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@Josepf I love the rant. I can't stand Paper.li either! I get picked up by people's Paper.li often - and it's annoying. It's random, the design is nasty and picks up pieces that I RT from others.
12 Most Irritating to Most People I Know on Twitter Behaviors | Was: 12 Most Stupid Twitter Behaviors
See the bottom of this post for for a video of @Josepf where he recants the rant!
After you’ve been hanging around Twitter for a long time (over 3 months) certain things start to irk, annoy, or just outright offend!!! I’m going to go out on a limb and call these the 12 Most Stupid Twitter Behaviors that I can think of, off the top of my head, on a rainy Saturday, in June.
1. TrueTwit : Saver of Spam or just wrong?
“Namewithheldtoprotecttheguilty uses TrueTwit validation service. To validate click here: http://truetwit.com/”. Really Shannon? On Facebook and LinkedIn I agree. But on Twitter this seems counter-culture. Follow-back manually instead. Screen with a Hashable #justmet. Typically I simply ignore the TwitWits cause it rhymes with NitWits. You?
2. I’m not a person, I’m an RSS feed aka Count Bot-chula
Are you the Wall Street Journal or Mashable? No? Then do not feed us Tweets through your RSS feed. WE CAN TELL!!! We are people who want to talk with people, or get our news sources from, um, news sources. Please do not be a Count Botchula.
3. DM = Direct Marketing = Lost me at hello
“Namewithheldtoprotecttheguilty wow, you’re great (even though I have no idea who you are) please fan my awesome facebook page blah blah blah”. I’m great? Well, okay, they got that part right. But using DM without any established relationship to drive me to your blog, facebook page, or LinkedIn profile is just POOR MANNERS. Please, stop.
4. Links that Stink
There are many ways to make stinky links! You can read about the mixed reviews about “Tweetheardroundtheworld”. What I’m talking about is glancing at someone’s profile and virtually every Tweet is “@NextRandomTarget click here to get free electricity or beer for a year, this is a legitimate offer”. Honestly?
5. Of course you should follow me (but u r beneath me)
We all have a few friends like this. We follow them, we see them on hashtags, we interact, they even seem to like us. But they never follow us back! Yes I’m talking about you Mr Shri. But I’m just as guilty of it occasionally. You can try to embarrass them into it like I did @Mitchneff once with a ten top reasons I’m not following post. Or perhaps direct them to @Tedcoine’s follow-back policy. In my case, just ask me! I do not mind, I get behind on follows occasionally and if you ask, and I really do want want to follow you? Then I’ll tell you (or block your spamming @ss).
6. Of course I’m following you (stalking)
It can be fun to watch a profession stalker, like my friend Jackie Shelley, decide they are going to get so & so to notice them and follow back. On the other hand, sometimes it can cross that fine line (not you Jackie!). Twitter is a public forum and we all can gather our fair share of “groupie” attention. Be careful to not cross that line! And if someone has crossed it for you? Set a boundary, then act on it. Need help with boundaries? Go see Lolly Daskal.
7. paper.li, there, i said it
The BLAHdeBLAH Daily starring some random content by yet more random people is out so I hope and pray you click on just one Advertisement to make this worth my while. Ok, maybe paper.li started out as a good idea but when everybody can be a newspaper is anybody really news? (that makes no sense, but then again, neither do these papers) Lots of better ways to curate content coming.I’m liking http://Twylah.com/Josepf as an example.
8. Click me, I’m small
The best profile picture on Twitter belongs to Sima Dahl, simply because she flat out understands that when you click on someone’s profile picture it should scale up and stun you. Go check her out, (yes I said that…but no stalking!) Need help with your avi? Read these top 5 tips from mashable or these 5 tips from 312 Digital.
9. I’m uglier than this logo
NO YOU ARE NOT. This has been a personal mission of mine even before I met consistent egg head Jeff C Singer. We do want to connect with you. Not your logo or cartoon. I should list the mini-horde of people who made this switch because of minor, um, power of suggestion. But if I did @OneJillian might rally them all to get mad at me or something, so not worth it! Get a picture, make it scale-able (see previous tip), and connect/engage deeper.
