I Have to Disagree with Michel Fortin
April 2nd, 2009 | 
Author: I have always loved Michel Fortin. He’s a genius copywriter and marketer. But sometimes, even those you idolize have a point of view that you disagree with, and today’s Facebook update notice was one of those instances.
In his post, titled: Twitter Populated By Drones and Fakes, Fortin has an opinion about auto following and how Twitter is best used. We both agree on what a wonderful tool Twitter is – forcing you to choose and use your words carefully thanks to character limitations.
But let’s talk about where I disagree:
1.) Auto follows – Some people think it’s not a positive thing, including Fortin. However I believe it’s extremely important – especially for social marketers who are creating a following themselves. You may not like it, but people get offended if you get their follow and then you don’t follow back. In MY opinion, it’s like having someone wave hello to you and you just standing there staring at them. Kind of rude.
Now an ordinary person may not need to auto follow everyone but as a marketer, there are benefits to auto follows, the first of which is time. There are some days I have gained 60 followers in a single day – and I don’t have time to scour through and see who’s relevant and who’s not at that moment.
Another benefit as a social marketer is that it opens the door for your target audience to be able to contact you via Direct Message. Unless you follow them, they can only contact you with an @reply, which is public – and they may have a question they don’t wish to be seen by everyone. But he says in the same post that he doesn’t like giving people access to DMs because he’ll get too many DMs and won’t be able to respond. He says he has a support staff for that – and I say, “Then get the support staff to respond to those DMs 
”
In my opinion, auto follow everyone and if you want to secretly sort them out using a Twitter tool like Tweetdeck or whatever works for you, do it so that you’re not hurting anyone’s feelings or blocking them from the direct communication they deserve as your customer and prospect.
2.) Twitter posts – Fortin and I also disagree with how to best use Twitter. He believes it’s ridiculous and absurd to Tweet everyday details to your followers, mistakenly believing that his followers are only interested in celebrities. What Fortin fails to realize is that to many new and even seasoned marketers, he IS a celebrity in his own right – having created success where so many others fail. No, he might not be known to the tabloids, but he IS known on a global scale to his target audience.
Do people want to know what Michel and Sylvie are up to other than business? Sure many of them do! It makes you human and I know the Fortins have invited the public into their world on their own site, myself following their journey, so they understand the importance of it – they just don’t like doing it on Twitter perhaps.
Look at Jason Moffat – he streams live TV from his house and people are tuning in to watch him show grainy images from his garage so they can get a peek at his rack of surf boards. John Reese posts pics of his Lamborghini after a car wash and the Internet is abuzz about it!
Part of these minute details the Fortins are starving their Twitter followers from are the very motivators that many as yet unsuccessful marketers love to use for inspiration. You have the success they dream of – and that doesn’t only mean you know what tools or sites to use. It means you get to go to a nice restaurant or buy a big ticket item from your efforts. They like to know if big marketing gurus have days when they’re frustrated or unable to succeed at something, and Twitter can allow you to convey that without having to go into great detail.
When they are able to humanize you on all of your sites, including Twitter, they connect more deeply with what you teach them. Fortin and I DO agree on the fact that it doesn’t matter how many followers you have. The number doesn’t matter – but social networking courtesy does IMO.
Some argue that there’s no way you can follow the Tweets of thousands. True! But when I have time and log in, I go through a few pages and learn something and connect to various followers in my list. And I log in throughout the day, so I’m always stumbling on a good Tweet by someone on my list and I respond or DM them.
I guess when I read the post I felt like it was going two ways. Fortin first talks about how he doesn’t use Twitter for the personal details – just good sites he likes, tools, some good tips, etc. Yet later in the post he talks about how you have to get to know someone to follow them or it’s “creepy.” You get to know someone through personal Tweets – not by saying XYZ is a good product and you oughta try it. So if he’s not using Twitter for personal information, why not let his fans have a reciprocal follow?
Sure, not everyone feels the NEED to be followed back – but MANY do. If you’re a marketer and you make your living selling to online prospects (especially in the IM niche), then I say auto follow. And as a person who just loves social networking in general – I must tell you, I’m SO glad I have auto follow.
