As I sit here waiting for a pot of coffee to brew and get ready to leave for the office on this lovely Friday morning I find myself doing much of the same pre-commute prep that I do every other day, except for the fact that it’s Friday. Those of you that are not involved in the wonderful ever growing world of Twitter won’t really care about this post or anything that I am going to say below, unless of course you hear your Twitter maniac friends talking about #FollowFriday or #FF on Twitter.
For those of you that don’t know what Follow Friday is I will be nice enough to give you the breakdown real quick, every Friday the world of Twitter gets all fired up with people recommending people that they feel others that follow them should follow. Anything worded like that is already way more annoying than going through #ff to begin with.
Now that most of you that do not know about Twitter know what Follow Friday is and still could care less I guess I will get down to why Follow Friday sucks, or at least why I think it sucks.
8 Reasons Follow Friday Sucks
- Unrealistic – who the hell follows a list of 5 people because someone “recommends” them?
- Pointless – most people won’t follow your recommendations anyway
- Dumb – if it was such a great thing wouldn’t you recommend people every day?
- Impersonal – “Hi! I recommend this orgy of people and expect you to follow them”
- Clutter – don’t bother trying to see updates on Uber Twitter or a mobile device.. too much #FF
- Exhausting – trying to thank everyone that recommends you on #followfriday
- Spammy – plenty of losers using Follow Friday to suck you into the latest crap
- Annoying – scrolling through 100’s of “Follow blah blah blah” tweets to see one I care about
Twitter Tips for Noobs
- If your going to do the follow Friday thing, recommend one or two people at best
- Don’t thank droves of people for recommending you, it’s just silly
- Recommend Twitter friends to other Twitter friends directly with a DM or a @ reply
- Don’t recommend losers
Ok, finally got that off of my chest on this lovely @extremejohn NON FOLLOW FRIDAY. Hope everyone has a great day and before you get out of here make sure you leave a comment and let everyone know why you HATE FOLLOW FRIDAY, in the event someone actually likes it I guess you can make that point too.
Anthony @ Jumpness (19)
SafariDave (19)
sangalicious1 (15)
{ 6 trackbacks }
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
all the ######## filling up my screen makes me crazy-I think you summed it up perfectly John
Georgie@Decisionally Challenged´s last blog ..The Ugly Truth
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
@Georgie@Decisionally Challenged, thanks for commenting Georgie and I agree 500 @ symbols followed by 800 # hastags.
[Reply]
I’ve never once did a follow Friday. Also I’ve been really cautious who I follow on twitter now that I’m starting to enjoy their service more and more.
I’m not too sure if I find follow Friday rather annoying yet but perhaps over time it will get to me. for now I don’t’ mind it, I don’t participate and it doesn’t affect my day in anyway.
bbrian017´s last blog ..Social Spotlight, Blaine Blogger from blaineblogger.com
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:46 am
@bbrian017, a lot of the Follow Friday annoyance would come from having numerous people that you follow that are all over the Follow Friday mayhem.
[Reply]
Well I’ve never recommended someone for FF but I really don’t get it. I think people do it to get in the trending topics. And I’ve never followed a recommended user either.
Asswass´s last blog ..Unbury Old but Awesome Blog Posts with Social Networks or Bookmarks
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:47 am
@Asswass, point made ;)
[Reply]
RT: @extremejohn #ff #followfriday << LOL
8 Reasons Follow Friday Sucks http://bit.ly/OHrpC STUMBLED 
Have a GREAT weekend John and @ everyone
John Sullivan´s last blog ..Blogging ideas
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:47 am
@John Sullivan, thank you bro have a great weekend, once I put my weekend hat on I will be blowing through. Hope your ready.
[Reply]
I think it s better recommend ppl on your blog that is where only those who are willing will see your reco’s. That is why i made a followfriday list like this http://www.bloggodown.com/2009/08/33-super-engagers-to-follow.html
gautam hans´s last blog ..50+ Awesome Twitter Tips to become a Pro
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:47 am
@gautam hans, awesome I will check out your list in a little bit when I have some more time, saw the retweet thank you!
