Hi – I’m Andy and I use automatic direct messages on Twitter when you follow me. What do you think about that? Let us know in the comments…
I like them and I use them. Some people don’t – and I understand why. They have been inundated with these automated direct messages from your typical spammers – SEO consultants, Internet Marketers, Get Rich Quicks, eBook hawkers, etc.
Why do I like them? I like them because people who genuinely use these are providing another path to get to know them. It’s like meeting someone and taking their business card. It’s like signing up for an email newsletter. These are 100% opt-in. Hey you followed me – here’s some more information. The key there is you followed them – you opted in.
Why do I use them? I use them because if someone is interested in following me on Twitter, chances are they are interested in checking out my latest projects and getting to know more about me. If you follow me on Twitter, you will get an auto direct message saying “Thanks for following me! Be sure to check out http://YouMetAndy.com to learn more!”. I relate this to an Amazon or Netflix recommendation engine. If you watched “Goodfellas” you may like “Godfather”. Same thing here – if you like what I am tweeting, perhaps you are interested in other things I do.
I recently got a direct message back saying “I didn’t follow you to get ads, but I do hope you manage to use twitter to spread some good content”. I explained to them that I wasn’t sending ads, but I was trying to show them two things: 1) my blog will show you what to expect from my twitter stream 2) i hope my blog reassures you about your decision to follow me.
How do you filter the spam? Yes – people use this feature maliciously. It has given those of us who are genuinely reaching out to extend the conversation a bad image – “oh that spammer”. I use TweetLater to vet new followers. Using this service I can tell real quick whether the person requesting to follow me is a real, geniune person or if they are a spamming get rich quick robot trying to hawk an ebook at me. In the case of the second, I click “Ignore” and I never get their “Hey go to ___ and buy ___” direct message.
So what do you think? If there is an overwhelming majority of people that despise these, I want to know – I’ll quit doing it. I personally think they provide value and if you are following genuine people these should not be a problem.
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{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
In my opinion, auto-replies are not necessarily spam. I have had some good experiences from users who set nice auto messages. Some I even find helpful. For the most part though, users will follow everyone they can in the hopes of you following them. When you do follow you will get this message: “Thanks for the follow, be sure to check out my crap, It should be obvious I am amazing!”
When I get a kind-hearted auto-reply, I don’t mind so much. When I get spam, I don’t just un-follow, I block!
I’m not currently using an auto-respond service on Twitter (though I’m considering the idea).
However, I use something similar in spirit on the CSS Newbie website, wherein I send an automatic “thank you” email to anyone commenting on my site for the first time. I think in that situation it’s a great way to continue a conversation that the individual presumably was interested in having (otherwise, why comment?).
I’d consider well-written and useful auto-DMs to be in the same category. If their goal is to make a sale, they generally annoy me. But if the goal is to give me even more ways to communicate with the person, I consider it a value-added scenario.
Rob Glazebrook’s last blog post..Build a Tabbed Box with CSS and jQuery
@Justin – What would you consider a kind-hearted auto reply? Would you consider mine spam or genuine?
In my eyes it is spam. I’m already following you and if you have a strong profile and content in your stream I don’t need the link. At any rate Auto DMs on twitter just seem wrong.
Rob Jensen’s last blog post..Twitter DMer Customizes Automatic DMs
@Rob I agree with you 100%.. And I love the plugin you are using on CSS Newbie (have a question about that by the way it’s not working right for me – will email you). The plugin Rob uses sends an email out to anyone who comments to basically say thanks and to extend the conversation. I absolutely loved it right away when I got the email. I knew it was automated but it was an excellent touch to reach out to a member of his community.
I think the same about Auto Direct Messages..
Thanks for the comments – keep em coming!
@RobJensen Great point! I know you thoroughly manually vet people you follow by checking out their content and links in their profile… A lot (most?) of people just follow you on a whim because someone they follow is talking to you… In that case reaching out is great because they are not that familiar with you… Right?
So what do you think about Rob G’s comment reply plugin? Is that spam then too?
Andy I agree with your post wholeheartedly but also Rob Glazebrook. I hate getting the “Thanks for following me, your rock” or “Go buy my PDF on SEO” DM’s as those are just a waste of bandwidth, but if you are giving me more info like check out my other twitter handle or here is my friendfeed, etc. I think it is useful. I use one on my “official” @halfhrmusichr account that says, “Hey thanks for the follow, did you know DJ Chris twitter’s too? You can find him @strangedesign” I really don’t think that is spam but maybe I am wrong.
