Twitter : You ought not be following everyone

Common sense dictates not following everyone who follows you on Twitter.

There are a lot of sicko’s, porn businesses, people starved for attention, and people who think they may be able to turn Twitter attention into a buck out following everyone they can on Twitter knowing most people are foolish enough to follow them back. These clowns even use software to get more followers.

Lawyers with egos who hear Twitter is the latest and greatest marketing tool are unfortunately falling prey to these cons. It’s partially the fault of all the new self described social media experts championing Twitter. It’s partially the fault of otherwise smart lawyers who continue to check their common sense at the door when it comes to Internet marketing.

Some would advise not following anyone you don’t know who start to follow you on Twitter. I wouldn’t go that far. In addition to being a good tool for getting to know people better, Twitter is a wonderful tool for getting to know the people you’d like to discover.

That doesn’t mean following everyone who follows you. I look up everyone who follows me. If there’s a link on their Twitter profile page, I follow it. I Google people’s names looking for their LinkedIn profile. If they’re in the legal profession or of interest otherwise, I’ll likely follow them.

Social media, just like the rest of the world, is full of nut jobs and people looking for attention. And just like the rest of the world you’d be best served ignoring them.