Followbots make real people look foolish
August 30th, 2011 by Sarah KingI have two twitter accounts. My main one @itamer and another I created for a very specific technical topic that I was working on last year. After the project the account has been all but abandoned. Its only use is in Tweetbot to show me my tweets in isolation. It doesn’t have my real name or anything to identify it as me.
I was amused today to find a client’s client who is actively exploring social media had decided to follow that account?
Why?
Because they’ve been told that if you follow people they will follow you back. And once they’re following you then you may unfollow them and they’ll never know… The unfollow bit comes down to the current thinking on the ratio of follows to followers.
I wonder how 524:260 stacks up?
I wonder how many people will get the notification and wonder why they’re being followed?
I wonder how many idle accounts they are following or if their strategy will actually work.
I won’t name and shame the client’s client because I wish them well. They just surprised me.
Another Twitter Newbie
I’ve just been contacted by another dear soul who’s digitalpoint forum account has been locked out.
After letting him know that he needed to send a tweet to @digitalpoint (no, not a PM, no, not via Skype) he then asked me how to send a tweet.
And this is a guy who sells web hosting! If Twitter is a challenge I hate think how Linux stacks up.
Amit's Tech Blog
April 22nd, 2009 by Sarah KingIt’s always interesting for one tech blogger to check out another… in this case Amit’s Tech Blog. There’s the whole definition of tech to consider: how strictly does the blog stick to the subject matter? Just what type of tech articles are covered.
One of Amit’s most recent posts relates to the Indian elections – off topic but a very big deal at the moment. Staggered elections because the country is so big! Who would have thought! Any Indian blogger worth his salt will be blogging on this and Amit’s post is well written and interesting.
Overall Amit is a prolific blogger and the posts are diverse, and of interest to the general tech population. From the oh-so-hyped Twitter (Make Money with Twitter) and the ever useful Limewire (LimeWire Review & Info Guide).
The posts are littered with mouseover ads which I don’t like and the adsense blogs are placed above the fold which is also problematic. Balancing the need to get a return on investment from a blog (especially one so well maintained) and to keep readers is incredibly tricky and it’s unfair to object to all advertising. Getting that balance right though is essential and I’d like to see the island ad at the top of the posts replaced with a skyscraper running down the side or a banner sitting in the middle.
At the bottom of the page there are links to Amit’s other blogs – all kept separate depending on their content. He appears to write all his own posts which is smart and makes the content genuine and more targetted to his audience. You can easily lose a couple of hours on your first visit – this blog has alot to offer.