[Reply]
gautam hans (68 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:50 am
@Extreme John, I think and many agree that it is better you have a blog post because you can include a lot more than 10 ppl.
gautam hans´s last blog ..Site Updates at Blog Godown
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
@gautam hans, I agree to a degree all though I really am not about mass lists, I would rather say, “Hey so and so give so and so a follow on Twitter, they have some great info”.
[Reply]
Kissie (8 comments.) Reply:
December 24th, 2009 at 4:59 am
@gautam hans, I like this idea!
Kissie´s last blog ..This Should Get You in the Mood
[Reply]
I completely agree and that’s why I also stopped using Follow Friday (as of today, at least). I’ve often wanted to not use it, but then I was mentioned in a FF and I thought I should repay and include them in FF too.
But no more – I quit, I don’t want to do #FF any more, for now at least
Besides, I’m never being followed based on a #FF recommendation, only very few times at least.
Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Caroline Wozniacki Breasts
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:48 am
@Klaus @ TechPatio, don’t get me wrong, before I grew extremely tired of Follow Friday and found just how useless it really is I also tried it. Much better things to do. haha
[Reply]
Klaus from TechPatio (105 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:51 am
@Extreme John, Exactly – I gave it a shot too but now I’ve found how useless it is, so no more!
PS: Please reply *something* to this comment, there’s something I’d like to try
Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Friday Flick Find: Fastest Gunman Ever – Unbelievable Bob Munden
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
@Klaus @ TechPatio, ok replying to this comment so you can try.
[Reply]
I agree, it’s hard to want to follow someone because someone you follow randomly lists several people. I need to know who they are and why my friend recommends following them.
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:49 am
@John, thank you for commenting John, it’s kind of like someone asking you to date someone they dated simply because they dated them a while back.
Well maybe not that twisted but pretty close.
[Reply]
I could not agree with you more. Friday is certainly my least favorite day on twitter. Especially the RT of #FF by people that don’t even follow you. WTH?!?!
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:50 am
@, yeah when did it become necessary to retweet follow Friday tweets about a retweet? Craziest thing I ever heard.
[Reply]
Thanks for the info. I barely know how to tweet in the first place, let alone retweet (sounds like a weekend getaway for people who have a lisp). I definitely won’t be using FF, and if you can save me any more precious moments avoiding major wastes of time I appreciate the research you have done for the rest of your devoted followers. Yes, I am a devoted follower of Extreme John, but I’m not drinking the kool-aid.
Have a great weekend. Good luck Bucs, and everyone enjoy the Chargers whooping on the Raiders on Monday Night Football.
Mark Smith´s last blog ..Making Money Online Subscription Contest – Win Professionally Designed Logos or a Character Mascot
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
@Mark Smith, I really can’t even get into how excited I am about football this weekend, and UFC!!
[Reply]
John
I do agree with many of your points. I am also working on similar post but it is more controversial. Watch out for that post ;)
Ricky´s last blog ..August 2009 Best Posts And 125×125 Ad Winner
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
@Ricky, I will do buddy, I planned on making it a list of 20 but haven’t had much time, this post took me two weeks to get off the floor. haha
[Reply]
Ricky (51 comments.) Reply:
September 12th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Hey you have got an award from me. I forgot to tell you. Do check it out
Ricky´s last blog ..10 Ways To Watch ICC Champions 2009 Cricket Matches Online For Free
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 10:05 am
@Ricky, hey sorry just gettin caught up, no I didn’t see the award?
[Reply]
#FF about sums up why I haven’t invested any real effort in to Twitter: it seems like a lot of it is just noise and trying to find people worth following. Of course its got a huge potential, its just that stuff like this distracts me and messes with my ADD to the point where I personally accomplish nothing.
John´s last blog ..Plagiarized Blog Comments as Negative SEO
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
@John, I am not at the point yet where I would let follow Friday break me down into avoiding Twitter, it’s almost easy enough to ignore. The potential for great things is certainly there but more importantly Twitter is what you make it, find good people to follow and use your tools to have excellent targeted people follow you. Thats where the real value is, thanks so much for commenting John.
