12 Steps to Recovery From “Twitter Follower Addiction”
Hello, my name is Ben Mapp (@roadmapp) and I’m a recovering “Twitter followers” addict.
I started off thinking I knew what was going on, that I could control myself. But then things slowly got out of hand.
My All-Time Twitter #FollowFriday List
Twitter’s #FollowFriday has gotten a bit unwieldy.
Yes, it’s cool to acknowledge the friendly, helpful, and insightful tweeps you meet and get to know. But, the constant streams of ever-longer lists of “cool tweeps” takes up lots of screen real-estate.
My eyes start to glaze over with “FollowFriday blindness.” And I don’t always have the time to give shout-outs to all the people I’d like to.
That said, I thought I’d highlight the people who have made my all-time Twitter #FollowFriday list.
Some are marketers, some aren’t. Some I’ve spoken to offline, most I haven’t. Some are famous in their fields, most aren’t. Some I converse with on Twitter, some I just read and/or RT. Some have lots of Twitter followers, many don’t.
The common thread is that they all provide value in some form or fashion and, to me, their tweets are must-reads for one reason or another.
So, here goes, a list-in-progress in no particular order and sometimes in more than 140 characters. (Hey, my blog, my rules! 
):
@Bonniestwit Bonnie’s a tutor in NYC, who simply kills Twitter. You want to know how to “do Twitter right,” follow Bonnie. Period. She’s fun, provocative, inspiring, personal yet never boring. She rocks.
@LarisaBelliveau Another Twitter supastar who “gets” the medium with no agenda other than to communicate and be communicated with. Insightful. Fun. A friend I’ve yet to meet.
@Follow_Steph Steph is definitely good tweeple who says, “I love to Promote other Twitizens. I guess I’m a Twitterholic.” He communicates, RTs when he likes a tweet, and gives props when props are due. In fact, his #FollowFriday Tribute page is the inspiration for this post.
@melmilletics Melanie takes social media marketing to the next level. Informative. Hilarious. Follow and learn attraction marketing in action. Plus, her site’s chock-full of awesome marketing tutorials: Sponsoring Success.
@unmarketing No doubt a skilled marketer with an expertise in social media. Never one to shy away from an opinion or discussion, his posts and probing questions caused me to re-think my Twitter presence and stop auto-following. From Scott’s bio: “Stop Marketing, Start Engaging.” Indeed.
@itsallsuccess Seems like we’ve known each other for a long time. A professional network marketer who’s in the masterminds of several Big Deals. Literally. Deborah knows it’s really all about people, not just products and comp plans. Her blog says that and more importantly she lives it.
@PerryBelcher Bio: “Seriously Bad Ass Marketer & Neurological Copywriter With a Gift From God.” Yup. Tweets useful links about how to do cool web, marketing, copywriting, etc stuff. Plus, his informative videos usually feature a whiteboard.
@LorenaHeletea Bio: “Passion to Coach. We figure out where our old Beliefs have us stuck. We create new habits, set goals, identify actions.” Always positive vibes from another person who “gets Twitter.” She’s not a successful life coach for nothing!
@jawar Not just because his tweet style is featured in Mike Klingler’s “How I Built My First List” as an example of great tweeting, but because he’s truly motivational, insightful, and a masterful networker. Best plus: He really supports his tweeps and is great at connecting people with common interests.
@Ferny_Ceballos & @RaymondFong No, they’re not the same person with multiple accounts. But they are biz partners in SEO Networker. Cool guys who know their *ish about SEO and marketing.
@h0neyb One of the first people I “met” on Twitter and one of the most memorable. I mean, who else do you know who blogs about bees and can chronicle her move from UT to DC without sharing too much or revealing too little?
@rebelbrown Even my “more than 140-character” leeway can’t do Rebel justice. She’s real, humorous, caring, committed to transformation (of people, of organizations), a great conversationalist, a great ally. Simply a great person I’m privileged to know. Her ebook “Its Not About You Anymore” is a straight-up strategy for positioning your business. It’s free (no signup required). Get it. Read it. You’ll learn something.
