Dodge Communications

Twitter is rapidly becoming an everyday tool for all businesses, including healthcare IT companies. As this social network becomes more entrenched in the marketing and PR world, people need to understand ways to successfully use Twitter to promote their company or brand. After finding ways to attract fellow Tweeters to follow an account, people running the page need to know how keep people from unfollowing that same micro-blog. Below are some reasons why people stop following other Tweeters and ways to avoid this from happening:

1. You share too much information: Although the main question Twitter poses is “what you are doing,” most people do not care if you are brushing your teeth or sitting on the porch. Twitter is meant to start a conversation, and the only way that you can do that is by providing valuable information to your followers.
2. You are constantly updating your status: Similar to reason number one, constantly updating your status on Twitter will annoy followers and they will not be able to see what the other Twitter accounts have to say. Unless you are in the middle of a major crisis or an interesting event, avoid repeated back-to-back tweets.
3. You refuse to post a picture or profile information: This is important because there are hundreds of John Smith’s out there – make sure that people can differentiate you from everyone else with the same name. If you provide clues about who you are and your interests, you will be able to attract appropriate Tweeters from the beginning and they will know what to expect from you in the future.
4. You tweet about things that you do not care about: Retweeting a friend or associate may seem like a great way to get on their good side, but could cause trouble for you. If your followers want to engage you in a conversation on the topic, you will lose credibility when you can’t or won’t discuss the topic. Stick to topics that you know about and are willing to discuss.
5. You inappropriately tweet about politics or controversial issues: If you happen to be Don Imus or Rush Limbaugh, who are paid to be controversial, you can tweet about anything you like regardless of who you insult. Otherwise, discussing these topics will probably offend at least one of your followers. Even on Twitter, the age old rule of not discussing politics, money or religion with people you don’t know is still a good one to live by.
6. You belittle people or places, even though they are following you: Just ask James Andrews how negatively tweeting about Memphis worked for him. Even though the PR practitioner apologized and explained his comments about the city, the comments are still available on the Internet and the event shows how enraged people can become by a tweet that is disparaging to any part of their life.
7. You are overly passionate about your favorite company, team or brand: Don’t shove your passions down everyone’s throats. Like reason number one that people stop following you, you need to know and understand that there should be a balance on the social network. Twitter is about your personality and the information that you can share. Unless you are part of the team or organization, try to only tweet about your favorite things every once in a while. However, if you have to tweet about your passions, you can set up a separate account for this type of tweeting and make sure that you only have followers that want to receive your impassioned messages.
8. You refuse to show any personality: Once again, you have to strike a balance. Twitter may be a professional outlet for you, but you can show some personality. Tweeting about an interesting article you just read or how excited you are about an upcoming event will add some dimension to your online presence and will help followers connect with you.
9. You are always negative: Do you want to be friends with someone who only spouts out negative ideas or thoughts? Constant negativity is not only bad for your health, but also for your networking relationships. This practice could earn you a reputation of never being happy or satisfied.
10. You are afraid to tweet: Everyone has that follower that updates their Twitter page once a month – that is not the point of Twitter. The point is to start and continue a conversation. If you are not tweeting on a regular basis, no one will want to continue that conversation with you.

Are there any reasons why you stop following people on Twitter? How do you avoid losing followers on the micro-blogging site?