Note: Guest Blog Post by Mr. Shawn Poh (tweeting @Lovtoo). More details about Shawn after the post. By the way, two more follower types and pictures (to spice up the post) were added by me @arkarthick 
When someone or something follows you on Twitter, what do you do?
Image Credit: (C) Rob Cottingham > http://www.robcottingham.ca/cartoon
Though I cannot speak for others, I for one can say that I feel the slight obligation to see if the other party is follow-back-worthy.
So, I move my cursor over to the name of said follower. And at that instant, I begin Judgment. Call me judgmental, or even arrogant! But the truth is some things I simply don’t enjoy seeing in my stream.
Therefore, here I am, presenting you 10 types of guys I don’t follow back on Twitter:
1. The popular silent guy:
You’ve got zero tweet but tons of followers.
Image Source
2. The once-in-a-lifetime squeaker:
Your tweets have cobwebs between them. If I can see a tweet from Oct ’09 or older, in the first page of your stream, I’m not following you.
Image (C) Sipress | via Pulpfactor
3. The devoted salesman:
The only thing you ever talk about is your own product / brand.
Image Credit: ICanHasCheezburger
4. The Scammy-feely-type:
Have you tweeted the following or any variations of them?
“Wanna just sit at home and reap in life’s rewards??” or
“Psst, come over here, I’ve got some candy… Just hop in my van~ It’ll be fun~~” or
“I was a loser, but now I don’t work and I’m making heaps of money online!! Wanna know my secret? Give me money and I’ll tell you~” and/or
“I am prince from Nigeria”
Image Credit: ICanHasCheezburger | via http://yepthathurt.wordpress.com
5. The spoilt child:
You don’t share. Like, ever.
Image Credit: (C) Tony Gigov | http://www.pink-sheep.com/twitter-nonsense/
6. The type I simply don’t like:
I’m just not that into you. It’s not you, it’s me. <Insert random breakup cliché>
Image Credit: http://www.juslikemusic.com/
7. The machine-gunner:
You tweet 3 times in a minute. I call that burst-fire. If you tweet any more than that, you’re fully automatic. (Slight gun knowledge required here)
Click to enlarge
Image Credit: Geek And Poke | (C) Oliver Widder
8. The troll (I actually don’t have a troll of my own… Not yet, at the very least):
You find problems with everyone and everything, attempt to insult everyone and everything, but proffer no solutions for anyone or anything.
Image Credit: MotivatedPhotos
9. The “Speak-to-my-hand”:
You don’t have a single @ mention / reply in your stream. Zero!
Image Credit: ICanHasCheezburger
10. The communication barrier:
You only tweet in a language that I don’t understand… We’re not meant to be…
Image Credit: (C) Josh Fassbind | Source
Note: Added two more follow types I don’t follow back on Twitter… after the Author box.
Author Box:
Shawn Poh is one of my Twitter buddies from Singapore. He is 24 years old, pretty pragmatic and a guy with a lot of dreams, voice and a passion; A passion to make a difference. He is blogging his heart out on Because you love it too! You can follow him on Twitter (@Lovtoo) and connect with him on Facebook too. Thanks a lot Shawn for your ‘hit the nail on the head’ kinda post.
P.S. If you like to do a guest post on arkarthick.com, please contact me HERE with the subject line : Guest Post (or) send me a DM on Twitter @arkarthick.
Well, I like to add two more follower types (that Shawn didn’t mention) I don’t follow back on Twitter:
11. A guy with no profile picture (or) with the default Twitter profile picture [bird/egg] (or) with the NSFW picture. Instant karma: Not following you back.
12. A guy with no bio info (or) link to their web presence (or) location. If I can’t tell who you are and what you are doing, how can I follow you?
What do you guys think? Do you have a twitter follower type to add/remove? Please have your say in the comments section to thrill us.
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Great post! I have to admit I pretty much feel the exact same way on all counts. I like the pictures you added for each point.
Thanks Scott for the comments. I agree, most of us feel the same way.
Good points listed! Now I would like to know what kind of tweeps you DO follow
Hi Rahul, well, it’s pretty easy to answer: x-12 types where ‘x’ is the type we follow
and thanks for dropping by.
Ola, Mr Rahul~
Heh if I ever get around to writing it, I’ll post it on your blog? =D
If the offer still stands, that is~
Shawn (@lovtoo)
there a a couple more i can think of .. political- there are those that i block because they choose to get personal w/those who’s views differ from theirs & i don’t want world war III on my timeline. the other, twice, i was followed by two diffrnt ppl on 2 diffrnt sides of the same state with the same profile pic & no bio.. not sure what to do, do i just let thm follow me til they get bored? or do i block thm???
Political type? interesting one! But not everyone will agree. It’s more of the personal choice. For the second part of your question, if the follower has the same profile & pic and no bio, looks like the spammer or bot and don’t hesitate to unfollow or even block them.
Yikes, Shawn & A.R.,
When I’m actually online, about an hour a day, I think I’m number 7! (machine gunner). I guess I’m lucky you guys followed me before you wrote this post! *wink*
Fun stuff. Thanks for sharing
Hugs to you both, Terri
Love your comment & confession Terri
. IMHO you’re not number 7. We are very glad to follow you though. Keep on coming up with your awesome tweets. Thanks for the response.
Ola, Ms Terri~
Heh glad to see you there!
Haha I’m afraid I didn’t do a good job elaborating that segment. 3 a min is good~ (semi-auto) but when it gets into fully-automatic, that’s when things go awry. Still, as a participant of awesome initiatives like #SBT10 and #blogchat, I understand that sometimes, fully automatic is the way to go~
There are always exceptions and generalizations~
Thanks for commenting~ We need to talk soon~
I drop anyone with an animated profile picture
But not all of them are bad to follow, at least in my experience. Again, it is up to you to decide.
