Do You Friday Follow?
I hate Follow Friday, or #fff, as it’s come to be known in this house (you can probably guess what the extra F is for).
**for those that don’t use Twitter this post will probably make cock all sense to you and your time would be better spent defuzzing your hairbrush or picking the dog hairs off the sofa than it would reading this. Just so as you know.**
I like, nay, love the idea behind #ff. The loveliness behind telling everyone who your favourite tweety people are and urging them to give them a follow. I love how community building and growing it can be. How nice to hear that someone likes you enough to recommend you to their friends.
But that’s not what it’s become about any more, is it?
It’s now about churning out list after list of people you follow either
a. in the hope that they will reciprocate
b. reciprocating the ones that have included you because you feel guilty and then realising that if you do those ones you have to do a load more as well and your heart sinks as the hour disappears in a haze of furious #ff typing.
Plus it’s a complete and utter load of bollocks, isn’t it? How many times have you ever looked at a list like this
#ff @twitteruser @anotherone @randomdudeIdontknowbutwanthimtoreciprocate @someoneifeelimustincludecausetheyllsulkotherwise @someoneelse
and thought, hey, that third on the list dude there looks awesome, I’ll add him to my list.
I’m guessing never.
And because I hate those ones so much I tend to write ones like this
Follow @MissSearlescouk now or I’ll come and beat you around the head with a broken ski pole
or
If you’re not following @vegemitevix then you must be a loser cause she’s awesomeness personified.
Which are much more interesting to read and show that the person they are talking about might be someone you’d be interesting in following but they take time, and unless you spend all day writing them, you can’t write them for all the people you love and someone’s gonna get left out.
And quite frankly, I can’t be bothered.
So I’ve decided to call time on it. I’m not doing Friday follow any more and I refuse to feel guilty about it, life’s too short.
Sorry.
I do still love you.
I'm Heather, an ex expat, now back in blighty and living in Lancashire. Which is just like Lapland only less snowy...and stuff.
it’s such a huge time sucker isn’t it?
LOL-was wondering how you do that when you have a gazillion followers without insulting anyone. I guess you don’t.
I only do #FF of those who tweeted with me in the past week or two. there is a #WW (writer’s Wednesday) now. I like that idea but have no time to do any more than like it
I love that you say bollocks. I wish I could get away with it. I’m afraid someone would slap me in the face because I’d sound so stupid. A yankee cheesehead from Wisconsin trying to say bollocks just ain’t right.
Actually, as a new twitterer, I have found the follow fridays quite useful. If someone I like has a list of ffs then usually I can spot a name I recognise from blogging and it’s a quick way for me to add these people to the list. I didn’t do any ffs myself for the first few weeks as it was pointless as everyone I knew followed each other!!
I can see how it could get out of hand though and I don’t want to put people on my list I don’t have any contact with, purely because they have me on theirs!
Excellent, that’s exactly why I don’t have facebook anymore, I cancelled my a/c as I spent too much time sending people farm animals and favourite drinks blah blah and it became meaningluss pap. Good for you – you can’t please all of the people all of the time and all that – so best to please yourself. yaps.
I occasionally follow someone after a recommendation – but only if it’s 1 person per tweet.
And I don’t tend to write my own FF things, and have never had any flack for it.
Oh dear, THAT’S what I’m doing wrong!
I think this was the first Friday I was on Twitter. I had no idea what all these #ff’s were – I thought it might have been something not-so-nice, maybe. Then someone had it written out and I realised – “oh, okay they’re telling me to follow these people. Ummm why?” It was nice and all to see my name there, but like you, a list of 6 or 7 or more names and I had no idea who they were or if the list was actually people I might like . . .
Yeah, think it’s going to be like Farmville in Facebook – something I studiously avoid after accidentally getting involved.
Amen! I find #ff effing pointless.
With you all the way, sister. I had a brief romance with Twitter but then just got bored of her. Same old, same old. Now I very cynically only use it to advertise new blog posts. I’m happy to have Twitter as my ho but I’m not her slave.
Lol that post made me laugh! I do actually look at peoples follow fridays and have found some lovely friends because of it.
x
Couldn’t agree more. Love Twitter, but never done #fff (loving that extra F, Heather!), and never going to. Pointless waste of time and effort.