10. Whats a hashtag?
This is noob behavior and is just annoying, not stupid. What is stupid is not taking a noob by the hand and explaining how to use hashtags and tools to get more enjoyment out of Twitter. Anyone who ‘gets it” has a social obligation to pass that knowledge on. This is your turn to shine!
11. Yes, I know how to use Facebook
IF I like you, and am friends with you, and we chat a few times, DM a bit, hang out together in some hashtags, then MAYBE we’ll be facebook friends or linkedin contacts. They are different networks and relationships. Yes, they overlap, but, I especially am not interested in Tweet Stream requests to add me to your facebook account when I do not know you. Call me old fashioned, but use a little foreplay first.
12. The Great Pyramids are found in Egypt, not Twitter
Last, but certainly not least, there seems to be an over abundance of MLM schemes percolating around Twitter. Especially annoying are the all MLM all the time streams, see stinky links above. Just unfollow them. Block them if they show up in hashtags that you care about. It’s your life, your Twitter experience, and you deserve to see a higher ratio of Tweets from Margie Clayman or Sean Mcginnis or “GIN with an E” <<– must watch Video by: Gini Dietrich.
More 12 Most Stupid Twitter Behaviors I missed? Take heated issue with any of the ones I pointed out? Then don’t be stupid, say something below!!! (the previous was only partially satire, it is up to your ego defenses to decide which elements were or were not satire)
Josepf Recants the Rant in this Feature Length Film
Featured image courtesy of nickwheeleroz licensed via creative commons.
Josepf Haslam
Josepf is Passionate about applying the SEO Analytics Mindset to any and all Marketing efforts. Why? Because today's CMOs need to use Metrics and Measurements to build enduring business benefits! Surf here to find posts on The Art of Marketing conjoined with the Science of SEO. Josepf Tweets about #BuddhaSEO, #SEOCMO, #CustServ, #leadfromwithin, #12most, #bizforum, #UsGuys and other subjects on Twitter. He may be found on LinkedIn where he is a open networker. Do not attempt a connection with Josepf on Facebook unless you've followed tip #11 found here.
151 comments
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Very good! I don't know if TrueTwit helps those using it or not. But... It doesn't matter! How can you use a robot while pretending to be fighting bots? I can't get more ridiculous than that.
And... Oooops! Sorry about paper.li... It keeps on sending out a #scuba daily from me, that... I don't even remember how I setup! I'll try to find a way to cancel it :O
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Josepf - I just saw this and luv your rant. All 12 are irritating.
I am glad that you did not call me out on #8 with my pinhead avatar photo. I will change it one of these days. I was surprised to see @mrshri named as one who does not Follow back. He Follows me. Maybe it was something you said to him :))
I agree with #7, but it is ironic that I saw this posting on a paper.li
Other irritants: Why do peeps litter their timelines solely with lists of usernames? Why would anyone want to read a constant stream of usernames?
How about during a Twitchat when someone joins late and asks wht the topic is? This breaks up the chat rhythm and wastes time. If you are late, lurk for a while and then jump in.
@spofcher@MrShri@spofcher@mrshri Steve, #thanks for your post! You do need to change that avi and/or walk around with a green background at events so I can recognize you faster! :) Mr. Shri quickly made amends, I was teasing him because he is so good natured. I have an update to these 12 that I really need to write up and post :) You're listed two of them above... Oh #and #people #who #hashtag #everything #like @mimibakermn #WellShe'sProbablyGoingToMakeTheList
Latest blog post: Red Leaves | #prose #poem #poetry on #Passionating #pfma
@MimiBakerMN it missed @mimibakermn
Latest blog post: Red Leaves | #prose #poem #poetry on #Passionating #pfma
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I might resemble a couple of those. I'd love to have you subscribe to my paper.li and I have a #profoundloveforallthingshashtag
@josepf good ones. BTW..sorry about last night. I'm still a newbie & never happened to me b4.. thank you!