I’ve “met” some of the coolest people who happened to see my animated Twitter profile on someone else’s followers list come follow me – and I get to know them! One resulted in a great JV in fact. If I hadn’t auto followed I wouldn’t have gotten my DM from that marketer and been made an offer I couldn’t refuse
Just my $0.02
Tiff
Posted in Internet Marketing
Hi Tiff
Thanks for your thought provoking blog post which I’ve read with interest. There are valid arguments for both sides and it’s definitely personal choice which camp you resignate with the most.
Personally my Twitter strategy is to follow back anyone who follows me and who have @replies in their feed opposed to just sales pitches. After all what is the point of having a follower who isn’t interested in getting to know me and by following them back they are only going to send me sales links and the best way to get thousands of followers overnight. I’m not interested in this.
I do however follow people who only post interesting and useful links that I can use in my business and who don’t follow me back, I use this as a great learning relationship albeit one sided and I’m fine with that.
I never use auto follow and manually check out each individual profile and, if I have time, check out their website too because I want to know who is following me. I use Twitter to build relationships with my followers, I want to get to know more about them and their businesses. After having an interesting exchange on Twitter with some of my followers I’ll often send a personal DM or connect with them on Facebook and ask if they wanted to take the conversation to the phones so that I can learn more about them. I totally understand that this is impossible for most marketers in terms of time and other reasons.
I have met some great people by doing this and have set up several joint ventures using this strategy and my network has grown accordingly.
As for auto dms, I dont use them and I only reply to dms that mention my name in the message so that I know that they are not automated and unfortunately my inbox is full of direct messages that are obviously automated which does save time for the sender but personally I prefer the personal touch – not everyone does nor do they care about it.
I have come across different Twitter strategies and respect most of them, the only one I don’t respect is that of the blatant spammer and we all don’t like them
I don’t take offense if someone doesn’t follow me back or stops following me, it’s their personal choice and I respect that and focus on those who are following me and building a relationship with them. Yes, it is impossible to do it with every single follower, especially if you have thousands of followers but i try to reply to as many tweets as I can when I am on Twitter and reply to every @reply I get and Tiff I agree, Tweetdeck is an amazing tool for Twitter and use it all the time.
Thanks again for such a thought provoking blog post and it reinforced my belief that your reasons for using and your use of Twitter is purely personal and there are no right or wrong ways of doing so. So long as you use your strategy with integrity!
well, i actually just had this conversation with a friend that i work with a couple of days ago. my view is i don’t use twitter but as a writer i think it is good for getting people to look at your work but if you want to tell a million people you just had a shower then well pathetic is the word that comes to mind.
sorry if i offended anyone.
I spend what’s becoming way too much time looking at the Twitter pages of those who have just followed me. I never had an “auto follow” set up, but there for a while I felt somewhat “obliged” to follow back. It may not be a wise marketing decision, but I really don’t want to wade through tweets from folks with whom I have absolutely no common interest, based on what I see on their profile page, which too often, is almost nothing at all.
My interests are wide, so finding a “common interest” is not difficult. I’ll follow anyone who seems to be making a sincere effort to establish himself online in relation to marketing (in hopes of getting the same consideration from others), and I’ll follow “ordinary people” who are posting about hobbies, kids, grandkids, travel, a great recipe or restaurant, or links to weird news. I don’t follow those whose first and often only post is the auto-post from some magical Twitter-follower system, most particularly if they have no name, no bio, or no link.
I will admit that although I guess I’m glad that I’m getting more followers every day, I miss seeing the posts of those whom I originally chose to follow and whose posts are important to me but are lost in the stream. I saw something yesterday about the ability to organize your followers into groups and I want to check that out. I want my own personal list of easy-to-access “followers”. Just not enough time in the day….
I totally agree with your viewpoint! In fact, I found this post through Twitter. Twitter is a social tool and should be used to communicate and build relationships with others. Which means you talk about everything – not just business.
Marketing is about building relationships. Don’t you usually buy from people you know, like, and trust? Twitter is another way to get to know people. People are more than just prospects.
Thanks for writing this post!
A final word.
One of the problems in this debate is that people feel they have a sense of entitlement. I think that’s the real issue, here. (And it’s appalling.)
People feel entitled to a follow back, to access to some marketer or celebrity, to free help or advice.
I’m sorry, but those things are earned, not automatic. They are not to be taken for granted. Nor should they be expected.