Chris from the Half Hour Music Hour’s last blog post..Half Hour Music Hour – Ep. 24 – Happy Anniversary To Us
@Chris I think what you are doing is great – extending the conversation and adding value.. Which is why I send “YouMetAndy.com” to my new followers. From there they can easily connect to me on FriendFeed, LinkedIn, etc as well as checking out my latest blog posts and more overview information beyond what twitter allows you to display…
@Andy I can’t remember your auto-message, but Rob nailed it. Your profile should give me the info I need, if you invade my space with more junk, it is likely to tick me off.
I already showed interest enough to follow you.
I guess I would have to compare it to someone coming up to you at a party, and introducing them-self. Immediately they auto-reply with their business elevator speech and hand you a business card with their contact info. To me, this is a turn off.
People talk to others for added value. The harsh reality is, people are following you not FOR you, but because they think you have something they want. That may be your character, or perhaps your knowledge. Don’t automatically assume they want to buy…
Is that a fair assessment?
Justin Brady’s last blog post..TestofTime: The Des Moines Register posted photos of the What Now? event that Justin (@justbrady) spoke at on Friday. http://tinyurl.com/djwcez
@Justin I agree with your assessment! I think the “thanks for the follow message, here’s my blog if you’re interested” adds value by sharing additional information/resources/etc to them they may not be aware of…
I guess we will agree to disagree. :-)
I think many people hate the auto DM because it’s so badly abused. Nobody likes to be spammed. Say hello, introduce yourself, say thanks for the follow, provide a useful, informative link, but don’t try and sell me. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but an overt “call to action” usually gets an immediate unfollow.
Jeremy Kendall’s last blog post..Five Reasons to Drink Blu Frog Energy
@Jeremy I think you are exactly right – it’s very badly abused and extremely hard to filter! I also hate the “Signup for my free ebook / training course” auto response. Like I said, I’ve been vetting those with TweetLater and have gmail filters setup to funnel items that slip through the cracks.
I simply use auto message it to create a bridge to similar content in a separate channel.
As the one who seemed to have inadvertently started this conversation (by sending said response via DM) I have to say this:
1) I looked at your profile page when I decided to follow you. I chose to follow back (as you followed me first, probably because I mentioned a web strategy meeting I was heading to and I assume you are tracking those terms) because you met my criteria: you had a profile pic, you had a bio, you had a non-spammy website address, and your stated interests were either directly inline with mine or laterally so.
2) I don’t like direct message automation, I don’t even like @reply automation. This is NOT Myspace where you need to say “oh hey thanks for the add.” I only add according to my criteria as stated OR if you are a friend I already had who just happened to get on twitter.
3) I have direct messages sent to me via SMS. Now I unlimited SMS so cost is not an issue to me, but I expect a DM to be something I asked for, a relevant question, or some kind of content that I would most likely find valuable. If not it’s just a needless distraction.
4) I’m not mad, didn’t unfollow or anything like that, it was just a friendly nudge to say “hey this isn’t what I wanted”
Aaron Houssian’s last blog post..Being a preferred candidate
@Aaron – Thanks for the comment and being the spark to an excellent conversation… I agree with all your points as well.. And I often vet using the same criteria – however I don’t think that is what a majority of people do, which is why I send the auto reply. And yes – I do follow based on keyword monitoring – I find it the best way to find and share with like-minded people.
@Rob, @Andy Great idea for the comments but would you do the same for someone that subscribes to your RSS feed? If so and it is well received go nuts.
I understand the value of thank you emails for comments. You want that person to come back and/or subscribe. But when you follow someone you are subscribing to their content so I don’t see a reason to send them to something else when hopefully they are picking it up through your twitter stream.
Rob Jensen’s last blog post..Twitter DMer Customizes Automatic DMs
I actually just wrote a post similar to this one this morning (http://microblink.com/go/2812). As with everyone else, I’m generally against the auto DM. If I’m following you, I’ve already checked your bio, website, and last page or so of tweets. There’s no need to regurgitate that info to me, I know it already. If you’re going to send one, it should be valuable and should make a good impression on the recipient.
@Mark Your post and Aaron’s comment are what sparked this post…
Would using something like Twitter DMer be better? Or worse? I use personalization features with aWeber email marketing and it seems to work better.
I think the simple practice of including the person’s first name (if it can be reliably retrieved) is good enough. When I receive messages that start with “Hey Mark”, it immediately makes me feel like they’re addressing me as a person and not as a number, even if it’s automated.
I think so too… I’ll probably try out the service you wrote about today for auto DM personalization.. Unless I can find similar functionality with TweetLater (which I currently use for automatic DM’s)
@mark I think you nailed it with the “no need to regurgitate that info”. @andy your link in the dm is the same as the link in your profile. if you are going to send out dm’s to everyone who starts following you why not setup a special landing page for them that adds a little more value than the site already in your profile?
Rob Jensen’s last blog post..Zugara Launches Free Twitter Designer for Custom Backgrounds
Great point
@RobJensen If you like the automated followup emails on blogs after leaving a comment, would a similarly well written “thank you” DM be over the top?