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Josepf ...we hardly knew ye... I am now convinced you're funny and not irritating and that you bring me great joy with your response with the recant. I see now that you are funny, serious and poetic and ironic .... all at the appropriate times
Finally I appreciate your tastes in all things except peanut butter. I humbly bow at your feet and apologize for my first post and think that I will buy the scotch when we eventually do meet .. the first drink anyway!
@ginidietrich I love peanut butter... almond butter, cashew butter .. Im nuts for nut butters
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You have to be one of the smartest people I know. :) Love the recant ( or re-rant :p ) as much as the original post. Oh and I went all "Awwww" when I saw that peanut butter jar.
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12 most irritating Twitter behaviors = #Noteworthy .......
Peanut Butter out of the jar with a spoon = #Classic
#in
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@Josepf this post and recant are both hilarious and true. I loved your recant almost as much as I reacted with to your post. Never say anything negative online has always been my motto. You really are a Jerry and so incredibly bright and I hope we do meet sometime soon so I can laugh at myself until I fall off my bar stool. Oh yeah, I don't drink. No worries no one will ever know!
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@libbytalks @Josepf lol, Libby! Thank you for your comment, I know you were one of the "I can't believe he used the Stupid word" -- and truly am sorry for any offense (that was said actually in the Video w/you firmly in mind). I sat here saying, what the heck is a Jerry?!?!?! Then I laughed and said, oh yeah! the not funny guy from Seinfeld!!!!
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Ok Ok I'm here and commenting, already! The recant has done nothing to ameliorate to hurt & offense caused by your awful and insensitive comments! How DARE you slander my good name and bring shame and suffering upon me! My mortification knows no bounds, and my heart is forever broken because of your totally unwarranted cruelty. WHY, oh WHY have you betrayed me?? I'm crushed by guilt and shame for my "stupid" and "irritating" behavior. Curses upon you and your shiny new wonderfulness! I remember you when you were just a guy in an ugly sweater!!!!
;)
Ok, kidding aside... I love it all. 12-most is fabulous. I *am* a bit of a follow-back junkie, and I anyone who's watched me work knows I do love to follow the big names in social media and talk at them until they follow me back. But I'm no stalker, just a little enthusiastic ;) and I always treat DM with respect. This is why I've kept my good standing and relationships with a lot of folk who haven't interacted with me in a while.
Thanks for the irreverent mention & the indirect love.
Jackie
@jackinessity I was going to do a post on the 12 Most Effective Ways to Stalk Big Names starring Jackie, but we haven't chatted in a little while! :-)
For the Permanent Record: Jackie is funny, caring, loving, and does love my ugly sweater Video :-) Find her, stalk her back, make a true friend.
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OMG forgot to mention I hate Formulists on Twitter... I really prefer someone take the time to create a list and add me to it. Thoughts anyone? cc: @Josepf @MrShri @RababKhan @JosephGier @davidmcgraw @deleted_112586_simasays
@solete @Josepf @MrShri @JosephGier @davidmcgraw @deleted_112586_simasays Agree with you. When someone takes the time to add me to a list, it makes me happy. :) I know many people do it just to be more organized, but I still feel good when they do. #TheLittleJoysOfLife Haha! Sorry for using a hash tag here, couldnt help it. :D
I only use formulists for one list: New followers. Sometimes, I don't get an email from twitter when someone follows me so I go through that list periodically. All the other lists I have, I add people to them manually.
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Hello...is there even room for me to comment here?
@Josepf you certainly have a way with writing! Borderline offensive-- leave my pal @MrShri alone (wink, crinkled nose), yet just the right amount of humor and razón (reason) to keep readers on the page. ;-p (Eh, I said borderline...don't get testy!)
Funny thing is…you aren’t really like this IRL. He’s really sweet everybody (!!), not confrontational, gives 150% and is always looking out for others!
I’m totally there with you on the TrueTwit validation service. Pa-leeze. Just the other day I rec’d a DM asking me to validate so I can follow… I do it, then TRY to DM to engage a bit and I CANT because they’re NOT following me. WTF!!
I want to add that I often get behind on follows as well, so if you engage and I haven’t followed you, please know it’s an oversight and let me know!