@k0zm0zs0ul A masterful copywriter who I think of as the “Queen of the RT,” which is all good because the people she follows — and the perspective she has — leads to very useful tweets from all over the map.
@lorenzomyers The name of his business says it all about Lorenzo: Positive Impact Solutions Positive impact, indeed. He’s got a lot going on and will RT when he likes what he sees and reads.
@kimshahan Kim always seems to tweet some info or a new tool that makes me go “why didn’t I think of that?” or “why didn’t I know about that?” She’s connected, makes informative videos, and constantly creates useful content everywhere. A whirlwind.
@darrenmonroe First noticed Darren right before one of his “24 Hour Twitter Marathons.” Told him to make sure to walk around a bit! Seriously, Darren’s a committed entrepreneur who’s got his pulse on Twitter and marketing. And, he’s combined the two into a great Twitter program.
@vernitasherman Not a frequent tweeter, but when Vernita tweets a marketing tip, take note and take action. As cited here before, Vernita’s truly committed to being what her bio says– an “Internet Marketing Coach for Solopreneurs.”
@vene2ia Bio: “Physician, writer, entrepreneur, educationalist, pianist, world traveler, sports, good friend to many (not necessarily this order!). Carpe deum-what’s sleep?!” Judging from Yvonne’s blog, it’s all true. Plus, a fellow chocoholic with a nutrition site to prove it!
@marketingmandy Her first at-reply to me was a helpful suggestion. And from there, she’s been a consistent source of assistance and thoughtfulness, which embodies what her company, Marketing Kinetics, is all about: Strategy, Action, Results.
@ALauderdale Bio: “Bio Triple major, M.A. candidate, songwriter and poet trying to bring change to the world. I also have this blog people seem to like.” His blog, First Wonder of the World provides a peek inside the complex mind of a guy who clearly got a lot going on.
@kemet He stepped to me once saying that network marketing doesn’t work. I stepped back to him with some mojo of my own. We’ve been cool ever since. Provocative, opinionated, calls-it-like-he-sees-it, Bill will educate you on how to have your money work for you on his blog and Internet radio show.
(If you’re not following me — @roadmapp — or just started to, please check out my Welcome Twitter Followers page for more info.)
Wishing You the Best,
Ben Mapp
@roadmapp
- - -
Like this article? You can subscribe to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.
Twitter and Social Media Identity Theft
Social media identity theft is becoming a bigger and bigger problem.
Several high-profile celebrities have been in the news regarding fake Twitter accounts and some have gone to court over the issue. A few of the more popular cases involved:
- Tony LaRussa, baseball manager, who filed a lawsuit against Twitter, alleging an unauthorized and defamatory page in his name.
UPDATE: Later, on the day this post was published, Twitter co-founder Evan Stone responded to LaRussa’s lawsuit and detailed Twitter’s plans to combat false accounts, which include a “Verified Accounts” feature. Read Stone’s blog post. - Kanye West, Grammy-winning hip hop rapper/producer, who famously flamed Twitter on his blog over a fake account.
- Shaquille O’Neal, NBA superstar, who one-upped a Twitter Shaq impersonator by setting up his own Twitter account. Game over.
As an Internet marketer, your ability to be effective in your marketing is directly related to
(a) creating a name for yourself and/or your brand online and
(b) establishing the credibility of your name and brand.
If someone is abusing your name on social media sites or pretending to be you, that can have a negative affect your image and can adversely impact your business.
Welcome Twitter Followers
Welcome all new Twitter followers. Thank you very much for following me.
I’ve created this page just for you. Mainly, to introduce myself so you know who I am and what I’m up to on Twitter. Also, to provide you with suggestions on some useful Twitter tools.
To find out more “details” about me and this blog, please check out my About page. It’s got more than 140-characters’ worth of bio on yours truly (what I’m doing now, what I’ve done in the past, how to get in contact, etc). You might even still find me interesting after you’ve read it. 
