What? We should be thankful when tweeps unfollow us on Twitter?! Yep – that’s exactly what I mean. Let me explain…

Twitter is a unique social tool and understanding the vast dynamics in how individuals use Twitter differently, will help ease the [sense of loss, disappointment, confusion, anger....] when someone unfollows you. And believe me, they will unfollow.

There seem to be four general following types on Twitter:

1. Those who follow everyone who follows them.
2. Those who follow no one that follows them (except a lone few).
3. Those who selectively follow.
4. Those who will follow you, then unfollow as soon as you follow them back.

Each one of the above following types has their own reasoning for using Twitter the way they do. Since there aren’t any ‘Twitter Police’ enforcing some list of rules (because there are very few rules to Twitter), Twitter is a very diverse place and all of the four following types are alive and well in Twitterville.

Some Reasons Why Tweeps Unfollow

Numbers Game In the instance of #4 listed above, those folks use Twitter merely as a numbers game. For them, it’s all about building their follower numbers to appear more important or to have those folks to start self-promoting to: either way, it’s definitely not about socialization for these types. So if you notice you get a new follower, you follow them in return, only for them to drop you like a hot potato; chances are, they’re a #4.

Religion and Politics Tweet about either of these two things, and I can pretty much guarantee you will have folks unfollow. I actually think this is a very good thing, because if you are passionate about religion and/or politics (or any other topic), then tweet away on those topics and if your followers can’t deal with that – then they aren’t a good fit for you.

The Unknown Some unfollow because they didn’t realize what you tweet about, or you tweeted on something one day that perhaps you hadn’t before, or normally don’t. Then there is the unknown reason: where you have no clue why someone unfollowed you; instead of taking it personally, see it as something in which to be thankful. That person would probably have been offended daily if you tweet on something they just don’t want to see/read. If they had taken a minute or two and looked at your bio, read some of your tweetstream to see what you tweet about, or read your web site link (if you have one), then  your tweets would not be a shock or surprise to them to the point they would need to unfollow. That’s why I use my 3 Point Check System before I follow anyone on Twitter; it usually saves me from having to unfollow anyone myself because I was surprised by what they tweet about. I already know what they tweet about, because I checked before I followed.

Qwitter and SocialToo These are two tools that have been commonly used to let you know when someone unfollows you. If you can’t handle any type of ‘rejection’, then do not sign up to use these tools! It can drive you nuts to see what looks like a mass exodus from your tweetstream.

Qwitter was thought to have closed up shop when it stopped working entirely a few weeks ago. Then over the past few days, a flood of qwit notices have arrived in my inbox. But when I look at my follower numbers, they aren’t dropping – so either Qwitter is wrong, or these are old notices just now coming through.

SocialToo is the service I started using when Qwitter, well… quit. What I like about SocialToo is that when someone unfollows you, there is an option to automatically unfollow them. I like that feature and use it; but no system is absolutely perfect. I have received notice that someone unfollowed me, yet when I double-checked that via Twitter.com and my followers list, they were still following.

Why Return the Unfollow

As I mentioned above, I use SocialToo to automatically unfollow anyone who unfollows me. Why? Because if my tweets were not to their liking, then chances are, their tweets wouldn’t be to my liking either. Another reason is that if they are a #4 type Twitter user, then I will not play into their numbers game and my initial follow did them no good whatsoever and I could be saving myself from receiving their spam that’s likely to come through the tweetstream.

Another reason I auto unfollow is to keep my ratio of following/follwers in check. Once you have more than 2,000 tweeps following you, Twitter allows you to follow more than 2,000 tweeps yourself; but there does seem to be a ratio that needs to be kept, in order for me to continue to follow new tweeps. Twitter won’t reveal the exact ratio, to prevent spammers from working the numbers and the system to their benefit. Since I do purposely seek out new folks to follow, I like to keep my followers list cleared out of those who have unfollowed me.  Just keepin’ it mutual, in that regard.

Be Thankful for the Unfollows

So as you can see, there are a number of reasons why someone may unfollow you. I recommend just continuing to tweet true to yourself and who you are. Don’t adjust your tweets to suit one person or group of persons. Soon you will find tweeps following you that appreciate you for who you are and ‘get you’ and your tweets.

So be thankful that those who don’t understand you are gone, and you are left with tweeple who want to get to know the real you (warts and all! ).

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