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Monday, August 18, 2014

Unfollow by a Friend Leaves Me Socially Meditating

Aloha,

I got unfollowed this weekend.

Now, apart from that being an appalling sentence in both English and Yodaish, I have to tell you I was initially sad when I noticed it was a fellow blogger/writer friend who unfollowed me via Twitter.
Over the last few years, we’ve chatted/commented many times via our respective blogs/Twitter accounts  – albeit briefly on each occasion – so I worried... Had I said/done something to upset/offend her?


Leaving via a Jet Plane, Paddleboard or Twitter Unfollow!


 
To this effect, I sent her a quick Tweet, and she was very gracious to explain why she unfollowed me.

I so appreciated her taking the time to write back and ease my concern (I hate putting my size 13s in my mouth, but it happens a lot!)
We then both wished each other well moving forward - and that was that.
Every week on Twitter, I unfollow a ton of people – all strangers – (I don’t do FacePlant or anything else… who has the time???) but it does beg the questions:

Have you unfollowed a blogger friend on Social Media?
And, did you feel more like a Social Maverick, or did it make you go Yahoo!?


25 comments:

writing and living by Richard P Hughes said...

I don't think I've ever unfollowed someone. I've thought about it from time to time, but felt it would be an affront or offend, so I haven't done it.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Most I unfollow are strangers, and usually after they've unfollowed me. (But not always.) I have unfollowed a friend before once I realized I was unfollowed by that person. It is kind of sad when that happens.

Sarah Foster said...

I pretty much never unfollow somebody, except when I reached my follow limit, then I only deleted people who had never followed me back in the first place. I don't think I would ever unfollow someone who was still following me.

Slamdunk said...

Nice that you were able to get that closure.

On Twitter, I have unfollowed a few people. Most were just interested in selling me something, but a few had constant messages that were downright concerning. I respect hearing from a variety of perspectives and typically it is not a problem.

M.J. Fifield said...

I don't think I ever have unfollowed people I know. At least not intentionally.

If I do unfollow someone, it's because they're strangers who've unfollowed me, or because their feed is endless promotional links.

Dianne K. Salerni said...

I only occasionally go through my Twitter lists and clear them out. Most of the time I only unfollow dormant accounts or people who unfollowed me (you know, the ones who unfollow you as soon as you follow them).

I can think of only one person I "know" who've I been tempted to unfollow because of his lengthy strings of advertising his and his friends' books. Haven't done it yet because I don't want to hurt his feelings.

Morgan said...

First off, I can't think of ANY good reason to unfollow the fabulous Koop. Like… NONE. It doesn't exist. Baffled. :)

But yes, I will unfollow if I'm unfollowed or if a person becomes obnoxious (a fear of mine!) by tweeting constantly or only promoting. Though now that I'm starting twitter anew, I'm being more careful this time with who I follow. Usually only people I know or people who don't have thousands of followers--because I'm snobby in that I don't want to be just another number to somebody. ;-)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I've unfollowed strangers but the only acquaintance I ever unfollowed was a writer who used social media mostly to promote a political agenda I found beyond irritating.

Pat Hatt said...

I've unfollowed strangers too, but not lately as I've got waaay too many, it take forever in a day.

~Sia McKye~ said...

Twitter and I don't do a lot of scializing--I have followers and vice versa but just never got into the whole twitter thing. But yes, I've unfollowed some.

On FB, where I'm more active--except in the summer--I've unfollowed some because of content or the fact that they repeatedly posted certain types of messages. Usually, I'll request they not post x y or z to my wall. If they don't listen then yah, they're gone.

On the blog, I've only removed a few and those were borderline scammers. Never because they don't comment regularly--Hell, I don't always comment regularly especially in the summer. My time is finite and tho the spirit is willing the body rebels, lol!

Sia McKye Over Coffee

Jeremy [Retro] said...

I have stopped when the person starts to use bad language or suddenly very angry... maybe some others by mistake, I know my twitter thing is more of a "why I am I doing this", but still do it.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

I will follow you anywhere brother! (I am breaking my nearly month long hibernation just to say that...you are so very special to me, ya know?)

I hardly ever unfollow. I blocked a writer friend on Facebook and sent a message prior to doing it so there was no mystery. I am really HARD to offend. Go ahead- tell a blond joke,or a hillbilly joke, and I'll still keep hanging out with ya!

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Unfollowing is sometimes necessary especially since Twitter does have a limit. Sorry you lost a follower Mark but life goes on.

Al Diaz said...

I must confess I unfollow a lot but mostly strangers and when they only promote themselves, or worst, they only retweet. Or they simply get me bored. I seriously ask myself why I want to follow and new follower because, you know, numbers doesn't give me anything of value, or make my life richer, or make me feel more loved or anything. I know I don't read ALL the tweets from those I follow. I just read the ones from people I already know and talk with. I don't believe for one second all those strangers I follow read all of my tweets. Of course I've been unfollowed often too, but like Rett Buttler would say, "Frankly dear, I don't give a damn." It would certainly sadden me if, like in your case, it was someone I was previously friends with. Hopefully those truly close to my heart never feel the need to unfollow me.

Elephant's Child said...

I don't tweet or play on FB.
And unfollowing people in the blogosphere is something I do very, very rarely. There was a reason I followed them in the first place and I am a firm believer in second (third, fourth...) chances.

Mark Means said...

I don't think I've ever unfollowed a blogger buddy on Twitter...at least that I can remember. I can see how it can be a little distressing, though.

Such is the nature of the beast, though. At least you two talked it out, which is a good thing.

CWMartin said...

I tend not to unfollow people unless a) they did it to me first, or b) they just don't post anymore. I did unlike someone on FB today, though!

Misha Gerrick said...

I unfollow anyone who unfollows me, friend or not.

It's just rude, especially if they don't even pm me or something first. :-/

Anonymous said...

I don't unfollow too many people on my writer Twitter account (I'm hardly on there myself lol), but on my regular account, I follow people I know without abandon. lol Just depends on what they're tweeting.

Annalisa Crawford said...

I don't unfollow people I'm connected with elsewhere - although I'm so bad at conversing on Twitter that I'm sure people aren't aware I'm following them in the first place!

Loni Townsend said...

I don't unfollow unless all I see is plugs for their book. Social media is meant to be social, not spam. I want to be entertained, not advertised to.

I don't pay attention to who unfollows me. Maybe I should look at that sometime.

Melissa said...

I'll unfollow for excessive self-promo (release day excepted) and vulgar or radical tweets, but not much else.

Honestly, I follow so many people, I don't (can't) follow my main feed. I use Hootsuite's custom feeds to keep up with Twitter friends.

I wouldn't worry about it. You're totally loveable. :) Sometimes Twitter unfollows via a glitch; the person didn't even do it.

Suzi said...

I don't unfollow too many people. Maybe on a rare occasion. But lately I haven't.

But I'd definitely never unfollow you. :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Mark - I'll unfollow if I'm uncertain about someone - having checked out their profile ...

I'm not sure what I'd do in the future .. as long as I can get a feel of their sincerity ... I'll be happy.

But I have just left someone off and I do watch what gets onto my blog - having had a few funnies ...

But I'll be around here - cheers Hilary

Kay said...

I don't do Facebook much. I've only unfollowed one person because I didn't think he was stable and I felt stalked. If I've been unfollowed I wouldn't know. Do you get a notice?

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