Getting Ugly

""
I'm going to get something off my chest. Notice I'm posting it to my personal blog, although it applies more to business-ish things. But I have to say it. The time has come to lay down the law.

I use Twitter all day, every day. Funny thing, I used it before it was on the news, or before P. Diddy appeared on Ellen and explained it to the world. I use it to get information from other designers, and to keep up with what's going on in the industry, straight from those in the industry. There's nothing quite like talking to the CMO of Kodak and the CEO of Zappos. Actually really friendly/funny guys.

At first I had a strict "business only" policy: if you don't have anything to do with work, I will not follow you. Follow me, but I will not follow you. I was being selective, not stuck up. You receive everything everyone you follow has to say and at about 300 people right now, it's a lot. I can't imagine the 100,000+ some people have. Wow.

Then I was told it's good to follow a lot of people, and to have a lot of followers. So I started following everyone. This didn't pan out the way the article I read said it would. Lots of weirdos out there; lots of TMI going on. So I started un-following people.

Then I found Ashton Kutcher. Seriously. I follow him. Smart guy. I mean it. Now I have an entire group of celebrities I follow. My fascination with famous people is no secret, so I allowed myself to add these fame-ish ones. (For the record, they are not following me. Sad. ;) )

I have recently had an influx of followers. I thought, ok, building the network. Awesome. But I have had to lay some ground rules, as it's becoming more and more obvious that not everyone has my "work and celebs ONLY" limits.

Here are my rules. I will NOT follow you if:
1. You have more than 30,000 followers AND you're following 30,000 people. Get. A. Life.
2. You are following more than twice the number of people that follow you.
3. Your profile picture (and profile background) is you with foil on your teeth. This frightens me. Please step away from the camera.
4. You post tweet after tweet after tweet about your personal life OR you are clearly bored and looking for attention.
5. You ask me to contact you on Facebook.
6. You auto-DM me anything.
7. You present yourself as @HotSexxxySingle and are listed as "everywhere".
8. You continually post chintzy sayings. A quote every so often is OK; a tweet every 30 seconds of something you find inspirational makes me question if you're really inspired. Please find something else to do.
9. You're under 18 and using Twitter as a way to rack up "friends". See www.facebook.com.
10. You use Twitter as a platform to email your friends. Please email them. Please?

Told you it was a little ugly. I can unfollow people, and I do with vigor, but I have recently been bombarded by people who are following me (and have been for awhile) with repeated requests to follow them back. I appreciate Twitter's not assuming you want to follow someone who is following you (Ashton would be rather busy). Please allow me the option without taking it personally and reminding me again and again.

I have very, very much appreciated those I've met through Twitter. Printers, designers, developers, and other people who do what I do and are willing to share their knowledge. I find this comepletely invaluable. It's like I have 300+ coworkers all in the same office. Love that part of Twitter. And I know when Britney buys sunglasses and what Snoop Dogg wore to go out tonight. Yeah, he posted it from his iPhone. Lookin' good, man.

That's all I have to say about that. Yes, I'm a tad irri-frustrated with it at the moment. :)
""