Seriously, what is going on with Twitter?

[Testaccount]

So, to expand my writer platform, I decided to start using Twitter. At one point, I gained 5-10 new followers every week, but then suddenly, all the followers started to drop off.

And before anyone asks, no, I don't complain on my Twitter account. I only tweet about writing, short stories, or poems.

I just find Twitter odd that so many people will follow and then just unfollow. Does anyone else have this experience on Twitter? I have some loyal followers, but I'm frankly getting tired of all this follow and unfollow after two days. I did read some articles stating that on Twitter, when people follow, they expect a follow back.

If anyone here uses Twitter a lot, can I get some advice? I'm finding Twitter is a big waste of time, and I may drop it until #Pitmad comes around again.

[LenaPresents]

Have you followed other creators? Follow your favorite creators and creators you're friends with and just people who create similar things (for example, if you create fantasy, some fantasy creators). Interact. I've also learned that tweeting interesting things helps.

For example, giving writing tips or posting "this new chapter is so hard" will only get you so far.

But something like "When your character does shxt even though you told them not to insert funny gif" will get your further. And then you can use tags like #amdrawing or #amwriting etc to bring up your exposure.

I wanted to stay non-political, but I failed at that. My top tweets are political whether about writing politics or government politics (though much less of the latter happens). Anyway, a lot of followers want to follow interesting people. So post interesting things. Posting nothing but "Look! I wrote this!" isn't interesting, tbh.

[Testaccount]

Thanks, and yes, I do follow other creators and those are the loyal ones I was talking about. Also, yes, I already use the tags #amwriting, #pmwriting, #NaNoWriMo2017, etc.

I'll think about trying to write more interesting things, but I do agree, most people don't care about what someone wrote. From what you told me, it sounds like I don't really need to worry about Twitter right now. I aim to finish my stories and post my work, so I'll come up some interesting things to post later.

Thank you for your advice; I appreciate it.

[LenaPresents]

Yeah, Twitter is a hit or miss---you can do everything right and still go unnoticed. :shrug: There are other ways to reach people, so don't stress over it too much. Good luck!

[Testaccount]

Thanks, and yeah, it does seem hit or miss.

I try to make time for all my online endeavors, but Twitter just doesn't seem worth it at the moment. Maybe once I build up more of a following here, I'll focus on Twitter again in the future.

[zigmenthotep]

when people follow, they expect a follow back.

more or less, I've found that a really large chunk of followers you get on Twitter (and Instagram) are only following you so you'll look at their profile, that's also why you occasionally get the same user following and unfollowing over and over.
Also A LOT of people use automated following/liking scripts.

[Testaccount]

Thanks! I've read many articles about Twitter that said the same thing. I'll probably write Twitter off for now until I build up a bigger following of readers. It's sad, though, I do like Twitter, but I don't like the game of following and unfollowing.

[zigmenthotep]

Well if you like Twitter, use it. You don't have to play the game.

[ISNEKO]

I only use Twitter to talk to other creators I already know. Hashtags like #amwriting are just abused mechanisms to advertise with. I've been followed and unfollowed and followed again by so many writers, producers, and animators that it's just comical to me now. Fucking scripters and botters that may not even tweet ever.

[Rhombik]

I quite like Twitter. I don't really use it to say anything on my feed though. I update and get into chats on other Twitter feeds.

The follow to get followers thing seems to be everywhere. It's like the most extraordinarily bad way of marketing yourself.

[Testaccount]

Thanks for your input. I've already left Twitter behind, but it's good to know how such a common problem it is.

[flibbygibb]

It can feel like shouting into a void at times!

I highly recommend using something like Buffer for tweets. Sometimes it can be a bit of a drag having to post on Twitter but with Buffer you just write up a load of tweets and schedule when to post them. They have a paid version but the free version suits my needs fine.

Since using it I've noticed I get a bit more interest than I used to, not a ton but a bit which is encouraging. Using hashtags helps alot too

Also the follow and unfollow is usually because that person uses a bot to follow people with certain keywords. I once had the same blogger follow and unfollow me about 6 times in the space of two weeks!

[scythe]

Over 50% of twitter accounts are bots. Not sure that applies here, but I just wanted to point out that the platform is in disarray. And it's not making any money, its share price is not far off rock bottom, it's censoring and shadow banning everything interesting, the people who run it are partisan hypocrites and one of their major shareholders is a member of a royall family which rules a country where they still practise slavery, but all that aside...

A HUGE number of twitter users use follow-me-back type automated apps, which means, they'll follow a bunch of people automatically, then automatically unfollow anyone who doesn't follow back within a given timeframe.

Long story shot, without drastic changes, these could be the end times for the platform, which is a shame, because the original concept was good.

[Testaccount]

Thanks for the insight. I decided to stop using Twitter for now, but I agree with you, the platform is a mess. I really dislike the whole follow and unfollow thing.

[darkone4587]

Twitter is a good way of connecting with your audience, but it's a terrible way of building an audience. Truth be told a good number of your followers will be people trying to get follow backs or just curious looky lews. If your trying to expand I suggest using tags effectively and at the very least you'll get more appropriate eyes on your works.

[Shanny8]

People will come and go on Twitter all day. The only thing that matters is the people that stick around to hear what you have to say.

[anitacomics]

I was surprised for the same things when I started using Twitter. I only start to follow people if I'm really interested in them, but that might be a rarity <.< I've got people following me after I liked one of their tweets, then unfollowing me the day after. Wtf.

Anyway, I think the quality of the followers is way more important than the number. I finally have some people retweeting and replying to me, and it's awesome!