Sharkbait Writes

Follow Friday: A Helpful Twitter Social Tool or Just Annoying?

I have heard different opinions on the Follow Friday #FF issue on Twitter. I think we all pretty much have a grasp on what “Follow Friday” is all about: basically send out tweets promoting your favorite tweeps to help them gain followers. It seems like a pretty harmless and even fun thing to do at the end of every week, but some people think Follow Friday is nothing more than an annoying and ridiculous way to flood the Twitter streams with endless lists of tweeps. Others think it can be very helpful in getting that “Follow” counter heading skyward, depending on how you participate. Some participate in Follow Friday as more of a Twitter tradition; it’s kind of a social game where it’s just something casual to do on Fridays.

So, where do you stand? Do you think Follow Friday is annoying and avoid it at all costs? Do you participate in Follow Friday, but only the “Lite” version? You send a few #FF lists, thank those that included you, and call it a day. Maybe you participate but don’t send lists; you try to personalize each tweet to promote an individual friend. Or is it possible that you are a Follow Friday Frenzy Fanatic? You get the shakes if you don’t send out a #FF list of every tweep you can think of because if you don’t the world may come crashing down on you. That’s a bit extreme, but you get the point.

I think I’ll touch on the scenarios I just mentioned and see what everybody else thinks about it. Feel free to agree, disagree, comment about it, or answer the poll at the end of the article. Let’s be civil though. 🙂

Are you #FFed up with #FF?

If you are among those that absolutely hate Follow Friday, this section is for you. What I have observed in the short time that I’ve been a citizen of Twitterville is that some of my fellow tweeps are starting to get annoyed with Follow Friday and some of those who have participated in the past, no longer participate or have toned it down a bit. Twitterites have complained that the #FF tweets have gotten out of hand and either ignore them or don’t even use Twitter on Fridays at all because of it. The claims are that Follow Friday is just filling the streams with just endless random lists often generated by software, such as FFHelper (or something like that). Some complaints are that no thought has gone into the #FF tweets and even the personalized ones are just cut and pasted clones from previous Fridays and therefore meaningless and ignored all together. Some have even stopped using Twitter because of Follow Friday and moved on to other social networks; they hate Follow Friday that much. I can understanding how this can get frustrating, especially if you have hundreds or even thousands of followers, and a good chunk of them are sending a lot of #FF lists throughout the day.

Do you send #FF tweets, and that’s ALL you send?

Okay, time to put on the steel-toed boots. I’m sure many of us have been guilty of excessive #FF tweeting or something similar to it (including me) at one point or another. If you send a lot of #FF tweets, I suggest going to your profile and look at your tweets. It may be a bit of an eye opener. I’ve been there! If the list of tweets that you’ve sent looks like . . .  well . . . a long list of tweeps, you may want to rethink why you joined Twitter in the first place. Social networking may not be for you. I’ve thought about that myself at times. Again, I’m guilty of this, too, so I’m not pointing any fingers. And if sending #FF tweets is just what you like to do, then by all means, have fun! I’m not going to unfollow you for it, but I’m also not reading those tweets either. The only time I’ll click that “Unfollow” button is if I see tweets that are vulgar, extremely rude in nature, or are filled with profanity. I don’t want to see that in my Twitter stream. Thankfully, I rarely see any of that, so it’s not really an issue. Okay, you can take the steel toed boots off now.

Do you like Follow Friday, but you’re switching to #FF Lite?

When I started participating in Follow Friday, I would send list after list of all of my favorite tweeps, but then after reading some general complaints (not at me directly), I decided to tone it down a bit and tried to personalize them. I also have tried to limit the amount of #FF tweets I send out; I also try to be courteous and thank those (or return the favor) who do send a #FF tweet for me, even if it’s a list. I also don’t mind getting included in randomly generated #FF tweets, because I can understand that life can get very hectic and many people just don’t have time for it. My opinion on that, however, is if I’m too busy to be creative with my #FF tweets, then I should just skip it all together. So, if I have time, I’ll send a few out and try to be creative, but at times I am guilty of getting repetitive. I’m only human . . . although, Mobster World did try to turn me into a Spam Bot one time, but that was a different article. 🙂

For those who are like me and enjoy participating in Follow Friday, but also don’t want to be annoying with the #FF tweets, let’s try to limit them and spread them out a bit. Let’s be creative, too, even if it’s simply grouping our lists to certain types of people or why we think our followers should also follow those on our lists. I know that’s easier said than done, so if Follow Friday is something that you just enjoy participating in (because it’s one of the things you do to just wind down and relax) and using lists is the easiest way to do it, then by all means, I personally have no problem with it. However, understand that others may not think the same way and you may get . . . wait for it . . . UNFOLLOWED! I know. It’s heart-breaking isn’t it?

My final thoughts on Follow Friday:

Seriously, though, I’m the type of guy who’s pretty laid back and tries not to let things get to me. I personally don’t care if Fridays are filled with #FF this and #FF that, because it’s just a Twitter thing. If I don’t like something, I just don’t participate in it. It’s as simple as that. I try not to rain on someone else’s parade if they have a particular habit or hobby that they enjoy, but I could care less for, even if I’m a bit annoyed by it. I just try to ignore it if I can. Everybody is different and has good and bad traits; it’s no different on Twitter. So, my final take on the whole Follow Friday thing is: if you don’t like it, don’t participate and just ignore it. If you like it, have fun, but try to use a little etiquette . . . and let’s not have a #FF variant for every day of the week.

Anyway, this post is just food for thought for those of us who have in the past or continue to send a lot of #FF tweets, but aren’t really using Twitter for much of anything else. Regardless of whether or not you’re a Follow Friday Frenzy Fanatic, you dab a little into the #FF frenzy, or you absolutely hate Follow Friday, let’s all try to be civil, get along, and have fun.

This post was a bit longer than I expected. I look forward to reading your comments, or if want to remain anonymous, you can participate in the poll below. Cheers!

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