[Reply]
I am glad that I find people who completely agree with me about follow friday. I remember the first time I heard about the idea that I thought it was dumb. I’ve seen these huge lists and people asking if you want to be part of a follow friday list and I thought “whats the point in that”. I do love twitter when it comes to meeting people, but I will follow someone once I know one of my friends do an @ reply that I find entertaining. Its that simple
stephen@advanced acupuncture´s last blog ..Where to Find a Chinese Acupuncture and Herbology Clinic Today!
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 10:06 am
@stephen@advanced acupuncture, it’s nice to know that Im not the only one looking at these huge lists and thinking, “What the hell?” haha thanks for commenting Stephen
[Reply]
I ignore that stuff myself. Another chance to spam the Twitter community.
Steve´s last blog ..Laser Printers for Graphic Design Applications
[Reply]
Please tell me what plugin you use to send the email “your comment has a new reply”, that I get, even though I’m not subscribed to “notify me of followup comments via e-mail” (cause then it sends me two emails).
Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Facebook Lite: Facebook On A Diet
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 12th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
@Klaus @ TechPatio, you know what I have no idea what is doing that, it started double sending messages to my Blackberry and driving me bananas. Looks like a new Sunday task.
[Reply]
Klaus from TechPatio (105 comments.) Reply:
September 14th, 2009 at 3:05 am
@Extreme John, not sure exactly what plugin you use, since yours also adds the replied-to username in this comment box (@extreme john), but I just started using “Comment Reply Notification” which allow users to receive an e-mail when somebody replies *directly* to their comment, the email being received does look a lot like the one I receive from you, maybe it’s the same plugin?
And then you also use “Subscribe to comments” plugin which will send an email whenever there’s a new comment for the post.
Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..How To: More Targeted AdSense Ads & Thesis Code Example
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 10:07 am
@Klaus @ TechPatio, in regards to the Subscribe to Comments, I have that as optional on this blog so people would have to opt in for that to notify them I believe.
My plugins are a train wreck right now I cant wait to get a few minutes and jump all over them.
[Reply]
thanks for this great tips . look like we have the same idea here john .i just don’t like spammer follower like this…
[Reply]
I did follow friday for like 2 weeks. I can’t stand the long list of people. I have never followed anyone b/c of ff and I am sure that nobody has ever followed me b/c of it either
Tycoon Blogger@Promote your blog´s last blog ..“Rookie Blogger of the Year” Contest Announced on Tycoon Blogger
[Reply]
I’ve seen of trend of less follow friday hashtags. I believe spammers are using it to be a method to get others to follow them or to promote their stuff.
I agree it does get on my nerves but when it’s a genuine recommendation I actually feel pretty good LOL
I think that recommending just one person or two with the reason why is much more effective.
All the best,
Eren Mckay
Eren Mckay´s last blog ..My sweet sixteen party pictures & planning ideas
[Reply]
Now I know what is the meaning of #FF. I’ve been thinking why a lot of people are on Tweets without an actual message. Learning something new everyday from you EJ.
MichaelR@VoIP tips and tricks´s last blog ..How to Improve VoIP Call Quality
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 10:08 am
@MichaelR@VoIP tips and tricks, haha glad I could help.
[Reply]
I am not a twitter-holic, but Follow Friday sounds like a big daisy chain to me.
It seems that , if you are the least bit popular, it would be totally unmanageable. I can see why someone as popular as @ExtremeJohn would actually dread #FF. That said, I hope your Friday was better than usual. Party on.
Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Sep 1, The 1939 Norman Rockwell Santa, Extra Good Boys And Girls
[Reply]
I never did followfriday before…Never got a point of it..I make a point only to follow those people whose tweets interest me…
Compute Live´s last blog ..Jailbreak situation for iPhone 3GS and OS 3.1 Firmware
[Reply]
I think I persisted with it once, and only because Kristi recommended it. I pretty well lost interest in it after that first bit of moronic FF’s. I reckon I have better things to do with the little time that I get on the net.
Sire´s last blog ..A Whole Lot Of Link Luvin Going On
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 10:08 am
@Sire, very well put as always Sire.
