Michael Hyatt, a man I respect a great deal,
took a step in the same direction as Chris Brogan and is ‘un-following’ all of
100,000+ twitter pals.
I was one of them.
Now, I don’t know Mr. Hyatt personally. When I first started
twitter two months ago, I despaired of ever finding any followers, as I have a pretty
small social circle. Through a twitter link I was introduced to Mr. Hyatt’s
blog and, as I’m both a Christian and a writer and he speaks to both, I
followed him on twitter to keep up with his blog posts.
Much to my surprise, he followed me back!
Now that was a huge lift to my twitt-esteem. Here was the
head of Thomas Nelson Publishing, following me back on twitter! Who wouldn’t
get a little lift from that?
Only two short months later, and I’m off the team. @MichaelHyatt is no longer
following me. But I’m not upset by that. Want to know why?
Because he was honest. He stated publically his policy to
follow back people who follow him. I found that out soon after he followed me
back. Even though it means I’m not ‘special,’ I still think he was gracious to
do so. And when he decided to implement the Great Un-follow Social Experiment, and
I was one of the first casualties, he was honest about that as well. In effect
he said, “Hey, nothing personal, but twitter spam is a huge Monster, and I want
to defeat it.” Gracious, even while disconnecting.
So, because @MichaelHyatt no longer follows me, does that mean I’m going to
un-follow him?
Absolutely not. I follow @MichaelHyatt because he is a
sharer of knowledge, a giver of insight, an inspirational leader. I followed him
without any expectation he’d follow me back. But as a newbie, I’m gathering a
social circle much slower than average. I could see this as a huge blow. But I
won’t.
Because I am not my twitter feed.
I’m more than that. Just as Mr. Hyatt didn’t pay me any
particular regard in following me, he didn’t pay me any insult in un-following,
either. I will continue to follow his tweets, click his links and learn from
his blog posts. Why?
Because I wish @MichaelHyatt well and hope he finds Twitter peace.
Meanwhile, I will continue to build my tribe, one important,
significant person at a time. Some may be ‘power users’ but most will be just
like me, slow-builders, low burners… And
we will connect as we gain trust for each other.
JuliaDAlexander 