One of the more annoying things about Facebook is its constant suggestions of people I should follow. I can see how it might be helpful, but, for some, it may be more of a bother. There are some accounts that I have already followed and unfollowed for a reason. This will be the main gripe shared by critics of this feature. Nobody wants to be reminded of someone they had to unfollow. What is great about this feature? Everyone from beginners using Twitter for purely social reasons to businesses and community managers trying to expand their reach will now be able to find new people to follow without the need of keyword searches and third party list building tools.
Twitter’s newest feature: Suggestions for You is likely to decrease the number of Twitter quitters. Who to Follow suggests users for you based on who you follow and who your followers follow. For the critics, you can hide names of users that you do not want suggested to you.
Twitter quitters are those who stop using the service after just one month; and, that statistic was at 60% last year. People who start using Twitter likely do so based on a recommendation from a friend or colleague. There are many Generation X and Baby Boomers who use Twitter and determine who to follow based on these established connections, finding value easily. Some members of Generation Y may have a harder time, though, once they find that the celebrities they decided to follow first don’t respond back to them, causing them to wonder: “What is the big deal with Twitter?” In 2009, Pete Cashmore of Mashable wrote:
The question is, how can Twitter make sure that users stick around for the long haul? What is it about Facebook and MySpace that make them so appealing? Could it be, possibly, that finding friends on Twitter remains harder than doing so on other social networks?
Maybe “Suggestions for You” is just what Twitter needs to keep its newbies around longer. The Twitter veterans, however, might just continue using #FollowFriday.
Comments
Another great post Chanelle, I think that the Twitter feature is a lot more precise than the Facebook feature which regularly recommends me to people I've never heard of!
Hey Chanelle,
I have to say that Jasmine is probably right..I've not checked this out yet, but it can't be any less accurate than the FB feature. Thanks for the heads up on this one, heading off to try it now!
Thank you, Jasmine. I hope it's better myself. I have already seen some good names.
Thanks, Gurl!
I am an avid user of both fb and twitter. I like the twitter version better because if I really wanted to be friends with those people I likely would have found them alreaady while on twitter you sometimes have no idea where to look.
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