Well the answer is Too Much.

Why do I not like Auto-DMs/replies?

I like to use Twitter as a means of connecting with other people in real time. When I get a DM or a reply, I hop on my computer and reply back. It takes very little time and shows I care about the person connecting and conversing with me. Now imagine my frustration when I reply to 30+ direct messages and get no responses. What happens is people set these things up and then just ‘let them do all work’.

The whole auto-DM epidemic has actually resulted in me sending less DMs and I scrutinize every incoming tweet to judge its authenticity.

So in the end, if you don’t have time to reply to every new follower, then don’t. I’d rather get to know you through your public tweets than receive an empty welcome.

Why do I not like follow schemes?

You have most likely seen it several times in your public twitter stream

“Joe Shmoe has a crazy idea. 19,530 new twitter followers in 30 days? Check it out …“.

The truth is that this is just a Twitter pyramid scheme that encourages spam. I have spoken with a a lot of other level headed tweeps who agree that this program is spammy.

I personally manually approve every new follower before following back to keep my Twitter stream optimized at all times. I find new tweeps in relevant Twitter directories and via tweeps I am already following. Why would I be interested in a bunch of random new followers.

But that’s just how I tweet. My main quarrel is the spam. Please cut it out and note I will not follow you back if I see tweetergetter in your stream.

- Photo by atp_tyreseus