[Reply]
And to think that I #FF you
Never really think of it with this perspective. Guess you have a point there. I’m joining your “NON FOLLOW FRIDAY” movement now, and will launch anew one – #NOFF perhaps?
Great post. This will make the weekly echo which I am starting as of today.
DiTesco´s last blog ..Google Affiliate Network Publishers – Be Visible
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am
@DiTesco, I noticed that you shot me a #ff it was no big deal, just think now it works out great. I save your time and you can find something to make money instead, and I don’t get #ff
[Reply]
Just dropping by to inform you..I have a reward for you..take a look at my blog..HAPPY SUNDAY
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 10:10 am
@Een Rockstar, ok I will head over there now, thank you in advance
[Reply]
Yeah. The worst are the spammers. You look at their Twitter stream and it’s like, all they do is Follow Fridays – every day. Of course, they use software to do that and they get BLOCKED faster than one of your limos.
Also, for the genuine #FFs, you usually get a two word explanation:
#FF @bigmomma (she’s cool). [along with 10 other people)
I want more reasons to follow than “she’s cool”.
Paul@copywriting blog´s last blog ..A Secret To Commanding Higher Rates For Your Freelance Writing Service
[Reply]
It was pretty cool at first, now I’m waiting for it to die away. I’d rather find the friends of friends in their blog’s comment section. If I like the site and they have the bird on there I’ll follow.
Now there are people on Twitter that have nothing but follow fridays posts all through the week. Hundreds of ff tweets trying to scrape up a ton of followers. I guess low life spammers are everywhere.
Cool quote of the day, “lovely @extremejohn NON FOLLOW FRIDAY”.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Get Featured With Our Promotional Buttons
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 11:18 am
@Brian D. Hawkins, yeah it’s crazy to think just how awesome the internet is even with all of the pieces of crap spammers out there.
It’s as if those morons don’t use the internet for any form of general purpose to see why that shit is so annoying.
[Reply]
I’ve been avoiding follow friday tweets the last three weeks. I’ve been seeing lots of people publishing nothing but solid blocks of @username without any reason why these individuals should be followed.
I see the good in follow Friday recommendations. Just that I’d like them to be well thought out recommendation. I follow people generally on the strength of a tweeter’s blurb about the persons they recommend. I’ve outgrown blindly following every #followfriday that comes my way.
I’m thinking of making a blog post of my say top 10 picks for the week, but I’m worried I may not be able to sustain it. To make it a regular feature on the blog, I need to spend lots of time trawling the timeline for good finds. And sadly, I spend too much time on the social media sites aside from Twitter.
A blog post recommendation is a better alternative though – you can more lucid and coherent.
jan geronimo´s last blog ..Here’s Why My Blogging Cup Runneth Over
[Reply]
Extreme John (4114 comments.) Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 11:19 am
@jan geronimo, very true Jan and a very good way of putting it.
[Reply]
Hey,
I sometimes do FF! I send out 1 user & tell you a bit about them. I do try to make it funny, cute, entertaining…
I also sometimes @1user to recommend @2user if they have common interest & I think they could benefit from each other. Now, by doing it that way the tweet recommendation will go in my public stream & yes, you may see it.
Oh well, I’m over it.
As for recommending sucky people – UMMM, I don’t follow sucky people to start with. Ok, I do follow a couple of people that are kinda sucky but, I gotta do something nice to make up for all the crappy stuff I do.
And if I recommend someone you don’t particular think is great – it doesn’t matter! Because as you should note – Twitter is all about ME, Me, me!!
If it were about YOU the tweet page would say “What is @insertyourusername doing”.
But see, when I read the question it only shows interest in what I’m doing, it never ask about anyone else.
Hint #1 – If you do not recommend people for FF then other people will not recommend you. Saves all the thank you tweets.
Hint #2 – Come to John’s blog and post comments in a sarcastic tone & then if people follow you they can’t get mad because they have been warned! ;)
Sorry for the long comment. I am going into comment rehab tomorrow. I think to make it up to you, I will send out an @extremejohn FF every week!
Sheryl Loch´s last blog ..Get More Backlinks Indexed Faster
[Reply]
Trying to wean myself off of it.