To me its all about the way it is written. As the manager of an unnamed Twitter account that gets a lot of new followers, I see a lot of direct messages coming through my inbox. I like the messages that say, “Thanks for following me,” or “Glad to connect,” but things like “I look forward to how we can do business together using my patented technology X available at [URL]“, that is too much.
I think one of the easiest ways to look at this scenario is from the perspective of meeting someone in real life. When you walk up and shake hands for the first time, then make introductions, you’re essentially exchanging direct messages. However, you don’t shake someone’s hand and then go right into a sales pitch blasting three URLs in their face and asking them to buy. What you might do is thank them for their time or for meeting you that day, then you exchange business cards and contact information. That’s like saying “Thanks for the follow. If you care to learn more about me, my personal blog is [URL].”
If you can eloquently provide valuable information in a Twitter conversation that is relevant to the user, I say go for it. Just don’t go making too many assumptions about what is valuable to users you meet on Twitter.
Mike Templeton’s last blog post..Twitter DMer Customizes Automatic DMs
I commented on this topic on Mark’s Microblink article about the auto DM client that will personalize and further hide the auto-ness of the DM to new followers. I have tracked some of the arguments for the practice being OK if the auto reply adds value and I am still not convinced.
If these type of tools are used really well by a few folks who do add value to the conversation, there will always be less skilled imitators trying to do it and failing. There are a precious few junk mailers who add some value to my life and 99% who fail. Same ratio for phone spam. The value added by the 1% doesn’t make up for the hassle caused by the sucky ones. Same thing for auto DMs. I will give the nod to Andy and some others who may do it right, that still leaves a whole bunch doing wrong and here’s the key: Is the value Andy and others add by using this technology worth trudging through the crap spewed by the 99%-ers? It had better be the best damn auto DM value-add in the world to make the practice meaningful overall – got the Lottery numbers?
Ben Stone’s last blog post..Colbert Discusses Discrimination
Based on all the feedback here I’m keeping my automatic direct messages but changing the actual message. I’ve been spending more and more time on FriendFeed lately so my automated direct messages have changed to bridge the gap to my other favorite social network.
If you follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/abrudtkuhl), you will now get the response “Thanks for following me. I also spend a lot of time on FriendFeed if you wish to join! http://friendfeed.com/abrudtkuhl”
If you follow WebStrategyShop (http://twitter.com/WebStrategyShop) you will get the message “Thanks for following us! If you want to join the conversation, check out our FriendFeed room at http://friendfeed.com/rooms/web-strategy-workshop”
I hope this adds more value than just trying to get people back to the website. I’m attempting to create one more channel of interaction.
How does that sound? Better? Worse?
Better, you are referring to something that is not readily apparent from your profile page. It’s not “wow” yet but better.
Aaron Houssian’s last blog post..Social Media Design
I had a better idea, but alas it was going to take more time than I felt it was worth.
I would agree, with what seems to be the majority of the comments here, that the extra Direct Message is annoying. It is not bothersome enough to unfollow you or someone, rather its about the same level of annoyance as when you are trying to get off the phone with your mom but she’s making it incredibly difficult to say good bye. Its just unnecessary. My logic: Unnecessary == useless == mildly annoying.
Love the “Mom Phone Call” analogy. I still think it’s useful and extends the conversation.. Afterall, it’s only one little message to try to make another connection.
Andy, I don’t think you need to worry about extending the conversation — if you continue to post blog articles like this — this is far more engaging than that pesky little DM message.
I have turned this off… It is apparent that it’s not in the best interest of the people who follow me..
Still don’t think I was spamming… but I am always looking to add value – and it seems that this does not add enough (if any) value to the community.
Andy Brudtkuhl’s last blog post..A Conversation with Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com
So I read over responses to your post. I manage my companies twitter site, @loyalty360, and here recently our direct message have not been going out. I am trying to find a new site to sent auto DM’s but I am seeing an overwhelming dislike of direct messages. While I agree that they are sort of spam-like, traffic to our Facebook page, which was listed in the DM, has decreased since not sending them. What are your throughts?
I think it comes down to personal preference… I think auto DM’s are useful when they add value.. I had been using TweetLater to manage the auto direct messages on my accounts. In your case I think it’s perfectly fine to send your Facebook url in an auto DM.
However you may experience backlash, and I have also experienced less traffic. Additionally, services like SocialToo have started blocking auto-DM’s as well offering an option to auto unfollow anyone who uses them… http://blog.socialtoo.com/2009/02/28/time-to-take-a-stand-yes-were-ending-the-dms/
No I don't consider tools like this to be spam as long as they are used appropriately, and not to inundate the recipient with worthless messages or advertising
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Thanks – we are still do it in some contexts