Your FTF (1st Twitter friend!),
@solete =)
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This certainly wasn't a post to read if you're even the slightest bit self conscience. I think I can appreciate the humor being put forth ( at least I think it was humor). But these are lessons to be learned .
There are a lot of bots and trolls and MLMers and cross-linking and people who grope around trying to figure out what twitter and by extension, Social Media is all about.
If anything , this article serves as a primer, if anything as to what not do when on the service and a little tweeter social etiquette thrown in.
Satire is fine, but I'm not certain that naming names was helpful. We ALL make mistakes, Josepf and you certainly pointed out some dozies. I hope those mentioned in the piece have a sense of humor. Thanks for the article it was timely and hopefully a bit humorous. I doubt it will change behavior for most users but it certainly got you point across.
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@Josepf you rocked this post! Funny and from the heart. Bravo!!!
Thankfully, I've never broken any of these rules. Ha! One could easily build a rebuttal this list and write a post on 12 reasons why these behaviors are important to the twitter experience. For me, Twitter is about meeting new people. Learning about them. Developing a relationship. If the relationship evolves into a friendship or business than that is extra icing on the cake. Some of these annoyances were created and utilized with the intention of expanding the conversation. Better ways come from experimenting with new things. Without, we may not evolve. Hindsight is always 20-20.
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@Josepf Haha.well. As far as it goes to me being clueless...You hit the bull's eye.I like to live upto my name you see.!
And on a different note.I am gonna follow you.:-D
Warmer regards..Foram.
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For anyone else who thinks I do not get the point of not following back? Here is my post entitled Please Stop Following Me on Twitter: http://Josepf.co/StopFollow cc/ @cluelessforam @cluelessforam
clearly Sir-ji U do not get the point in Twitter!
@Josepf It is very child- like to take to offense the fact that @MrShri is not following u bk. That maybe because ur tweets are irrelevant to him. Did that ever occur to ur mind that u might be spamming his timeline and that Maybe-Just maybe Ur name might fit perfectly as an example to all the above mentioned So - called ANNOYING HABITS?
@cluelessforam @MrShri I see Mr. Shri found you on Twitter and resolved. :-) The fact is he need never follow me nor me him! Because our relationship is defined by hanging out in the #UsGuys hashtag. Think of it as an activity center. Like Bowling or playing softball or going to a Rock Concert.
IF Mr. Shri and I overlap on several common interest then we may mutually follow or we still may not. The only reason, ever, to take exception to a non-follow-back is when you DO share a few common interests. Because it messes up your follow/followed ratio. But this is easily solved since I unfollowed Mr Shri :-)
Now, hopefully based on the Tweets you also understand that this post was written with a certain sense of humor. I apparently need to put a warning sticker on such posts: "Satire & Comedy, read at your own Risk".
Best regards and I will not even mention anything about you being #cluelessforyouare (see, joke!) :-) :-) :-) warmest regards, Josepf
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Pardon me, but this post did make me chuckle a bit. While I think twitter does have some annoying trends, not all are purely on purpose. @Josepf blame my hyper active tweeting behavior for not following back not just you, but a lot of other tweeps and in my defense I can say that this has nothing to do with my @klout score! :P
Secondly I do not believe in "following back" as a very healthy way to generate conversations. One of the reasons why I come back to #UsGuys is for this, cause I love the fact that we can all talk & share in a group rather than one on one. Social Media Experts believe in following everyone back, even the bots.. don't know how that strategy works.
As @milaspage pointed out below.. Paper.li is great for folks who miss out on the timeline of their own follows. The top news is one of the best features but then again I have not yet tried any alternatives. (Interestingly my daily is somewhat popular hehe)
I don't know what TrueTwit is and I never auto DM or even ask someone to check my links unless it's something that should be kept off the public timelines.
Profile pics.. hmm looks like @deleted_112586_simasays got a professional photographer to do hers. I cannot even click my own pic.. which sucks but think the current one is just ok-ish :-)
Hashtags are cool.. they are more than "topics" to tweets. They also show emotion, character & sometimes tone behind those who try to fit everything into 140 or less.
