The Problem With Using Twitterbots is...
Posted: 20/07/2012
Case in point is UK's Minister of State for Housing and Local Government, Mr Grant Shapps, who used a tactical follow-unfollow approach (obviously powered by a bot) to boost his number of followers.
For those uninitiated to the sneaky politics of Twitter, one of the ways to increase your number of followers on Twitter is to follow someone who is likely to follow you and then unfollow them. Since no one receives a notification when they are unfollowed, people go about their business without knowing that they've just been played.
Unfortunately brands and celebrities cannot get away with this behaviour, because ordinary Twitter folk take great pride in being followed by a 'verified' account (only reserved for brands and celebrities), it's like getting a merit badge, validation that your tweets are worthy enough to be followed by someone important.
What Mr Shapps didn't expect was a backlash after several tweeters across the UK noticed that they had been unfollowed and followed by the account repeatedly. Today, he is organically trending on Twitter (#shappsfollowedme), a trend that started after a few irate followers decided to make public their distaste. Jumping on the bandwagon is also John Prescott, an MP from the Labour party who claimed he was followed and then unfollowed by Mr Shapps!
Mr Shapps' current 50,000 odd following on Twitter comprises dormant accounts, non English speaking accounts, spam accounts and some active Twitter accounts.
Moral of the story - don't automate your process of gathering followers on Twitter, not only does it create embarrassing situations like the one above, but it also shows that you are not personally vested in your profile. Selection of followers is just as important to your profile, as the content that you publish. Secondly, be selective about whom you follow, avoid following everyone who has ever mentioned your brand or category without verifying the context of their tweet and the legitimacy of their account.
Maria Dsouza
Social Insights Strategist at MEC in the UK
Posted: 20 July 2012