I had been recommending anyone who’d recommended me the week before, but of course that adds to the mess we have on Twitter. This week I was recommended by one person plus a couple of RT spammers, so I @ thanked the real person. Next week I may just DM thank if anyone #FF..
christie@miscbytes´s last blog ..Disturbingly easy Gravatar impersonation and more internet fun
[Reply]
When I was following less than 50 people, twittering seem personal and ‘up close’. But as you follow more and more people, it begins to be really difficult to be ‘personal’ with them. You can’t really make and maintain a thousand friends. I entered into the twitter world as a newbie (as everybody does), but I am now gradually weaning myself out of it. Thus, before I even begin to step into the ‘intermediate’ twitter level, I’ll probably be out of it or ‘just watching non-chalantly from a distance’.
james moralde´s last blog ..Captcha Free
[Reply]
hmm, some people misunderstanding twitter concept, it not about the size..
[Reply]
Never did an FF tweet and I don’t think I will. Looks like spam to me.
ZXT´s last blog ..Serena down and out at US Open
[Reply]
I don’t see why I should FF at all. I don’t give a damn care about FF at all. I follow people that I want to follow, not because someone make a suggestion. Occasionally someone would tag me along with the FF thingy but don’t expect a ‘thanks’ from me.
Sarah´s last blog ..50 Internet Tools I Found Through Stumble Upon
[Reply]
lol what for people do recommend someone to follow someone, it’s useless if we follow someone that we don’t know. I only follow to someone who I think is worth to follow.
Lee Ka Hoong´s last blog ..60 Wonderful And Helpful Thesis Customization Tutorials
[Reply]
I get dozens of RT’s with follow Friday messages and I haven’t followed anyone yet from those list..I also think it is useless to do so. It really sux.
Typhoon´s last blog ..5 Tips to Create Killer Articles for your Blog
[Reply]
Actually John it is not my style to make it however I discovered that some of my friends are so addicted to ‘Twitter’ so they have nothing to do but this FF. Nevertheless, what was really annoying that once I saw ‘Follow Friday’ as a trending topic in the middle of the week. Oh Twitteres
Hicham´s last blog ..Light at the End of the Tunnel
[Reply]
Same opinion as you. I was doing Follow Friday some weeks ago but finally found it really worthless. And there is also the factor of noobs who will feel offended if you do not add them to the #FF
Example one particular week you found a guy tweets cool and you add him on Follow Friday, then obviously the next week you will not re shout the same thing…then the guy feels offended.
Its too….much of a fart. I have stop and if I need to recommend someone I can do it on any day whether monday tuesday or whatever.
There is also the factor of thanking everyone. Well for this I wait for saturday and look at who shouted me in the ff and I say a mass thanks.
Kurt Avish´s last blog ..Need For Speed Shift Demo Download
[Reply]
I dunno. When I first joined Twitter, followfriday was a godsend: it helped me get quality followers fast.
I stopped using followfriday personally because of Mr. Tweet, which was simply excellent: why not get recommendations all the time, and write quality reviews for people? I think a lot of the points you raise are solid, for sure.
But that doesn’t mean what’s behind follow friday is a bad thing, not at all. In fact, a major reason why I’m staying away from Twitter is that there are too many cliques, not enough of finding people you can actually respect. People rip on follow friday as spam, but I know for a fact there isn’t much said on Twitter that challenges people to think, or truly informs them.
ashok´s last blog ..On Socrates, Dancing and Philosophy: Xenophon, Symposium II 15-20
[Reply]
When I first joined twitter, we got followers by “Hey, you on twitter? What’s your username?”
Living in San Fran probably helped.
I’m a dinosaur. Roawhr.
Dave Doolin | Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..Learning to Blog: Finding the forest one tree at a time
[Reply]
I just notice that you posted this on 11 Sept, I guess this day sucks for many families too.
scheng1´s last blog ..Backlinks Backlinks Backlinks
[Reply]
I have to admit I do use Follow Friday but I only recommend real people who are actually fun to follow. I have found several people by looking through #ff lists, but not many. And yes I do hate the way it clutters my screen. I can’t find a damn thing on there. So I guess I am in the middle.
[Reply]