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.
Check it:
- A personal friend of mine called and told me he was following me and asked if I had a “personal account” because my tweets “didn’t seem like the person he knew.”
- One follower @replied to me, saying that she couldn’t read the article I tweeted because it was in German. What article? In German? I don’t read German either.
Ouch!
So, I’ve adopted a new approach, one that’s given me renewed social media strength and power. To quote one esteemed tweeter, “It’s not about the followers, it’s about the following.“ Amen.
Here are the steps I’ve taken on this journey. I’ve asked myself all of the questions listed below. And came up with some eye-opening answers. I invite you to do the same.
Step 1: Admit that you’re powerless over your “get-more-Twitter-followers” addiction and that your social media life has become unmanageable.
This is clearly the first step. Are you so overcome with “Twitter follower addiction” that you’re pushing “get-more-follower” schemes on new followers via auto-DM (and getting commissions from them)?
Do you actually login to Twitter and first check to see how many new followers you “got overnight” before you check on who RT’d a tweet of yours or who sent you an @reply?
This is clearly addictive behavior. Logical to you, perhaps, but completely irrational to the un-addicted. Admit it, it’s out of control. You’re out of control. And your social media life is not working.
Step 2: Believe that a Power greater than your automated toolkit can restore you to sanity.
Automated tools are great. But they can’t substitute for the most powerful force on Twitter: you.
People may actually want to meet you, get to know you, learn from you, get a laugh from you, be informed by you, be responded to from you, be acknowledged by you.
Why not stop hiding behind auto-tweeted Google alerts and actually engage with the people you follow? Don’t have time for all that? Then why do you have a Twitter account in the first place?
Step 3: Make a decision to turn your will and your Twitter life over to the care of the Twitter Gods (as you understand the Twitter Gods).
As I understand them, the Twitter Gods are those who truly “get” and embody the social nature of the medium. I’ve included some of those folks on My All-Time Twitter #FollowFriday List.
You may have other people whose tweets you love. Learn from their style. Trust that if you keep it real, good things — and good people — will follow (pun intended).
Step 4: Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself and your Twitter tactics.
Do you find it disingenuous to tweet headlines that you don’t actually read?
Do you find it a bit weird that you’re following people whose tweets you don’t read or in some cases are annoyed by?
When was the last time you actually read anything Einstein wrote? Then why are you quoting him in a tweet?
If you wouldn’t make a sales pitch to someone you first meet at a dinner party, why are you DMing pitches to new followers?
Ask yourself these questions and others that may apply.
Step 5: Admit to yourself and your Twitter followers the exact nature of your wrongs.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Yes, admit your inauthenticity to your followers. If done well and honestly, they’ll probably appreciate you for it.
Step 6: Be ready to have the Twitter Gods remove all these defects of character.
If you’re committed to making a difference on Twitter, take the time to educate yourself on how to authentically work the medium with Mike Klingler’s “How I Built My First List” or Darren Monroe’s “Twitter Program.” I’ve gotten great value from both.
(Full disclosure: Yes, those are affiliate links. A contradiction? Not really. They’re out in the open, not the dark backalley of auto-DM. 
)
Step 7: Humbly ask the Twitter Gods to remove your shortcomings.
The Twitter Gods help those who help themselves.
Step 8: Make a list of all the Twitter followers you’ve harmed, and become willing to make amends to them all.
Consider that your inauthentic tactics have harmed your relationships with all your followers.
Step 9: Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Make direct amends by actually reading tweets from the people you follow. RT them. Congratulate and promote other tweeple. Respond to their questions. Read and comment on their blogs. Engage them in conversation.
You know, be yourself (or the best expression of yourself you can be).
Twitter can be one big party. No need to be a wallflower. Or a bot.
Step 10: Continue to take inventory of your Twitter tactics and when you are wrong, promptly admit it.
Yes, I’ve auto-followed. Yes, I’ve DM’d pitches to new followers. Yes, I’ve excessively used Twitterfeed to tweet headlines I didn’t read. My bad.
What inauthentic activities can you cop to?
Step 11: Seek through prayer and meditation to improve your conscious contact with the Twitter Gods (as you understand the Twitter Gods), praying only for knowledge of the Twitter Gods’ will for you and the power to carry that out.
Do this in the peace and quiet of your own home. With the computer off.
Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, try to carry this message to other Twitter-follower addicts, and to practice these principles in all your social media affairs.
Remember how you hit up every new twit who followed you on the DL (I mean, on the DM) about your “get-more- followers” scheme?
