Chris Lake of Econsultancy wanted to find out the most common reason why people unfollow someone on Twitter. So far, more than 765 votes have been cast since on the survey he posted— and the results are interesting to say the least.

1. 10
surefire
ways to get
unfollowed
on
Twitter
[study]
BY VISHVESHWAR JATAIN

2. Chris Lake of Econsultancy wanted to find out the most common reason why people unfollow
someone on Twitter. So far, more than 765 votes have been cast since on the survey he posted—
and the results are interesting to say the least.
Here are the top ten reasons why people hit the unfollow button in ascending order of dislike.
1. Keep posting Foursquare updates
Seriously, no one wants to know that you’ve just appointed yourself the mayor of your restroom
on Foursquare. Neither are most people interested in a detailed analysis of how many calories
you burnt today. A substantial number of Twitter users find this activity annoying enough to hit
the button.
How to fix: Turn off Foursquare and other automated app updates on Twitter
2. Keep begging people for stuff
Sending a tweet requesting people to like your Facebook page once may be
okay. Individually sending everyone you follow links to read your blog post or listen to your

3. music on SoundCloud? Not so much. If you keep doing it, you’re leaving the other person no
choice but to unfollow you as a hint.
How to fix: Go about your business on the web, don’t be a cling on
3. Tweet only once in a fortnight
Out of sight and out of mind is right. Most people won’t even follow an inactive or sparsely
updated account in the first place. This isn’t blogging where you can afford to make one
appearance a week. This is continuous stream of thought. You’re either on the wagon or off it.
How to fix: Be consistent, get a mobile client and keep in touch with the network
4. Pick fights and post nude images
Constantly picking up arguments with people, posting links to inappropriate images or media, or
being incessantly abusive isn’t something that will win you the favor of most people on Twitter.
They may tolerate you for a while, but if you make offending sensibilities a habit, people will
make blocking you theirs.
How to fix: Keep it clean, if you can’t, go to 4Chan
5. Keep ranting about the same thing
Sounding like a broken record will have people dropping you faster than a hot pan. It’s good to
tweet about sports if you’re really enthusiastic it, but if that’s all you’re going to do 24/7, you’re
really going to limit the number of people who might potentially follow you. Similarly, ranting
on about how your ex broke your heart all the time probably suggests you need a counselor more
than a Twitter account.
How to fix: Inject a little variety in what you tweet
6. Be spammy and automate your tweets
Services like Twitterfeed have made it easier for people to share their interests automatically.
Once the feeds are set up, you don’t have to do a lot as your account will be automatically
updated. While this may be a good practice to promote your own blog; if you have too many
feeds connected, you look like a bot.
How to fix: Stay human, don’t use auto tweeting services

4. 7. Tweet about really mundane things
You may think that your cats are really interesting, but everyone may not agree with you. If
you’re consistently bland and boring, chances are high that you’ll never get people interested
enough to follow you, and the ones who have will probably soon reconsider why they did.
How to fix: Be funny, share the uncommon and not the everyday
8. Get on a 24/7 self promotion trip
This is good only in moderation. What’s the point of being on a network if you can’t benefit
from it in anyway, right? But done too frequently and with too much enthusiasm may leave a bad
taste in the mouth of others. Despite what it may seem, no one really likes self-absorbed quack
jobs.
How to fix: be interested in others, don’t go on and on about yourself
9. Oversharing and TMI
It’s probably a better idea to vent elsewhere and not on Twitter if you had a bad day. Divulging
too much information about your personal life usually comes across as emotionally unstable
behavior to people online, that is other than the bigger issue of putting your privacy at risk and
making yourself vulnerable.
How to fix: Keep your personal life personal
10. Send a tweet every 10 seconds
Where tweeting too less makes you invisible, tweeting too often makes you visibly annoying.
Not only are you clogging everyone’s timeline all the time, you’re probably coming across as a
marketing bot. Of course, no one’s going to ask you to get a life, they’ll just unfollow you.
How to fix: Stay relevant, don’t overdo it