Am I abusing you...
Monday, November 23, 2009 at 1:03PM I sent out a tweet this morning that was a blatant ad for the special offer on ScreenCastsOnline membership.
No question - it was an ad and I even ended the tweet with the flippant comment "End of commercial"
The reason for posting - a completely spur of the moment decision. I've been running a special discount all month and this is the last week of the offer. The tweet was not premeditated, I just thought it marked a point in time and some people might find it useful.
I had no complaints, in fact I had one thank you!
Unexpectedly, the tweet has been retweeted several times - thanks for that!
I did several other unrelated tweets but then, half jokingly, my buddy Jonathan Cost from the Mac Tips Daily podcast sent me a tweet saying:
Careful don, with all of the Twitter ad controversy this week, somebody is bound to say 'he didn't tag it with #ads' so I can filter. I'm unfollowing him!
This got me thinking!
Now I'm really not overly concerned about people un-following me, really, I'm not.
OK, so just a little bit!
I'm really more concerned with people thinking I might be abusing my twitter stream by overly self promoting the content I'm creating?
In the early days, I had a real beef with people who posted blog links to Twitter. I saw it as inappropriate and un-necessary as that's what RSS was for wasn't it? I've long since changed my opinion on that, as I tend to use my RSS reader less and less and have become more reliant on real time notifications of blog posts by people I follow.
But back to my case, yes, I usually post a link to my daily blog post each day, and whenever a new show is published, I link to that too. And usually that's it. The bulk of the of my weekly tweeting is helping people out with queries (both ScreenCastsOnline related and not), spouting some opinion, reposting interesting tweets and conversing with lots and lots of people.
Now I've started to create YouTube Video Comments on my ScreenCastsOnline YouTube channel and I'm in the process of publishing a new one for today.
Do I tweet links to those too?
Do I tag them with #ads as Jonathan suggests, so you can filter them out (not sure how you'd do that actually!)
Do I move all my tweeting of personal links to my @sconline twitter account? I nearly posted a tweet announcing I was going to do that, but decided on writing this blog post instead. That would mean that all the people following @donmcallister would then have to follow @sconline as well?
My gut feeling is that I have the balance right and don't abuse those following my twitter stream, and I genuinely feel that the majority of people who follow me on Twitter, really don't mind the personal links, in fact, that's why some of them follow me in the first place?
Do I need to start tagging with #ads or should I just carry on and accept that those that really don't like the limited "self promotion" aspect of my Twitter stream should just unfollow me?
Thoughts?
Reader Comments (22)
The way I see it, if people are following you they know you're the SCO guy. If people are following me, they know I'm the tech guy. Follow Kevin Rose, you know he's the Digg guy. My point is that if they're following you, they expect to hear about your business, and are actually signing up for it by following.
I fear I may be oversimplifying things though, and sooner or later the twitter police will get us all :)
I dont think it's a big deal if you didn't use #ads. If there's anyone that upset for you doing it once, honestly, there's nothing you could do about it, you'd be bound to offend them about something else.
If you're going to do it all the time... sure, use the hash. That's fair game play. If you want to put links to your other content... PLEASE. The reason we follow you is because we're interested in what you have to say. I think your balance is great, and I appreciate your stream :-) Rock on!
I think you are right on target Don! There's far too much whining in the twitterverse about ads and spammers. There will always be people who unfollow at the slightest hint of self-promotion. If you provide good information (you do) and a quality service/product (you do) and you are personable (you are) then you will generate a group of followers who will appreciate what you have to say.
Don't worry about it.
Short answer - You do have the right balance. You are promoting your own show and business. You don't do it to "over-kill".
I thought the whole '#ads' tag was for sponsored tweets. That I have another whole opinion on. I don't feel you promoting your blog or podcast falls under the category of an ad. My 2¢.
i would go with #ads for anything that links to something which requires money. it only takes 4 characters and then anyone that wants to filter can:
http://atebits.posterous.com/test-filtering-in-tweetie-for-mac
i think there is a distinction between tweeting *about* your business rather than the business itself. i like reading about your encoding issues and deciding which is the optimal input device for video editing and telling me there is a new blog post or free video. i would just prefer when there is money in the equation for it to be clearly delineated
just my thoughts and keep up the great work - loved the LaunchBar series
The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Most, if not all of us who follow you know that you are running a business. Not only that but your business is beneficial to those of us who are Mac users.
I would say carry on as you are Don. I can imagine that the complaints are far and few between and definitely in the minority and therefore should be treated as such.
If you ever make a big faux pa we will be the first to tell you but in the meantime just keep up the excellent work Don.
Don, I’ve never found myself frustrated at any self-promotion you have done on Twitter. I am probably signifcantly biased as a completely paid up and loyal Extra member, but I really enjoy seeing links to new content that you have put out in semi-real time on Twitter and I don’t at all mind the occasional discount reminder tweet like the one you refer to here.
I cannot think of a single occasion where I would have disagreed with your judgement on self-promotion; the very fact you spend this much time and effort trying to get this issue ‘right’ demonstrates how much you value the integrity of yourself and of ScreenCastsOnline.
I guess what I’m trying to say is: don’t worry about it so much. I think more often than not you will err on the side of caution already!