Now do the same in the open with a “keep it real” theme. It’s liberating. Have fun with it.
May the Twitter Gods be with you.
Wishing You the Best,
Ben Mapp
@roadmapp
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2 Responses to “12 Steps to Recovery From “Twitter Follower Addiction””Speak Your Mind
Tell us what you're thinking...and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Beautiful post, Ben.
You asked for it!! So, let’s agree to disagree before you read my response.
1. Einstein. I love Einstein. I love quoting Einstein. When was the last time I read hime - ages ago, when I was more daring I read “The World As I See It”. “Theory of Relativity” - are you kidding me? “We stand in awe of a man whose thoughts move on heights far beyond our range”
…But his letters and quotes taken from those letters, articles, speeches etc. are the condensed wisdom that I can grasp. I love to quote him (and others that I quote) because those quotes validate my own thoughts.
We are conditioned to get validation. We often don’t believe we are good enough, or we could express our thoughts as poignantly. The reason we love to quote then is to express our own thoughts through condensed and tested snippets of wisdom others can relate to also.
2. I, for one, love to use tools to get things done. Work smarter thingie. I love to use some tools that help me get great followers. For the longest time I resisted sharing what I did with others. I enjoyed having others wonder “How does she do it?”.
I got over it. It is my duty to share - and I feel strongly about it now.
I am only as good as the tools I use, and the tweets I tweet. I use the tools to attract people, then it is up to me to keep them. And that’s an art.
Twitter tools, like any tools - a knife, a gun, or whatever, could be used equally for good and for evil. Our intention is the only thing that matters.
My 2 cents.
Love you.
@LarisaBelliveau
http://www.TwitterResultsFast.com
Larisa,
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I’d expect nothing less from you!
I actually don’t think we disagree at all. I think we’re totally on the same page.
Re my Einstein comment:
- On a personal note, I asked those questions because I tweeted an Einstein quote once. I went to Google, searched for “Einstein quote” or something. Found one I like, then tweeted it. Not a bad thing to do. I found a profound quote. Except the way I went about was just, IMHO, inauthentic. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s done (or who regularly does) such things.
I mean, why not find some quotes from people who’s books or music or art or whatever has had a direct and personal impact on my life? My grandfather’s got LOTS of profound quotes. Bob Marley. Carlos Castaneda. George Clinton. Herman Hesse. Martin Heidegger (yes, believe it or not, Martin Heidegger). I could go on and on. The point is, by providing an insightful quote from someone who’s actually had an impact in my life/my personal development/my thinking, I’d be giving my followers something other than a Big Name Quote. I’d actually be revealing something to them about who I am.
- On a general note, I was using “Einstein” more as a metaphor for Big Names who are quoted on Twitter on a regular basis. I mean, if all those people were reading all those Big Names on a routine basis, I’d bet the NY Times Bestseller List would look a whole lot different that it does. I’m overstating here. But I think you get the point.
That said, it sounds like if *you* quoted Einstein, it would be that type of real expression of who you are. It sounds like he is someone who’s work/thinking/writing has had a real and direct impact on your life whether you tweeted a quote from him or not. I haven’t read his letters. His essays. His quotations. (Sounds like a smart guy, though!
If that’s the case for you, then drop some Einsteinian science on us all! I’m all for it!
Re automated tools:
As I mentioned, I think automated tools are great. In fact, I plan on using Tweetlater even more in the future. My issue was that I was using tools to tweet headlines I wasn’t reading in the name of ‘providing value.’ But, if I wasn’t reading them, why should anyone else?
I notice this (or think I notice this) regularly on Twitter. People posting 2, 3, 4, 5 (I once saw 20) posts in a row from their account via Twitterfeed. I mean, c’mon. I’ve unfollowed a number of “people” because of that. And, I imagine, people have unfollowed me for the same reason. Or worse (in my opinion), just glazed over my tweets because they’d just become “Twitter noise” rather than an authentic communication from a real person that cut though the haze of quotes, marketing pitches, and other assorted goodies.
So, yes, automation can be used for Good or for Evil. I choose the good (or I’m attempting to).
You, my dear, as cited on this blog already, are an excellent Tweeter. You are clearly a real person with real things to say. With real experiences to share.
So much so, that I was honestly surprised to learn that you’d be using automated tools to such an extent. But that just goes to show me (and everyone else) that there can be a balance achieved between automating and personally providing value.
You are a prime example of that. And your excellent video on your site is a great demonstration of how that balance can be achieved.
Thanks for engaging in this dialogue and providing an opportunity for us both to expand on this topic.
Love you too!
Ben