Rounding it off.. am honored to be featured in this post. I had been thinking who would finally pull me up in a post like this.. so thanks ;-) The goal has been achieved and I totally loved this post.
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@deleted_112586_simasays @Josepf@empireave Eaves (monopoly money). I agree on being able to laugh at oneself. Think it's almost a fine art.
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@MrShri @klout @milaspage @deleted_112586_simasays Mr. Shri, you are so much fun and we have been Twitter friends most of my existence on Twitter, so I took liberty to call you out. No need to follow me back! I wrote this post on purpose http://Josepf.co/StopFollow I know how to find you and you know how to find me. But, since I made one of your life ambitions....... :-)
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@deleted_91832_Sean McGinnis @ginidietrich that's me and Gin-E, we're like a Seinfeld Episode! (all about nothing) Actually @ricdragon has a theory about this. Go find his unread post about cold water fusion....
@Josepf @deleted_91832_Sean McGinnis I'm telling you. We should launch a blog as the Seinfeld of the blogosphere. I think people would really get a kick out of it.
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Josepf, as always a wonderful post. I think you nailed the stupid twitter behaviors. You are truly the man who walks his walk, and a mannered and gentlemanly man of twitter. :) I read this post this afternoon from work, and then again just now, with all the comments. What a great dialogue.
My first comment would have to include the statement, "Mr Shri follows me" in his dear defense.(and if he doesn't on twitter, then he has engaged on FB and Foursquare and Hashable) Overall, he's all good to me. (lol)
I loved your alternative to paper.li - thank you for bringing it out, fresh layout, with a timeline. Which is nice.
I will say I liked the paper.li #usguys for those days that I missed out on the stream entirely. I also noticed that there are a few people who post their paper.li whose interests in twitter are not focused around the same areas as my own and because they formed a completely different interest group, when I open their paper.li I get access to a entirely differently cultivated twitter stream in an other area of interest. I love this. So paper.li can have its benefits if you are using it as a source to another area of interest that you just want to glance into every so often. @doinaoncel , for example shares many of my interests, but she definitely does not follow the same kinds of tweeters that I do, or would, yet when I open up her paper, I enjoy it. I also like the idea of being able to have a snapshot of what my friends are following besides what I see (or have time to see). I don't want to retweet 50 paper.li s a day, nor would i realistically read them, but i do enjoy the ones i watch for. So not ready to condemn paper.li right away.
It is perhaps a consideration though, that for the most part , unless you know your group of followers want to read the said paper.li - don't retweet unless you think its going to be of interest to YOUR followers...thats annoying.Really annoying. If someone keeps retweeting a paper.li and i keep opening it and seeing nothing that interests me, i might unfollow if that is all they are tweeting.
Im with you on FB, romancing all the way Josepf! FB is personal, just because you tweet once with someone doesn't mean you have to invite them in and share the world. A little getting to know makes sense.
The bottom line is, there are people on twitter who don't know what they are doing there and do some pretty weird annoying things. Like JC said, we try and be patient. There are others who heard twitter is a great way to make money, but are so obsessed with making money they have nothing to offer as a member of a community- they simply spam, annoy, MLM etc. these people get banned by me. thats all. I move on. And if someone is so impolite to continuously solicit me for endorsement, and continue, then i will politely just unfollow. You cant blame these people for trying, - so lets just send a silent message, block them off and move on.
Eventually these spammers will all just be spamming themselves, and we, the engagers, can happily cultivate our friends and follows and live in our own little happy twitterworld. ;)
Thanks for making this such a great place Josepf, #yourock always.
