Comments on: Twitter Snobs

By: Dave Saunders

Dave Saunders — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 04:09:00 +0000

@Stephen I don’t think it comes down to the nature of social media. There are people on these sites. Certainly there are people on Twitter who are not marketers and don’t have a compelling need to follow or talk to others but consider the issue from the context of a giant cocktail party or business networking mixer.

Can you imagine trying to exchange cards with someone, or just saying “hi, pleased to meet you” and having that person look at you like you’re insane for even walking up to them?

There are big name Internet Marketers on Twitter who present exactly that kind of attitude. This is also why some Internet Marketers don’t get social media…they don’t have the skills to be social and act like they’re still in high school.

Perhaps some actually want to present themselves this way, but I suggest that such people do present themselves as snobs through these activities.

By: Dave Saunders

Dave Saunders — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 04:02:09 +0000

@Allen I think the short answer is: you don’t. I’ve collected thousands of business cards and I’ve given away thousands. I don’t constantly look those people up to see what they’re doing but they are a part of my network. I look in on Twitter a few times a day and I enjoy engaging anyone I happen to see in my watch list. I just take it as it comes.

By: Pizonu

Pizonu — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:50:36 +0000

I totally agree with this. I’m just trying to engage with people on twitter (cause i’m new) and the blatant ignorance makes me feel like a stalker! lol

Ps: Add me! hahaha

By: Allen Taylor

Allen Taylor — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:40:44 +0000

I often wonder how guys like Guy Kawasaki can follow so many people. If you have tens of thousands of people that you follow, how do you keep up with them all? What if you miss important tweets because your stream moves by so fast? I worry that when I get that many followers how I will manage that.

By: Chris Morin

Chris Morin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:35:18 +0000

I used to auto follow anyone who followed me… and I thought the goal of twitter was to get as many followers as possible… That is extremely easy, you just follow a few hundred a day and it becomes and exponential thing where you can have 1000’s following you in a matter of days. I did that then realized I couldn’t manage following all of those people that had similar interests. Also there are a bunch of people that follow me that are simply spammers who either twit.. see my blog update incessantly or tell me they are going to a meeting, drinking coffee, changing a diaper, etc…so I don’t follow them and if someone auto ad’s me and sends me a message with BUY THIS… SEE ME.. I’M COOL type of thing I stop following.

I don’t see it as being a snob… I do say “hi” at the dinner party, but if I have nothing in common with you or I find you trying to SELL me too hard… I wander off to find other’s to socialize with at the party.

By: Stephen Denny

Stephen Denny — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:12:57 +0000

I’m not sure I completely follow you (no Twitter pun intended here).

I’m the last one to come off as an expert on Twittequette, but “followers” follow because they like what someone says – but the automatic reciprocal follow shouldn’t be assumed. This isn’t a popularity contest (really – at least I think), it’s a blogging platform. You follow back if you, in turn, find their content interesting.

I think this is a pretty above board litmus test. Agree?

By: Loren Woirhaye

Loren Woirhaye — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:17:53 +0000

Perceptions matter. Few people consider themselves aloof snobs yet on the internet, where quick and in-the-moment quippy writing
rules there is a tendency for hot-headed comments or just plain thoughtlessness.

It’s not particularly that I am thin-skinned or expect other people to be – it’s that I find arrogance obnoxious and I prefer to to hang-out with or do business with arrogant people.

In the world of internet marketing in particular there is a lot of arrogance that goes with making some good money at it.

It’s just not good policy to strut around looking down your nose at people who make less money than you do or are trying to break into the same profession. Of course there seems to be a lot of money to be made persuading “newbies” that they can pay you $1000s and you will share the keys to internet wealth… and the posture of arrogance – “I don’t care if you buy or not” seems to be a marketing tactic used today in – of all things! – the teaching
industry!

People don’t like prima-donnas in general. It’s better to work a little harder and be perceived as approachable and humble than
to lord-it-over your fans… because, as we see on the internet, there are plenty of others they can choose to follow.

By: Dave Saunders

Dave Saunders — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:26:06 +0000

@Maria: True enough. The context for this post, and Perry’s YouTube video, (at least IMO) is that some of these particular Twitter snobs either advocate “relationship marketing” or sell products which include teaching on Social Media marketing strategies.

By: Maria Lavis

Maria Lavis — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:31:48 +0000

There are certain people who fall into your twitter snob category I think (while others are in categories Leif above describes).

A while back some tweet friends and I called the snobs the “twitter gods”. Thing is, in this case to change religion is simple. Just unfollow. It’s what I do now, and what do you know, their snobbery is suddenly a moot point if it doens’t exist in your stream anymore…

By: RGebbiePhoto

RGebbiePhoto — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:00:38 +0000

People use twitter for a number of different purposes, in our experience it has been a great tool for gathering and distributing useful information and promoting our brand name. If a person chooses not to reply to others they could be missing out on valuable information or leads, if they choose not to follow back their followers they again risk loosing contacts and valuable networking connections.