Monday, April 06, 2009

#followFriday is dumb...

Yup, I said it. It's dumb. My prescription is to another means of 'helping' people get to know one another and that is by way of #imjustfollowing. What does that mean?!

Watch the video, listen to me whine and then learn a new way to truly connect and help people get linked up.
Recommendations go a long way...

If you're still wondering, the format that I follow is as follows:
#imjustfollowing @imjustcreative Why?! He's the reason this exists. Bloody brilliant chap over the pond who's spanks out lovely logos #solid
#imjustfollowing @mmcgovern Why?! Day one those windows spoke volumes of kindness. Amazing eye for photos & always there with a sweet tweet
And that is the way in which I name drop 'round these parts. Doesn't that make a big difference in helping you realize who it is you should actually be following?! If I saw descriptions like these, I'd gladly follow. Those are amazing people and a little blurb to let you know. So use the #followfriday tag to recommend if you want (I'm just partial to the meaning behing the one I use), and do it with the intention to recommend an individual with a reason to follow. Shows that you actually took the time to care, any monkey can cut and paste. For all I care, make up your own. The message under all of this is to genuinely recommend another for someone else's benefit. It's all about interacting and connecting, no? Let's do it with efficiency and detail ;)

Some delightful and insightful ways of finding people are as follows:
  • #imjustfollowing - no fancy site, just a search result in twitter of mostly my recommendations and a few others
  • #MrTweet - for a comprehensive recommendation with a reason :)
and if you're new to the game, you can vote for your prom king and queen at the following #followfriday dances:

And just remember: Twitter Is Not A Competition

What it can be used for is to give back to what you may or may not know you've taken from; it's ok, we all do it but we all don't recognize to give back. So for one moment, give thanks to everything that surrounds you. You've been blessed to receive all that you have and in order to receive one must learn to give. So remember to visit 12for12k.org (raising $12,000 for a different charity for each month) and give/donate/support to a better cause than popularity.

A cause for something that really affects change.

12for12k-banner-234x60-3-animated


18 comments:

  1. Last week, I looked at the people I was following thinking who? and why? I realized I'd become just a bit obsessed with gaining more ground, and I don't even make money doing it! So I'd rather connect with people for whom I can state some reason. I've unfollowed thousands of people and have been unfollowed in return, but hey, no biggie. Twitter is fun again.

    I'll still probably use #followfriday, albeit with some explanations instead of simple lists, but more sparingly and alongside the #imjustfollowing tag. By the way, #imjustfollowing @iamkhayyam because something about his spirit intrigues me! Keep it up man!

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  2. lol i love this. You're right :-)
    @Jerlyn

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  3. You kept it real wow and you shared my sentiments. You are so right. I love this post!!!

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  4. yep it's the connection that matters!! = ) Love the video and i miss your webcasts.. Rock on dude

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  5. Nail well and truly hit on the Head!

    I noticed that whole "recommendations from people who aren't even following me" thing too - very dumb.

    Times are a changin' ;o)

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  6. @briancray - totally... really what, I'm not quite sure of yet :)

    @brandonacox - likewise my friend, likewise. You're one individual whom I would love to bbq with and make real ice tea and sit on a porch with!

    @jerlyn - I'm neither wrong or right. Just sharing my opinion which may or may not fall in agreement with. Such is life and I can choose to make my world #FF free :)

    @passionsista - You know it?! :)

    @mistygirlph - Oh Misty :) You're so stellar!

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  7. Khayyam,

    You make some very good points. I use #FollowFriday, but only talk about one person per post and explain why I think they're great and should be followed.

    I think I'll give your hashtag a try and I'm going to follow you because you're thought-provoking!

    Lisa :-)

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  8. Hey Khayyam, i absolutely agree with you. A few weeks ago i posted a bunch of long lists of people to follow and then felt i was actually spamming my own stream with huge tweet lists! So i decided to also go the personal route and limit my recommendations. Now i tweet only 3 people on a friday to follow with a few reasons why. I have had people say how nice it is to see personal (real) recommendations.

    I love followfriday but now dislike its turned into a popularity contest, twitter isn't about numbers or popularity its about the connections, ideas and information you share, i think that has been lost somewhere amongst the followfriday madness! You should video blog more as i found it super interesting :-)

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  9. You make some valid points here, like Misty said - it is all about the connection, I do #followfriday just for the people that I talk to and connect with - next weeek to make it better I will use the #imjustfollowing to make the connection more valid, great video

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  10. #imjustfollowing @iamkhayyam becuase hes a great guy who keeps it real ;)

    good to see you on video!! :)

    chris (aka @modbird)

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  11. The most important statement in this post, for me, is "Twitter Is Not A Competition".
    A sentiment that I believe and have to remind others of far too often.

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  12. Well said. I'm in this for the connections to people.
    (I've been following you for a while but I can't remember how now and I wish I knew. But I'm glad that I found you regardless!)

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  13. Khayyam,

    Yeah man you are totally right about any baboon who can just copy and paste!

    I dont know if i'd stop my follow friday mentions but I agree with the #imjustfollowing hash tag.

    I'll be sure to use that from now on. Thanks!!

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  14. :) I totally agree...never do follow Friday, and about two weeks ago I quit following 90% of the folks I had been following. It had just gotten crazy...

    anyway...

    Happy Friday!
    (just found you yesterday...so nice to meet you!) :)

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  15. I have started filtering my tweets on fridays because #follow friday has become so meaningless.

    I've had tweeple unfollow because I didn't reciprocate their ff recommendation. Seriously some people need to get a life!

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  16. Nice video bro, 100% satisfied

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