and ~waves at all friends I see here commenting #yourock too! :)
Yeah twitter can be flooded with annoying behaviors but with the right approach, i have to say I have found myself a pretty unbeatable group of Generous, amazing, intelligent friends (so many in fact I was going to start a ref list and realized you don't want me giving an academy award style thanks list here) all and all - i'll suffer the annoyances of twitter any day as the tiny cost for this great privilege of engaging, knowing, sharing with you. #luckytwittergirl #usguys #gratitude
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@Milaspage @DoinaOncel Such a great post back Mila! I have to now consider every post of mine should come with a warning sticker. :-) Someone else who barely knows me told me how shocked that were and was wondering what happened to get me mad. I was laughing as I wrote each piece and poking fun at myself and all of us to some degree. There were almost 800 people following me that I had not yet completely screened for followbacks. Tried to resolve that before I posted :-) Part of the issue is that we are all pushing the tools right? Twitter is evolving and yet the interface and the support is not really where we all would like it to be.... Anyway, you are very dear! Please do not hesitate to read your favorite paper.li's -- especially that of Doina!!! (whom I just met in Toronto) She seems really nice too! ((and tough, she might kick my @$$ if I offend her!!!!))
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@Milaspage @DoinaOncel thanks Mila.. great counter comments here, I think this is an awesome post for everyone and really thank Josepf for featuring me ;-) My comment coming up next. #GottaDefendMyself
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#dearjosepf
#greatreadrandomthoughtsallstrungtogetherthatmakebrilliantsense.
#youmostdefintelyknowyourstuff
#thisisagreatblogpost
#filledwithusefulandfunnystuff
#youareoneofakindmyfriend
#ilovehastags
#lolly
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@LollyDaskal um, just to clarify, that does mean "I see You" and not, Hey! You made fun of me and I'm sending you to the ICU? right? we're good? (slowly putting down the mouse and walking away from the keyboard)
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@Josepf @LollyDaskal #PhiilyIsTheCityOfBrotherlyLove #WhyAreTheirInhabitantsAlwaysExpectingAStruggle #TheManIsNOtKeepingThemDown #TheManIsTryingToLiftThemUp #RaiseYourGlasses #ICUstandsFor #ICompleteU #or #ICrushU #IfYouAreFromPhilly
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@LollyDaskal #Wowyoureactuallybeingfunny! #thanksyousoverymuchforeverythingyouaretomeandeveryoneelseintwitterverse
#whyamIafakinfriend?
#ohoneofakind! #nevermind
#thankgodIdidnotcallyouLana (#IcalledSharonShannon!)
#thisishardertodothanitlooks!
#namasteLolly I see You...
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Enjoyed your post and humor, Josepf! You have a great way of cutting to the chase. I've been on Twitter for 6 months now but am still a newbie, trying to find my way in this strange world. I still don't get how to use the hashtags - I get it in theory, but not how to set it up logistically. And I don't know the lingo - like what MLM stands for.
For many of your points I've already come to the same conclusion on my own.
1. About a month ago I decided not to follow anyone who requires TrueTwit. Too time-consuming and frustrating.
2. I wish people didn't send auto DMs when I follow them. They clutter my DM box and I delete them immediately.
3. I have a professional Facebook Page that I hope everyone joins, but my personal Facebook account is for people I know - family, old friends, and yes, some of my new SM friends that I've connected with.
The best take-away for me was your take on the paper.li. I didn't get it. And I'm greatly relieved to have your permission to ignore them.
@JesseLynStoner your comrade @scedmonds S.Chris & I on one accord, ignore away :-) You also told me that you followed all of the links! Nice! And, MLM means Multi Level Marketing aka Pyramid type things or good ole Amway (great products, just dont want to be one!)
PS I do respond to the "stalkers" and to people who sent me DMs asking me to RT their posts. They're turned out to be some of the more interesting people I've connected with.
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@JesseLynStoner Are you just talking about @tedcoine or have you had other stalkers? :-) and where in the heck is my fav stalker @ty_sullivan these days???
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@Josepf @JesseLynStoner @tedcoine@ty_sullivan Haa. Ty was just away running his super awesome #PRSCamp I am sure our super friend will be making an appearance any time now! :)
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I love all the post of 12 Most & have provided me learning experiences! I don't like the use of TrueTwit either. If requested to validate myself, don't, next. Okay I will need to amit that I have a paper.li, I don't read it, so I can't expect others to...powering it down now... I do read parts of a few other's paper.li. Most of the articles I've seen because we follow most of the same people. One of my pet peeves is tweeting someone else's tweet & not giving them credit for the original tweet....
I agree with all of these 12... Keep the 12 most coming...
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