

    I agree with Meg, Joanna and others — we enjoy following the @replies of SOME people…that’s how we find out who’s out there and what they’re up to. Thanks for the tip, though! :>).

    Follow me on twitter: @PamperingU

  • http://www.associationmeetings.org Julie Hewett

    I wish you could set this on a per person basis. Often the @Replies are the ones that get my attention! Many times based on the reply I look at the other person’s profile and see that I too want to follow!

    If @ChrisBrogan has taken the time to reply; maybe it is worth my time to read?

  • http://www.associationmeetings.org Julie Hewett

    I wish you could set this on a per person basis. Often the @Replies are the ones that get my attention! Many times based on the reply I look at the other person’s profile and see that I too want to follow!

    If @ChrisBrogan has taken the time to reply; maybe it is worth my time to read?

  • http://togetherweflourish.com/ Susan/Together We Flourish

    Haven’t reached that problem yet, but I appreciate the tip for the future.

  • http://togetherweflourish.com/ Susan/Together We Flourish

    Haven’t reached that problem yet, but I appreciate the tip for the future.

  • http://www.aperturedaily.com Diyan Yap

    Same with Meg, Joanna and others , i’m enjoying @reply also, Thanks for the tip

  • http://www.aperturedaily.com Diyan Yap

    Same with Meg, Joanna and others , i’m enjoying @reply also, Thanks for the tip

  • http://www.traffic-is-king.com Sam With Traffic Is King

    That’s okay. I still like to see what people are talking about even if it’s clutter chatter. Then when it is time to clear out my followers I can un-follow those that are not really adding value to me. Useless chatter does not help me in anyway. I can not help them either because the conversation has no substance to it.

  • http://www.traffic-is-king.com Sam With Traffic Is King

    That’s okay. I still like to see what people are talking about even if it’s clutter chatter. Then when it is time to clear out my followers I can un-follow those that are not really adding value to me. Useless chatter does not help me in anyway. I can not help them either because the conversation has no substance to it.

  • http://allabout-energy.com Amy Flynn ~ @allaboutenergy

    I use the setting and always have. I’d go nuts if I saw a stream filled (over filled with @) I am chatty, most people I follow are chatty.

    I too like the see the whole conversation. Easy. I go to someone’s page, like @ChrisBrogan and read. If a reply looks intriguing I click and go intot he statuses and follow the whole conversation. I select which conversations I want to trace and read and meet new people this way. It also keeps my twitter stream clean. I have a low tolerance for too much noise.

    Peace
    Amy

    @allaboutenergy

  • http://allabout-energy.com Amy Flynn ~ @allaboutenergy

    I use the setting and always have. I’d go nuts if I saw a stream filled (over filled with @) I am chatty, most people I follow are chatty.

    I too like the see the whole conversation. Easy. I go to someone’s page, like @ChrisBrogan and read. If a reply looks intriguing I click and go intot he statuses and follow the whole conversation. I select which conversations I want to trace and read and meet new people this way. It also keeps my twitter stream clean. I have a low tolerance for too much noise.

    Peace
    Amy

    @allaboutenergy

  • http://www.frenchhillcountry.com dawnaurora

    Thank you for the great tip. It makes twittering a bit easier.

  • http://www.frenchhillcountry.com dawnaurora

    Thank you for the great tip. It makes twittering a bit easier.

  • http://www.preferredhospitals.com Gregg Masters

    Chris…you rock my friend and earn your stripes everyday!

  • http://www.preferredhospitals.com Gregg Masters

    Chris…you rock my friend and earn your stripes everyday!

  • http://www.techafina.com Sharon Rosen

    That is a great tip many people don’t know about. I actually like seeing @ messages to other folks though since it’s a great way to learn about more cool people on Twitter. Instead of filtering those out of view entirely, I am heavily dependent on TweetDeck. Now, if they would only come out with TweetDeck for cell phones life would be perfect!

  • http://www.techafina.com Sharon Rosen

    That is a great tip many people don’t know about. I actually like seeing @ messages to other folks though since it’s a great way to learn about more cool people on Twitter. Instead of filtering those out of view entirely, I am heavily dependent on TweetDeck. Now, if they would only come out with TweetDeck for cell phones life would be perfect!

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