Valuable SM Lesson: I like people not robots

Author: Matt

2 Jul

This morning I was once again reminded that not everyone truly understands the value of social media – transparency, authenticity, 2-way, personal, etc. Last night I decided to go against the grain a little and visited two of my favorite tools to find people on Twitter – Twellow & Mr. Tweet. I found many that “seemed” to be folks that I should be engaging with. They were in PR or marketing, jouralists, social media hounds, etc. WRONG!

Once again, I was bombarded by many (probably 75% of the people I just started following) who sent me automatic direct messages. I’d list them all here but I’m considering starting a new advocacy site called StopAutoDMs (www.stopautodms.com – not yet mine).

Then I read this great post from Mike Doyle at ChicagoNow.com entitled, “Four Reasons Why Bloggers on Twitter Shouldn’t Pimp Facebook.” It reminded me of a post I made back in March entitled, “The New Era of Template Personalization.”

Perhaps I’m a little set in my ways about this, but I just think there is a black and white way we should be acting here on social media. Do you agree? Disagree? As always, I’d love to hear from you on this one!

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Filed under: Relationships, Social Media

2 Responses for "Valuable SM Lesson: I like people not robots"

Michelle Damico July 6th, 2009 at 8:03 am 1
Matt, While this may be one of your pet peeves, and I may have agreed with you as recently as 2 months ago, I am starting to change my views. I say we shouln’t be dictating the various approaches people take to engaging on Twitter. As long as they are engaging in a meanginful way, what does it matter if they auto reply with a “Thank you for following me” message?

I liken it to casting judgement on whether someone sends me handwritten Hallmark card in the U.S. mail, or whether they use their Facebook calendar to send me an automated birthday e-card that was placed in queue months ago. Is that impersonal too? Not if you’re grateful that someone took the time to actually reach out and remember you!

I don’t make first impressions based on whether I receive an auto reply. Let my Tweeps talk to me, start a conversation or join others. Let me watch them in action before I start judging whether they are sincere in developing an online relationship.

My two cents, and thanks for listening.
Mike Pilarz July 8th, 2009 at 11:09 am 2
Michelle makes a good point. I’ve yet to unfollow someone simply because of an auto-DM, and many folks who send them turn out to be valuable sources of information and conversation.

That being said, I’ve yet to receive an auto-DM that didn’t strike me as annoying or at least unnecessary. So why bother with them?