The great Twitter cleanup

Photo: Kate Ter Haar (CC)

I hit the Twitter limit for following others … again. (On my @YallConnect account.)

I unfollowed 800 tweeps. Last time, I unfollowed just 250.

Such is life on Twitter.

Don’t agonize over it as I have, even if it violates a sacred tenet: Brands shouldn’t unfollow anyone.

Most of those tweeps won’t notice a missing follower. Those that do have only to ask and I’ll refollow.

This one-time cleanup will help the account avoid the 2,000-follow limit for about 18 months, longer if the followers increase quickly.

And it gave me a chance to try out another free tool. Previously, I used Unfollowers.com.

This time, I tried UnfollowerStats and was pleased with the interface, the efficiency. They share similar features in examining your Twitter followers and those being followed.

UnfollowerStats made it easy to drop 800 people I had been following in one session, without running into the Twitter limit of only 100 drops per 24 hours. I don’t think I would’ve had the patience to drop 100 tweeps a day for a week.

While I don’t want your brand account to unfollow anyone, I do want you to get the most out of Twitter. To me, that means following people who add something to the community: information, laughs, interaction or perspective.

Take a half-hour to clean up each account. And be judicious about managing who you follow and who you add to Twitter lists.

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