Using auto direct messages (DM) on Twitter is a bad idea.

It was a bad idea when I first joined Twitter in June 2008 – a time when there were fewer than 500,000 Tweeple in the Twitterverse. And it’s a worse idea now…particularly with 75 million users on Twitter. Why?

1. Auto DMs are spam – unsolicited and unwelcome mail. To top it off, many Twitter users also get email notifications about their DMs, so it’s actually more like a one-two spam punch – in the face. Why would anyone choose to welcome people to their “community” this way?

Welcome to <Twitter Name Here> on Twitter. We hope you enjoy experiencing learning with us.

Thank you for following the writers of <New Pub Name Here>. We are hoping that our expertise will enlighten you and make you healthy.

We produce #environmental awareness posters, decals, much more, helping companies promote #sustainability & #recycling. Please pass us along

Hi there! I’m new to Twitter so I hope you enjoy my tweets. I love solar electricity and if you want to learn about it, I’ll show it to you

Well, you might be thinking, these sound like friendly, well-intended welcome messages. Yes, they are. But they are also disruptive communications as described in the definition of spam (below). They are disruptive because they are unsolicited and may very well be irrelevant to the recipient. Auto DMs are disruptive because they constitute noise that dilutes the signal for relevant information I want to receive and the conversations I choose to participate in.

Spam: A disruptive, esp. commercial message posted on a computer network or sent as e-mail

And, yes, the worst auto DM spam is the kind that is used for advertising:

Hi, thx for following? Are you up to date with social media? <Link Here to a Book on Amazon>

Thx for connecting. Are you attending <Name of Event Here> next week? <Link to Event Here> Discount code information here.

{In the case above I was already registered, which made the spam even more annoying.}

Just because I follow you back on Twitter does not mean that I am giving you permission to market to me. A follow back on Twitter does not constitute an “opt-in” subscription to anything you perceive is valuable to your community.

2. Auto DMs are sometimes viruses – and they appear to come from people you follow. So even if you are using auto-DMs to sell a book or a workshop, how effective do you think it will be in the DM-shy world we inhabit today? Today it is rare that I will click on a URL in a DM…unless I am “expecting” specific information from a fellow Twitter user.

3. Auto DMs are for robots, not humans. Social media is about human and personal interaction. If you don’t care enough to take the time to personally “welcome” someone on Twitter, then you shouldn’t do it at all.

In my opinion, Twitter DM should be a sacred channel. It should be used conscientiously and for those moments when you:

• Must get through to someone quickly;
• Have information to share with someone that is not relevant for the entire community; or
• Have to take a Twitter conversation offline.

With almost 8 million users on Twitter it has become rather noisy – not just from the auto-DM spam, but also from the grumblings of the unhappy Tweeple – like myself – who are on the receiving end of that spam.

So, if you are looking for a way to be unfollowed before your first conversation on Twitter begins or to lose loyal followers, then try using auto DMs.

Granted, there are some people may choose to unfollow auto DMers and others who may unhappily tolerate it – which is mostly the case for me in the small city where I live. But even if you are not getting unfollowed as the result of your auto DMs, how do you know it is not just because people are being polite and tolerating you?

At the end of the day, I would rather have people happily following me rather than unhappily tolerating me.

How about you?

Chart source: RJ Metrics

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