Are Twitter Friend Adders Okay?
So with the launch of TwitterAdder and Twitter Adder for Firefox everyone is in a stir talking about how there is finally an easy way to add friends. What do I think of this new awesome service, um, not so awesome. I feel as if it kind of defeats the purpose of Twitter and if people are looking to it as a launching point for their new account, they will be more likely to bail on Twitter.
First off, for those of you who have seen my own Twitter Adder, let it be known that I am not a hypocrite. My reasoning is that I believe Twitter is a powerful tool for connecting with like minded individuals. This is why my own Twitter Adders only add friends within the industry of your choice. So far I’ve covered 3 industries and 1 age group (which is private to 20SB members).
My favorite pitch when describing Twitter to social media newbies is that it instantly connects you to individuals of similar industries, trains of thought, and locations. If TwitterAdder becomes their premiere source of obtaining friends I believe they will lose interest in Twitter fast as 6 of their new found friends speak a different language and the other 4 never use their account.
Conclusion
I think TwitterPack and TwitterLocal are the best sources for finding new friends. The future of Twitter adders should specialize in specific demographics. I chose my microblogs like my regular blogs, quality over quantity.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Amen to that!
If you’re only on Twitter to see how many “friends” you have (as many people I know do with Facebook), then what’s the point?
The whole idea of social networking is to connect with new people; not to make your following or follower numbers climb.
I completely agree that most people who use TwitterAdder will likely leave the Twitter service (and everything not Facebook or MySpace) very quickly.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I agree with both of you, this largely devalues the ‘followship’ you bestow upon people. Obviously there have been spam accounts that have hurt things, too.
But, as a twitter user I love getting new followers. Sooooo, I guess my ego isn’t complaining.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I see no problem with people posting links to their products or services. Social networking alone doesn’t pay the bills. I don’t like blatant spam of crap though. If a twitter has a good product or service, I don’t mind looking at it, clicking on the link and seeing what they’re marketing. It might turn out that I like what they’re marketing and learn something new.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I am a fan of twitter, I love to follow and see where it leads me. Spam is very frustrating though and I agree with the theory of quality over quantity.