I regularly like to tidy up who I am following on Twitter. I decide on the accounts that I no longer want to follow and try to identify new ones that will add value. An interesting question that arises, and one which I recently put out there to my own network is why do we unfollow on Twitter?  I thought I’d share some of the more common responses to this question.

# Spamming

Obvious perhaps but spamming is the number one way to get yourself unfollowed on Twitter.

# Self-Promotion

Again pretty obvious, but if you continually tweet me, me, me and do nothing but promote you, you, you, we’ll stop following.

# Over Tweeting

Information overload! How many tweets are too many? It’s difficult to define because too many tweets can mean a different number to different people. None the less, over tweeting is one of the main reasons that makes people stop following.

# Under Tweeting

Less on an issue perhaps than over tweeting but if you are not active, you will lose followers.

# Lack of Conversation

Twitter is about engaging so of course not conversing with your Twitter community or not replying to their messages will get you unfollowed.       

# Business V. Personal, Getting the Balance Wrong

Tweet too many personal/non professional tweets and you are likely to get unfollowed. However this can be a difficult balancing act as many people prefer a mixture of tweets, believing that this gives them insight into the personality behind the business.  

# Lack of Professionalism

Bad language, airing your dirty laundry, negatively, the list goes on and on. Unprofessional tweets stick out like a sore thumb and they get you unfollowed.

# Acting the Robot

Robotic messaging and use too much automation is another easy way to annoy people and lose followers on Twitter.

# Network Marketing

If my network is anything to go by, network marketers appear to have yet to work how to market on Twitter J

# 1000s Followers and You Can Show Me How

Telling folks about your 1000s of followers and offering to show them how to get 1000s of their own, might seem like a good idea but it’s REALLY not.

Of course, there are a great many other reasons why people decide to unfollow and many are a lot less obvious than the ones mentioned. It is very difficult to keep all your followers happy all of the time; the best that can be hoped for is that you continue to bring value for the majority of followers.

The reality is that there are no hard and fast rules on Twitter and what works for one person may not necessarily work for another. I know that I have on occasion broken some of those above. 

So what makes you unfollow someone?