I lllloooovvvvveeeee you Heather
You should #FF heather as she sends you chocolate and reindeers in the post lol
xxxx
P.S email coming your way today about all the ‘happy’ at the moment
xxxxxxx
Twitter still sounds overly complicated. And good for you for not feeling guilty. These things can get silly. (That sounds kind of patronising, but it’s not meant to be)
(I have tweeted once, I added a few people (Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry, etc) and then didn’t sign in again.
I’m still getting emails telling me that random person is following me. Why?)
I do actually sometimes follow because of a ff recommendation, although less so these days. I’d like do do ff’s but never get around to it because I’m usually all over the place on a Friday and not online until I’m ready to go braindead, when it’s the last thing on my mind to consider who could be this week’s ff. I do feel guilty. I know I shouldn’t, it’s a bit like blog comments, I leave far too few and feel guilty about that too. Once a catholic always a catholic
One or two people I follow do it very well, they group the people they are #FF into categories so if you have an interest in a category like blogging or humour you can pick that group and go from there. One *could* choose one category a week to do an #FF on. I am still fairly new to twitter and find the whole #FF thing a bit pressurised though. Jen.
I always thought ffs were the global standard short form for ‘for fuck’s sake’.
I love you too! xx
You have a valid point here. I do tons on FF’s every week and have been feeling obliged to do it. I don’t know why that is though, suppose I’ve just been copying what others do. I’ve found a few to follow through it but can’t say it’s the be all and end all of Twitter.
I don’t do FFS Friday (as I call it) because it would take too long to include all the people I follow, I can’t always remember the exact spellings of people’s twitter IDs, I haven’t got time, and I know I would leave someone out accidently. Sad as it may sound, a good friend once lft me out of her #FFS Friday list. I was feeling a little under the weather at the time and took it personally. I see little point in the whole thing! Rant over!!
Not any more anyway lol. i used to and also used to worry about leaving people out etc but i just can’t be bothered with the whole ting any more.
ww? oh no, not another one? I’m hiding from twitter this week as it is cause i’ve got so much to do and it just sucks time.
don’t let that hold you back – practise makes perfect after all
I always thought it means Fucking Friday anyway. Now you have destroyed that illusion.
it’s such a mine field if you let it be, huh?
oh god, don’t even get me started on FB. i love their chat feature and catching up on my friends pictures but if one more person sends me a fricking farmville or mafia request i might actually scream!
that’s cause you are like some sort of bloggy/twitter God and can get away with things that us mere mortals can’t
Seriously you have this way of being above it all that kind of makes you impervious to it all.
No! The Dotterel doing things wrong? not possible, i wont hear of it!
oh dear god, not Farmville! i’m not sure we can be friends any more…
Completely!
You Twitter pimp, you! I do like it for chatting to my friends and stuff but the crap that comes with it, not so much!
I do love to be proven wrong! Excellent!
Well done that woman! I think having done it a few times out of obligation i feel like i should because it’s expected – if you know what i mean. however i’m not doing any more. stupid waste of bloody time!
ha ha, glad you enjoyed the chocolate. It is yummy, is it not? Got your email and am so pleased for you! yippeee!
It’s true. I am a blogging god. And it’s about time people start paying financial tribute to me. I think a 5% salary tithe should do nicely.
ha ha, I get so many pointless companies following me that it’s stupid! I once got followed by a glow in the dark golf course! in america! Geez.
but I do love twitter – I just treat it like a giant chat facility to pass the time with friends
ahh, it seems i am being proven wrong, a few people have said that they follow others from ff’s now. wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been wrong about something believe it or not. lol
I’m still not doing them though. i’m not even catholic and i still feel guilty about it!
same here, way too much pressure on my time and energy for something that is supposed to be fun.
FFS – i think it’s meant to be in capitals for for fucks sake but i’m not sure…I’m just not down with the kids enough to this shit.
and it’s such a drain on the little free time we have on the computer as well. I wonder why we get ourselves into these obligated situations. all very strange.
ha ha ha, I would be lying if i said I’d never felt the same thing. and yet i know how easy it is to miss people out. Another reason for not doing it. good rant x
fucking friday…fucking as in ‘woohho it’s fucking friday!’ or fucking friday as in ‘a day for having lots of sex?’ Which brings a whole new meaning to those long lists of people, doesn’t it?
