Category: Twitter

The #FollowAugust experiment explained.

When my son turned 13, he got a Twitter account. When he asked me who I follow, I said, “Everybody who follows me and then some.” But when I looked more closely at my Twitter profile, I realized that my follower list was not appropriate for a 13-year-old’s eyes. By virtue of following back those who followed me, I ended up following bots, spammers, and/or porn accounts.

I felt dirty.

On July 1, 2009, I had about 27,000 followers on Twitter and was following 24,000. That day, I launched the #FollowAugust experiment where I started unfollowing people at the rate of 1000 per day. My goal was not only to get rid of the junk but also to only follow those accounts that I actually follow. Today, nearly months after starting the experiment, I follow 263 and have about 15,000 followers.

During the experiment, I locked my account (to prevent new followers) and greatly scaled back my tweeting. Most of my tweets were Google Reader shared items published via FriendFeed. I have a <href=”https://www.giantpeople.com/1090.html”>drawing that explains my social networking setup.

Here are my Twitter stats during the #FollowAugust experiment.

Date	Following	Followers	Tweets	DMs	Follow Requests	@grader Score	@twitterank Score
07/01/09	24000	26978	5234	8973	27	100.00
07/02/09	23000	26530	5275	8975	76	99.98
07/03/09	22000	26131	5318	8976	125	99.96
07/04/09	21000	25666	5353	8980	162	99.95
07/05/09	20000	25235	5356	8980	187	99.80
07/06/09	19000	24800	5364	8980	205	99.80
07/07/09	18000	24332	5382	8977	225	99.90
07/08/09	17000	23928	5409	8971	254	99.90
07/09/09	16000	23555	5438	8980	272	99.80	99.77
07/10/09	15000	23157	5462	8974	300	99.97	99.72
07/11/09	14000	22724	5488	8974	325	99.95	99.72
07/12/09	13000	22366	5497	8981	351	99.97	99.63
07/13/09	12000	21966	5512	8982	364	99.80	99.38
07/14/09	11000	21566	5530	8982	402	99.80	98.79
07/15/09	10000	21163	5548	8985	412	99.80	98.79
07/16/09	9000	20741	5565	8985	441	99.80	98.39
07/17/09	8000	20358	5571	8985	467	99.80	98.39
07/18/09	7000	19921	5581	8984	494	99.80	98.28
07/19/09	6000	19448	5582	8984	521	99.80	96.92
07/20/09	5000	19120	5589	8984	533	99.80	96.92
07/21/09	4000	18738	5603	8983	559	99.90	95.08
07/22/09	3000	18401	5616	8984	574	99.80	95.08
07/23/09	2000	18065	5633	8984	594	99.60	92.32
07/24/09	1000	16935	5643	8984	612	99.60	92.32
08/09/09	1015	15643	5650	8987	796	99.80	70.41
08/10/09	5	15602	5655	8985	801	99.80	70.41
08/10/09	0	15523	5656	8985	802	99.80	70.41
08/10/09	243	16224	5657	8985	0	99.80	70.41
08/27/09	263	15316	5771	8986	0	99.60	93.46
Change	-23737, -99%	-11,662, -43%	+537, 9.25/day	+13, 0.2/day	+802, 30/day	-0.40	-29.36

A few things jump out at me. Both @grader and @twitterank value high following counts. While I was on vacation, I did not tweet, and it’s clear that @twitterank also values constant activity. It also appears that most of the people who queued up to follow me (while my account was locked) promptly unfollowed me after I failed to follow back.

The bottom line: after unfollowing everybody and refollowing a select few, I lost 43% of my followers. But I kept 57%, so the glass is (more than) half full.

True, I have lost some of my Twitter “authority,” but I also feel like I have regained my Twitter virginity. At the very least, I can show the list of folks I’m following to my kids without fear of embarrassment.

Related Articles

1. 2009-07-04 – How I Tweet: Just the FAQs (interview with Guy Kawasaki)
2. 2009-07-03 – Should Twitter Crack Down on Pornography?
3. 2009-07-03 – 8 Talking Points On Twitter Follower-Building Tools
4. 2009-07-02 – Marketers Call For Twitter To Filter Content For Pornography, Spam
5. 2009-07-01 – Want More Twitter Followers? Break Out Your Wallet
6. 2009-06-30 – Twitter Follower-Building Services – Gain Numbers, Lose Respect?
7. 2009-06-30 – http://tweetspinner.com is a tool for Twitter spammers.
8. 2009-06-30 – Twitter Revamps Following and Followers Pages
9. 2009-06-30 – FriendOrFollow.com Helps Find Snobs And Spammers: These Are Mine [NSFW]
10. 2009-06-25 – The Twitter Cycle: Curiosity, Abandonment, Addiction. Global Visitors Hit 37 Million.
11. 2009-06-25 – 8 Ways To Find Relevant Followers On Twitter
12. 2009-06-19 – Dear Wanna-bes, Your Twitter Stardom is Coming to an End
13. 2009-06-01 – New Twitter Research: Men Follow Men and Nobody Tweets
14. 2008-10-23 – How ‘Follower Spam’ Infiltrated Twitter – and How to Stop It

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Erik J. Heels writes about technology, law, baseball, and rock ‘n’ roll. You should follow @ErikJHeels on Twitter.