Why I Tweet
- Network with people with common interests
- Meet people with different interests
- Provide value to others
- Receive value from others
How I Use Twitter
- Follow leaders in areas of interest (mostly, Internet marketing, blogging)
- Follow trends in those areas
- Learn from other marketers (what to do, what not to do)
- Add value by promoting my blog content
- Add value by sharing random thoughts, observations, quotes, etc
- Automate some useful info, like my latest blog posts
- Share info/tips/tools/strategies with other marketers
- Not auto-following. I stopped doing this after considering it for quite some time. This post by @johnreese sums up the issue pretty well. I will manually follow back, so please be patient
- Interact with “cool people” regardless of stated “area of interest”
- Have fun (duh!)
Who I Love to Follow (and Why)
To give you an idea of the people I truly love to follow, I’ve created “My All-Time Twitter #FollowFriday List. I certainly recommend following these folks for all the reasons I mention (and more). I plan to update the list periodically with more tweeple, both as an acknowledgement of who they are and what they provide, and as an means of promoting people who, in my opinion, make Twitter a better place.
Useful Twitter Tools
This one’s for you! I’ve compiled my list of 10 of my favorite Twitter Tools. And they’re all Free.
I hope you find at least one new tool to enhance your tweeting.
(For a more extensive listing on this site and around the ‘Net, visit Twitter Tools and Resources. )
- Account Analytics: Twitter Analyzer: Get detailed analytics on your Twitter account. Great for getting a profile of how you use Twitter.
- Client: TweetDeck: My favorite Twitter client allows you to organize followers, keep track of your incoming and outgoing tweets, and more.
- Firefox Extension: TwitterBar: Turns your address bar into a Twitter input screen.
- Firefox Extension: TwitterFox: Adds a tiny icon on the status bar that notifies you when your friends update their tweets.
- Firefox Extension: Power Twitter: Adds more functionality to Twitter.com profile pages.
- Browser Toolbar: MyTwitterToolBar: Adds instant access to links to over 100 Twitter tips, how-tos, and links to Twitter-related services.
- Productivity: TweetLater: A productivity tool for "busy tweeple." Schedule tweets, set up recurring tasks, and more.
- Video: Twitter Tutorial: Very informative three-part series for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users.
- Monetize: TwtAd: TwtAd merges pay-per-click with tweeting to enable you to earn money from your tweets.
- Monetize: Twittad: Twittad allows you to monetize your Twitter profile by allowing advertisers to place ads on your profile background.
Wishing You the Best,
Ben Mapp
- - -
Like this article? You can subscribe to our full feed RSS.
Twitter Tools and Resources
Twitter can be a great social marketing tool. But you’ll need to know what you’re doing for Twitter to really be effective in generating leads for your business.
This page contains links to useful Twitter Tools and Resources to help beginner, intermediate, and advanced users become more proficient tweeters.
I’ll be updating this page over time. So, please go to the Contact page to send your suggestion(s) for posts or other helpful Twitter resources.
Twitter on RoadMapp Marketing
- Video Tutorial: Free Twitter Training
Fill out the form and the next page has the link to three free Twitter Training Videos for Beginners through Advanced Users. Excellent how-tos.
More Twitter Resources
- 13 Twitter Tips & Tutorials for Beginners (on TwiTip)
- Newbie’s Guide to Twitter (on CNET)
- Video Tutorial: TweetDeck (on The Social Network Marketer)
- 30 Essential Twitter Tutorials for Newbies & Experts (on Outlaw Design Blog)
- MyTwitterToolBar (on MyTwitterToolBar.com)
- 20 Twitter Badges to Show off Your Tweets (on Mashable)
- Twitter Buttons (on TwitterButtons.net)
- 114 Ways to Tweet: What to Tweet, How to Tweet (on BookMarketing.com)
- A Mind Map of Twitter Resources (on K-Maps.com)
- Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter (on WebDesigner Depot)
- 10 Twitter Tools to Effectively Manage Your Followers (on DailySEOBlog)
- 99 Essential Twitter Tools & Applications (on Smashing Magazine)
- 100+ Remarkably Beautiful Twitter Icons And Buttons (on Hongkiat.com)
Wishing You the Best,
Ben Mapp
- - -
Like this article? You can subscribe to our full feed RSS.