Don,
I personally follow you for a few reasons, your friendly and informative tweets, your SCO and YouTube comments content, I like to know what you've got planned and when new things come out.
I'd never say you're abusing your Twitter feed for the purposes of self promotion. If anything I'm more guilty of that than you are!
Keep up the great work, I love SCO and count you as a friend!
I think you have the balance just right - people follow you because they like you, AND they like your content. We want both! So please don't add the ads tag, and please do link to your youtube vids too. No one will mind, I'm sure.
I set up a separate twitter account for our business, but never post to it really, and I think people prefer to follow me as a person anyway, and still get our business news.
I wondered too with why you don't post your youtube comments here too, embedded on your blog - it's videoblogging after all, and most people who love blogs love videoblogs too.
Hi Don, Not an issue at all. Like you I use Twitter more than Google Reader now for notifications - I would like you to post on Twitter when you load to the YTC too. If people don't like it they can unfollow but I can't see that happening.
I'm with Oliver...forget about it. By following your SCO account, I expect any and all announcements about what you're doing with SCO as the principle content If anyone complains about that, they're following that account for the wrong reasons.
---Chuck
Don, IMHO you should only change what you do if you have a LOT of complaints.
Social network sites like Twitter are a sort of self-managing democracy. Like real-world elections, the constituency will have a broad range of views - some will like, some will not, but only a subset will be so moved by the issue to contact you on it one way or another.
You can consider the responses you receive as representative of a larger silent body, but only when the overall number rises to a significant level. One or two comments in either direction are too individual to be extrapolated to a general consensus - something that Internet Trolls could do well to bear in mind when they get flamed up... but I digress.
Of course, with Twitter you could just get a pile of unfollows, without any communication. But I would have though most reasonable people would not do that an a whim, but only after a period of dissatisfaction - and as such you would probably be aware of it anyway due to a rise in neagtive comments.
The key thing for me is that self-promotion is not the only thing you do on Twitter - you tweet widely, comment personally and do a lot of interaction. Given that, as well as the fact that your business is germane to most of your followers, and I don't see an issue with it myself.
How key do you see Twitter to your subscription base? Is there a significant correlation between your followers and subscriber numbers? I'm always a little conscious in these debates that the Internet is fickle, and Twitter could just go away very quickly...
David.
Don,
Transparency is the key here. You are promoting your own business. You need to make a living. You are not doing sponsored tweets. Who could argue that the use of twitter as self-promotion was against the "twitterverse rules" when the twittering tweeters make the rules? Keep the balance as transparent as you have been, and you are well shot of the huffy, fickle ones!
(Disclosure: Fully paid up ( and just renewed) member of SCO, as I think anybody with a Mac should be!)
Don,
I think you have it right at the moment. When it comes to the YouTube links, I think it depends on how often you create YouTube videos. If it is daily, then I think leave them out. If it is more of a weekly thing then add the links to YouTube videos to your Twitter feed.
You can't keep all the people happy all of the time, that's for sure. If some one is following you then they know what to expect because they want to know what you are doing. That is why they followed you in the first place.
Your business is to sell your subscriptions for your ScreencastsOnline. To throw in a blatant advert once in a blue moon, well why not?
I doubt if it will affect your numbers of followers greatly anyway.
Hi Don,
Don't worry too much about it, I personally didn't think your note about your discount was an advert, just a "public service announcement". I follow you because of who you are, and who you are has a lot to do with what you do.
To be an advert would be if I tweeted about your discount scheme and I was to benefit of it, by means of an affiliate link.
But if you as the sole proprietor of your company tweet about it, it really is information. If one doesn't like it, he would find objection with the hash-tag and beyond :)
Keep up the good work, I enjoy your increased usage of Social Media, we've got a lot to learn from you...
Claus
Well I think that just about covers it!
I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and ignore the Twitter police.
In all honesty, I've never had a complaint but my approach is never to get in that position. Hence the need for a quick reality check and strawpoll.
I like the "Public Service Announcement" angle - that's pretty much what it feels like rather than blatant self promotion :-)
Thanks so much for all the positive feedback!
Don
Thanks for reminder about the last full week of the discounts. I forget.
I think #ads should be for links to things you DON'T create, but that you are getting a kick back for. If you are tweeting about SCO, then your followers know what they signed up for. I think you have the right balance. I don't consider tweets about YOUR business, #ads. If you decided to start posting all your SCO and Youtube links to a seperate Twitter account, I would just follow that one as well. Carry on Don!
Don, I find the links and adverts very useful. I have found that most of my useful information regarding SCO and other mac sources (which I didn't know about) have been from following you on twitter and being a SCO member of course.
Cheers
Mike
hi, Surly people follow your for that reason. To see your tweets regarding your latest podcast, offers and words of wisdom. Twitter is one big free add agency!
Don I was surprised to read this, I didn't even consider your tweets to be the type of advert which needed #ads I chose to follow you after watching your free screencasts then listening to you on MBW podcasts. I am also enjoying the YouTube links. The screencasts are excellent & the offer encouraged me to register ( I heard about it via the podcast) others tweet to have numbers on their follow list you have quality video content in all formats to help your followers. I have learnt a lot from your tweets/links.