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Hello my name is Stephanie and I’m a Twitter addict.
Actually addict is an understatement I believe the term is Twitterpated.
At the risk of sounding pathetic checking my Twitter feed is the first thing I do every morning and the last thing I do at night.
Over the years I followed people I knew in real life. I followed who commented on my blog. I followed people who my friends followed. I followed people who mentioned me. I followed people who interested me in Twitter chats I followed people I met at conferences. I followed general interest accounts and brands.
Somewhere along the way I was following over 2,000 accounts.
And then Twitter got completely overwhelming.
I was missing updates from people I felt were worth following.
The never ending cascade of links were still interesting but so many of them were being shared by people I had no idea why I was following.
To add to the noise some of the people I enjoyed following were tweeting out links to the same content several times a day.
So I stopped following them.
A few weeks ago I went through and unfollowed a bunch of people.
My following list plummeted to a 1,000 and, dare I say it, I created a private ‘one list to rule them all’ of my ‘Best of Twitter.’
The change was immediate.
I felt more connected even though my network was a lot smaller.
So an important lesson, a Twitter PLN is a lot like a garden you’ve got to tend to tend to it.
Unfollowing people is a bit of a touchy subject as there is a risk of hurt feelings. I remember a few years ago one of my real-life acquaintances sheepishly admitted she had unfollowed me as I tweeted so much about education.
The confession didn’t worry me in the slightest. I’m a teacher so I’m going to be tweeting about education.
Twitter isn’t a contest.
It shouldn’t be a place where you worry about who follows you but more about who you want follow to make the experience worthwhile for you.
And if you find the right combination of people to follow, then that’s just awesome.
from Teaching the Teacher http://ift.tt/1zSNUXC
Teaching the Teacher 
Hi Steph… firstly, I am honoured that you are still following me! Secondly, I am glad I am not the only one who has worked through the same revelation. It was especially the noise that you describe as “some of the people I enjoyed following were tweeting out links to the same content several times a day”. Unfollowing is a touchy subject. I have unfollowed two very dear friends whom I know face to face. I think they were offended but I was overwhelmed by their many tweets that swallowed up my tweetdeck. I still tweet them, still catch up on what they are sharing and love actually catching up with them face to face when I can.
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HI Claire. Thanks for stopping by. I’m wondering why unfollowing is such a touchy subject. Why do people take it so personally?
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