My cell phone goes off indicating that I have a new DM (“Direct Message” which is posted privately) on Twitter. It says “Thanks for following. Visit my website at ____.” My reaction? Thanks for the thanks, but did I really need to have my day interrupted with this?
If you are active on Twitter like I am, you will be gaining new followers and following new people all the time, sometimes to the tune of 20 to 50 or more a week. Imagine if every one of those sent me a DM? My cell phone would be going off several times a day. I already have enough interruptions!
Plus, do I need to know what their website addresses are? Chances are I’ve already checked out their sites when I decided whether to follow or not. And I can easily find their web addresses on their profiles if needed. Messages like this have that ever-present hard sell aroma to them.
The other type of welcome DM that is not so welcoming are the “What are you working on?” or “What can I help you with?” messages, often accompanied by their website address. These are weak attempts at conversation. Sometimes I feel spiteful and I actually respond–in a reply DM, of course–with a 140 character litany of my current projects. With rare exception, their return response is, well, no response. So what does their non-response tell me? Either they don’t really care what I was working on or they really don’t want to help me.
In contrast, I have received some very genuine, personal welcome DMs and those are truly welcome.
Tags: Heidi Thorne, Social Media, Social Media Strategies, Twitter, Twitter strategies
Leave A Reply (6 comments So Far)
justin locke
688 days ago
hear, hear. I feel the same way, not just about twitter, but friend requests and linkedin network requests. so many people treat connections like they’re making friends in a factory . . . and you’re better off not sending anything if you’re not going to take a moment to write a personal note. i have a new FB policy, if someone “friends” me and they don’t write a personal note with it, i just ignore it.
i feel the same about those auto-DM’s. If someone follows me and their website intrigues me i will write a note to them saying so. otherwise, to borrow from an old phrase, if you don’t have something unique to say, don’t say anything at all
– jl
Heidi Thorne
687 days ago
As always, very good commentary. We can probably sum it up by saying quality vs. quantity applies here, too. Thank you so much for your support and input!
Liz King
687 days ago
Heidi -
Couldn’t agree more! Those automatic messages are not the key to engaging. And what could be a worse way to start off a relationship than by promoting yourself?? I have felt this way for a long time and have actually unfollowed people who have done that. To me, it’s a good indicator that they don’t understand the value of social media or the relationships that it can forge. I say – no auto DMs!!!
Heidi Thorne
687 days ago
Do you think if we launch a No Auto-DM campaign that Twitter would listen? To me it’s a license to spam. And, yes, I agree that those who use them have no clue about the value of relationships online or off.
Thanks, Liz, for your input, as always!
Elaine Spitz
687 days ago
A personal welcome, hand typed by me, is what I send in thanks. If you’re going to throw links and ads and spam at me, please don’t bother. Thanks, Heidi, for letting me know I’m not just being a fussy-pants! It’s really all about personally engaging and I’m glad (and not a bit surprised) that we are of one mind on this.
Heidi Thorne
687 days ago
Hmm… never thought of you as a fussy pants. So I guess I’m one, too. And, yes, a personal welcome is one of the best ways to engage your new followers. Thanks for being engaging!