Respect Your Followers!
There has been a lot of discussion on Twitter recently about the dislike (sometimes intense dislike!) of automatic direct messages (aka, “auto DM’s”). These are automatic messages that can be setup by user via a third party service to generate a message to new followers with a pre-established set of text.
Personally, I find auto DM’s to be kind of a put-off, as they usually make me feel like I’m just another follower to that tweeter. There are others, however, who hate them with a passion. Some will even cease following that person immediately upon receipt of an automatic direct message.
Yesterday I saw how this can really hurt someone trying to establish a good following on Twitter. A tweeter friend of mine (I’ll call her “Follower A”) returned the follow of someone who had followed her earlier in the day (”Follower B”). Follower A immediately received an auto DM with a link to Follower B’s website. Put off by this, Follower A promptly un-followed Follower B.
Unfortunately, I happen to be familiar with Follower B, and know that this person is a friendly and engaging individual with their tweets, not at all impersonal like their auto DM. Follower A is also friendly, engaging, and popular, and probably would have established a good tweeting relationship with Follower B. But, because of Follower B’s auto DM, this will never happen.
Today another popular tweeter posted that she had received approximately 100 auto DM’s yesterday alone, presumably after seeking new people to follow. This caused her to miss some of the truly personal DM’s, and of course, she was not happy. The auto DM’s usually do not make for a very good first impression to new followers.
To sum up the problems with auto DM’s:
1. They are considered by many as “spam.” In a sense, they truly are. All that is generated is a generic impersonal message to all, and not selected individuals.
2. Not everyone likes direct messages as it is, and these are even more of a burden to those folks.
3. Auto DM’s are very impersonal, and usually contain information that a new follower should have already read in the “Bio” section of the profile.
4. These messages can be burdensome to those who use the DM feature often for more personal contacts.
5. Some people will automatically un-follow tweeters who use auto DM’s. You may not only be losing followers, but business, good contacts, or even future friends.
The moral of this post: Auto DM’s may very well be more of a hindrance than an asset to your tweeting experience. Turn them off-or others may be turned off by you.
Edit: What do you think of auto-DM’s? Are there scenarios where you feel auto DM’s are okay? Interested in hearing your thoughts!