And if you feel entitled to them, then you are blocking your own growth and success, because you will never feel able to truly earn it. Your delusions come out from a scarcity mindset rather than a prosperity mindset.
Personally, I find it insulting that someone would feel entitled to my follow back, let along to my time or attention.
And guess what? If you really, really, really want to make money in this biz, so SHOULD YOU. So should you feel insulted, stop auto-following, and starting to value your time and efforts.
If I follow you it’s because… get this… I want to follow you. (What a neat concept, huh?)
I’m following you because I’m genuinely interested in what you have to say. In fact, auto-follow is the opposite. It’s disingenuous.
Remember, Twitter itself said it. Not me.
And auto-follow is killing Twitter. Will it die? Probably not. But it might become another free-for-all wasteland like MySpace where spammers roam freely.
And those who still continue to fight this, are using extraneous concepts, senseless filler, and irrational myths to prove their delusions.
Such as the idea that it’s discourteous or it hurts other people’s feelings. I’m shocked that I’m made to feel RESPONSIBLE for everyone’s little insecurities. And shame on you if you try to make me feel so.
And folks, that’s the MYTH that’s being propagated. Especially by spammers.
It’s not my responsibility.
I’m a marketer, not a psychologist.
And using this as an excuse?
Oh, please. Grow up.
I guess that’s the same as someone who loves to receive spam, because getting a lot of email makes them feel special. C’mon on.
It’s B.S. And fighting this topic, especially with people with a vested interest in winning such a specious argument — especially if they have, for example, a product for sale in which they recommend auto-follow, and rather than accepting defeat or the plausibility in the other person’s argument they need to save face — then it’s a losing battle.
So I give up.
I’ll end this here.
But please, use your heads.
Use logic and common sense.
And enjoy Twitter in whatever way you like to.
As with all other social networks, it seems like a full time job of building relationships. I don’t get how people so it so well! I get lost trying to keep up!
Hey John
You said “they must be following you ’cause they’re interested in what you have to offer” and I’d like to briefly correct this misconception, if I may.
This is a common misconception, and the primary reason people use auto-follow.
But the facts do not support it.
The fact is that many who have been teaching people to auto-follow as a form of “netiquette” are teaching this for nefarious reasons.
They want you to believe it is rude not to follow everyone who follows you.
Why?
Because on the flip side of that scenario they are using automated software and mass following thousands upon thousands of twitter users, knowing full well that many are following everyone who follows them. This software harvests thousands of twitter users and automatically follows them, waits for the “reciprocal follow” and if it doesn’t happen, the software (not the person) automatically un-follows.
Same as spam harvesting software, isn’t it?
THIS is what’s really happening. And THIS is what Michel and I are both very much alarmed by.
You are made to believe that if someone follows you, they are real people, genuinely interested in what you have to say. But the facts do not support this belief.
Michel and I both love Twitter, but not as a means of building a false list of automated robots all trying to blast their links at one another.
We love it because it gives us a concise, meaningful way of communicating with like minded PEOPLE.
Our method of only following people we are genuinely interested in, people who have reached out to personally communicate with us, is the only way we can see a use for Twitter.
Like Michel said, it is heading towards becoming yet another FFA link farm, and we would hate to see it go that route.
It’s heading there, not because genuine people are using “reciprocal follow” methods, but because nefarious folks are preaching to innocent bystanders a new religion…one of “twitterquette” and implying that those who are using it for genuine personal SOCIAL reasons are being rude or snobs.
That some people don’t see logic when it stares them in the face, astounds me.
Like Michel…I give up. The arguments are on the table. See the facts or don’t.
But understand that nefarious folks will always find a way to convince nice people that their methods work.
Can anyone who auto-follows me promise that the auto-follow means you’re going to give regular, ongoing attention to my stream?
After all, that’s what a truly QUALITY connection/relationship is all about.
If not, if after the auto-follow I’m simply delegated to the back-end of a filter, how is that polite?
Knowing that my stream is ending up in your virtual ‘file 13′, is not something I even remotely consider socially acceptable or proper etiquette – for ANY reason!
Alright, I’m sure Tiffany is tired of this, so I’ll say goodbye again.