OMG~!! This is SO FUNNY~!!! Just love the illustrations and the words conjured up some fine images on their own~!! HILARIOUS, Shawn~!! Have to agree about most of these, too, though I’ve been known to tweet 3 times in a minute, I try to avoid it
rotfl~!!
GREAT POST~!!
x0x
@AnitaNelson @ModelSupplies
Thank you very much for the uber-cool reply, Anita. Shawn came up with the cracking one. 3 tweets/min is not a sin if it is done once in a while. But when someone doing it 365 x 24 x 7 = simply intolerable
Thanks almighty, you’re definitely not belong to that list.
Ooh! Ms Anita~~
Heh Thanks for all the kind words~ Heh I’m afraid I can’t claim credit for the images though.. that was all Mr Karthik! They made me LOL too~
Always great to see you~
Take care now~
Shawn (@lovtoo)
One I don’t follow is someone who sends me a message like this:
“I’m learning , and you’re really good at it. Can you follow me so I can send you DM’s to ask questions?”
Umm, no, I’m not willing to be your personal support person …. especially not for free.
If it’s an automated DM and that too a welcome (first) message, you’re pretty correct & definite case of unfollow. Add type number 13 here. Thanks for your valuable comment.
great thoughts, I agree completely! I like how you mention ‘you start judgment’… absolutely, that’s the only way. On the web we’ve got to make first impressions count!
Love this post and how you put it together. I agree with all of them. Quality is better than quantity.
I’m not much of a fan of the machine gunner myself. Glad (at least) someone else feels the same way
I also don’t follow back those mass followers. I don’t mind not having a lot of followers – as long as they read and actually respond to (some of) my tweets. Mass followers follow as many people as they can solely for the numbers and rarely share anything interesting. No such place in my timeline.
I can usually tell which one is a mass follower by looking at the group of icons under their following. If I check a follower’s profile shortly after the notification and don’t see my avatar in the group, that’s the strike out. I was merely included in a batch of people the guy/gal’s bot choose to follow in the hopes of a follow back.
Nice list. I can think of a few others I don’t follow back:
1. religious fanatics, who think I need to be rescued.
2. people who use twitter as their soapbox from where they talk about their political opinions.
3. people who defend their right to wear firearms
4. people who tell me about their very borring life (like: oh, got up a little late today, am going to the cantina for lunch, now I am tired and go to bed)
adding people who do long “follow friday” trains, tweet quotes all day long or are avid “foursquare” users. annoying!!
Ahhhh I’m one of those that do #FF trains~~ Noted.. will tone it down~ =D
I actually don’t mind *some* machine gunners – the ones who post interesting URLS from different sources and don’t repeat their tweets. Even if I’m not interested in every single article, there’s usually at least one that catches my eye. It’s the people who constantly repeat their own tweets that get on my nerves.
Well said~ What’s not to like about massive quantities of quality content? But when it starts to flood the entire stream, it can get annoying..
I don’t really mind repeated tweets.. As a pseudo blogger myself, I understand the impact time has on the outreach of each shoutout. To be able to broadcast the message effectively to all parts of the World, repeated tweets are sometimes a necessity. However, there too, is a limit to this.. Mine is whenever I see the same tweet repeated within an hour.
Would you mind if we added your suggestions to the list? =D
I unfollow porn people, or anyone that swears on twitter better than I’d swear in person.
You make a good point! I don’t follow those types either.
Those are great pointers! Would you mind if I added them to the post? Credited to you, of course~ =D
Great post! I’ve enjoyed reading it, especially since I agree with you 100%. You’ve pointed out every single reason why I don’t follow certain types of Twitter users.
Hi Ms Cristina,
Thanks for your comment~
Do you have any other people who you don’t follow? Drop a comment and we will add it to the post~ Credited to you, of course~ =D
Cheerios,
Shawn (@lovtoo)
Great Post! I’m like Terri Nakamura, though, I do shoot off quick tweets ALOT…so I’m lucky to have you as my Twitterfriend..I get tons of people prosletizing, porn, gurus, how to get a zillion followers,(I find them the funniest, because of course they never have any followers themselves!). Good list, totally agree, I unfollow in a hurry when I see that silly stuff!
Ahh guys, this was hilarious. I had a great laugh! And its so truuuuuuuuuuue, too!
Thanks for leaving a comment! =D Haha glad you liked it~ Do you have any you’d like to add?
Lovely story sweetly told. I’m glad I do not fall under any of those categories you’ve listed
Selection of images are pretty attractive and they shout more about what you are writting. A big thumb up for your post. Well I’m tweeting this post to prove I’m not that 4 & 5
Loved the list and if I may add one that I hate to follow: people who auto DM. To the point I wish twitter would drop DM.
ps. I’m glad I’m followed by Karthick a good tweep and luv the posts.
Nice list Shawn
I hate those who just tweet about their brand and never connect with their followers. As usual you rock with what you write bro 
Nice tips accompanied by Images Shawn. I normally follow back my followers once I see a proper bio, avatar & most importantly : at least 5-10 status updates made by that user in the last 2 days or not.
Hi, Mr Mani, Thanks for commenting~
You are wise, indeed~
Cheerios,
Shawn (@lovtoo)
An enjoyable post – especially the cartoons. I think you’ve covered almost everyone. A category I would add is the person who keeps their post private, follows you, but won’t allow you to follow them back : I guess that would be the sneaky neighbor or ‘friend’ category. Necessitates BLOCK action, me thinks.
Hahaha..exactly and completely types of people that I swept out of my TL..no follow back..nice post!
I’ll share this..