Don’t worry. I signed up for Farmville because my 9 year old nephew begged me to. After two weeks I became the mean aunt who said no. That is the most ridiculous game I’ve ever seen in my life. And it’s not even interesting. I learned my lesson: no Fishville or Soriority Girls or Vampire wars for me.
Can we still be friends?
The chirch of england is the wealthiest organisation in the UK. and I demand a cut damnit.
I have followed a couple of people through a fff, but I’m just as likely to follow someone if they’re part of an interesting looking conversation with someone else. It’s a wee bit like blogging memes – lovely to be tagged but I don’t have time to write enough posts as it is! I’ve probably offended a few people by not doing them recently. Shoot me.
I am so shit at meme’s i see people tag me and it all looks great and then weeks pass, i forget who tagged me and it never gets done. yeah, i’ve probably pissed a few people off too. Whoops.
ha ha, well as long as you don’t go inviting me to anything on FB…lol. I’ve never signed up for any of them but they do look dumb – what a waste of time!
I’ll get on to them for you – they’ve probably heard of you they’re just ignoring the issue and hope it goes away. You could be in for a real windfall.
I love and hate it in equal measure. It’s great to get a mention then galling to see that you’re just part of an A-Z of someone’s friends list.
I think it can be useful, and certainly the original intention was for it to be explained as in your post: “I follow @soandso because they’re awesome” but it has largely degenerated into something completely different.
Maybe it should be outlawed for anyone with more than 50 followers…by then you should have found your feet and be confident enough to be a buttinski on other conversations?
Hands up if you’re going to boycott on Friday? *Reaches for the sky*
Px
I found this article awhile back ‘Follow Friday too Much a Good Thing’ http://www.twitip.com/follow-friday-too-much-of-a-good-thing/ I try to pass it around on a Friday. I’ve opted out of doing #ffs. But I’m such a hypocrite as I love getting them.
I’ve started doing a blog post for Follow Friday. I choose one person. It gives me a chance to write a bit more about why you should follow them and hopefully they don’t get lost in the string of names on a Friday.
LOL
I don’t follow anyone I don’t “know” but then I ain’t much of a twitterer’er’er.
I don’t do it either (apart from reciprocating), because you always have to leave someone out. If people want to follow people I follow, they should look at my profile and they will find out. Tags, #ff, memes all freak me out because tagging is always shunning as well.
Heh.
You said cock.
I only did this once or twice in an attempt to join in the spirit of Twitter… but as I said, that lasted one or two times. I am too busy to try to work out who I owe, who I want to promote, or whatever. I like stopping by twitter, saying hello to those that I know and/or those that interest me. Meeting new people who are genuinely fun and interesting is also good but this #FF thing is too much like hard work.
I agree that it’s an absolute ball ache doing it, and I don’t have any balls… I only used to #ff people that I had twittered with that week but it was still getting excessive and I’d always misspell their twitter name. I was contemplating doing it Seseme Street stylee, as in this weeks #ff’s are brought to you by the letter ‘a’ but there are far too many M’s to consider that… (bloody mothers get everywhere).
I like your idea of just picking a couple of people out and actually saying why you should follow them, I might do that this Friday instead.
I do like it as a concept though and have been followed a lot and found some great tweeters through it.
Well as long as you still love me then I won’t hold it against you when I don’t get one come Friday.
I can’t be bothered to do them myself – it all smacks of ass kissing to me. Would much rather have a proper conversation, even if it is conducted in 140 character bursts.
I love it let’s ban #FF!! I particularly like your personalised #fff messages. These become like ticker tape and really I confess I don’t ever click on the others links, unless they have a name like @randomdudeIdontknowbutwanthimtoreciprocate
I do love your post idea – i think i’ve followed all the people you’ve recommended in them. I shall go and read the article
I am very bored with “follow friday” – I understand the concept of it all but (a) it’s so bloody time consuming, (b) it fills my timeline and everyone elses with crap and (c) I always miss someone out. I’ve been weaning myself off it for a few weeks now.