Everyone uses Twitter for their own purposes. Some to socialize, some to market, some to spam, some to hook up, etc.
Michel isn’t wrong in his approach. Nor is he right. Tiffany isn’t wrong or right either. They are just different.
Will Twitter go the way of Free For All Classified sites? I doubt it. People said the same about MySpace and Facebook and it hasn’t happened yet.
But if it does, so what? Just as no one is “entitled” to a return follow, social media sites like Twitter aren’t “entitled” to be anything other than what they become.
Social media isn’t “sacred.” It’s a business. A business to make money. A business that depends on USER generated content to survive. Everyone who uses Twitter has an agenda of some sort. The sites have to balance their own interests with those of the users. And that means they have to allow some marketing. Otherwise, they wouldn’t see the numbers they see now.
There is no right way to use Twitter. There are only a wide variety of ways.
In the end, it’s not that big a deal. Twitter is only a website – a tool – nothing more. There is no reason for anyone to get all bent out of shape when others disagree with their OPINION on how it should be used.
For those who cannot outsource their twittering, it can be a problem. I know someone who complains he has so many followers but most of them are not listeners. And so some use filters.
I’m barely past the newbie stage so it’s funny to see hundreds of my mentors following me. How can I not follow back! For advanced marketers, this could be good. For us beginners, it’s just another way to fill the inboxes that we no longer have time to read.
As to messages, I think a 140 word riddle will attract the curious. But what do I have to show to other more advanced marketers?
Seems like everything has been said already – both pro and contra.
Thanks for the spirited, yet civil and courteous debate. I really appreciate it.
My final last plea to the auto-follow camp is to consider the other way(s) to use twitter that might go against your own interpretation of social networks.
As Tiffany said in reply:
“Marko, no Twetiquette isn’t universal, but if I go to a country and I know about a cultural issue, I’ll do my best to conform to their way of life as long as it’s not in violation of my own ethics or whatever.”
Tiffany, did you use that sentence to imply that auto-follow is the universal, natural way to use Twitter? Or do I misunderstand you here?
You are hurting my feelings.
No, seriously, couldn’t this also mean that I can expect people to conform to my usage of Twitter? Or at least be mature enough to consider the possibility of a non-follow without getting upset?
After all, the little button that people click says “Follow” NOT “Get Followed.”
And since you asked a 2nd time, no, I wouldn’t call myself a marketer, although marketing is part of what any free-lancer does to generate business.
Take care,
Marko
I was thinking of using auto-follow after reading the start of this thread, and then I got some more follows that reminded me why I maybe shoudn’t after all.
There’s another point here which stacks against auto-follows, and that’s the fact that there are many ‘very young’ people using Twitter now.
I regularly have young teenagers following me, and as I’m in my late 50’s I would find it uncomfortable ‘following’ them back. If I was using auto-follow I wouldn’t have the option to select them ‘out’ of my feed.
Perhaps I’m being too over-cautious, and I know there are many youngsters who are absolute genius internet marketers, and I have chosen to follow a couple for that very reason. But I’d hate to find out one day that I was following a whole bunch of random youngsters: What would the ‘thought Police’ think of that??
Just a thought – Hmmmmm
Pete.
Marko said, “couldn’t this also mean that I can expect people to conform to my usage of Twitter? Or at least be mature enough to consider the possibility of a non-follow without getting upset?”
Sure in a perfect world, which it’s not. Point is, many people WILL be upset. You can appease them or not. If you’re a marketer teaching marketers, which you said you’re not, then it may matter.
In other niche markets, I don’t think it matters as much. IE: I don’t think a fan of a simple celebrity expects to be followed back. I think the fans of a marketer in the IM niche using a social network DO expect a follow back because they’re being taught about social networking and the relationship building process, etc.
Pete – I wouldn’t worry about the age of the Tweople following you at all
For an IM newbie (with a website barely published & a few Squidoo lenses up) that has not yet ventured into the “Tweet-scape”, the terms “can of worms” & “Pandors’a box” come to mind.
After reading all the arguments, I agree that what really matters are your specific goals in using Twitter and how far along you are in reaching those goals.
I do appreciate the candor & sincerity evident in the posts of Michel & Tiffany, as well as the other contributors. I plan to weigh it all to help evaluate what approach seems best for me when I do get to Twitter.