However….. (isn’t there always a “but” or a “however”?) I am over the moon when someone suggests that I’m good enough to follow
and my middle ground is to make a list… like “March FF” and tweet the link to the list each week.
I never used to be either but since I realised i can just chat to people and get to know lots of other bloggers better I’ve used it almost every day
yep, i know what you mean there. Tagging people for memes and stuff always leaves me feeling bad about the people I missed out.
I do that.
Exactly, and it’s supposed to be fun, isn’t it?
yeah the letter m would be a real pain in the arse!
ass kissing indeed! And a lot of you ff me and I’ll ff you which I don’t like either.
I think i might have to go and make that twitter name my own! lol They do just become like advertising – you block them out after a while.
Here, here! I used to do it as I thought it was proper Tweeting etiquette or something of the sort, but then realised it’s not. Now I only do it occasionally and ahem … only if someone does it first with me. Bad, I know but frankly I barely have time for Twitter as it is. Love all my tweeting pals though!
Now thats quite a nice idea as well…
same here, i thought it was something you were supposed to do, but since finding out it isn’t I’ve stopped it. way too much time was being wasted!
Guilty of the sin, until I realised most of my followers probably followed each other anyway, and it seemed a little pointless! I have, however, used it as a good way to get recommendations to find new people to follow – useful when you are just starting out on Twitter. Giving a reason why you should follow someone much nicer than a random list though.
It took me forever to find out what #FF meant. I didn’t like to ask on Twitter in case I looked daft so I ended up googling it lol
definitely, a reason is always good. and I guess these ff’s do have some point then. still not going to do it though ;p
yup, same here! good old Google stops me from looking stupid so often! I wonder how i ever managed without it…
Hee – I do not #FFF as I am friend-wasteland on Twitter. I have some nice new blog friends, but most of the persons I can touch in real-life are facebookers.
I admire your bollocks-to-it stance!
I’m the same! I am totally disillusioned with #ff now, either do it properly or not at all! Don’t fill up my time line with your spam! grr!
I’m on twitter but need to get more up to speed on it – sounds like I saved myself some headache not engaging with this fff lark….I often find my new reads by checking out those that comment on blogs I already enjoy reading and through BMB and that suits me fine! I still need to start using twitter more though – I want an iphone!
mine too, i only two people in real life that twitter and I very rarely see them on there. It’s pretty much all my bloggy friends. Are we twitter friends? If not I’m @notefromlapland
Cause that’s what it is really, isn’t it? Spam. God i hate the stuff.
I do the same to find new people, or if i see that people I follow talk to them I’ll follow them too.
I do #ff but think you may well of just opened my eyes to it, you are so right. I think I may well be joining your boycott from now on Xx
I do do (snigger) Follow Fridays, but only if someone has been particularly great that week, helped me out with something or achieved something great. For example last Friday my #FF’s included @cosmicgirlie because of her hilarious stalking of Gordon Ramsay.
I don’t #FF people just because they have #FF’d me, what’s the point? I hate doing the list of people’s names but sometimes I just don’t have time to explain each one. Rest assured though they are all named for a very valid reason!
I do do (snigger) Follow Fridays, but only if someone has been particularly great that week, helped me out with something or achieved something great. For example last Friday my #FF’s included @cosmicgirlie because of her hilarious stalking of Gordon Ramsay.
I don’t #FF people just because they have #FF’d me, what’s the point? I hate doing the list of people’s names but sometimes I just don’t have time to explain each one. Rest assured though they are all named for a very valid reason!
Good for you. I never did follow friday but only because no-one ever followed me so it took me a while to work out. I’m a bit simple like that!
I totally agree with you on this one! I’ve only been on a twitter a short time but find the #FF thing somewhat strange. Is it people just “bumming” each other as my daughter would say?! The ones I like are where the tweeter actually includes something about the #FFer (as you illustrate in the article). Perhaps the revolution should be about making them more sincere. After all it is a nice idea to show someone else a little appreciation.
I like to share the twitter love so I #ff when I remember. It’s usually new people who are interesting, people that have made me laugh that week and some reciprocal ones. I do find it strange when someone retweets my #ff list though, is that just about getting loads of followers or something?
Yeah I find twitter compelling and repelling at the same time! Thing is I spend hours lecturing my kids about not speaking to strangers in chat rooms and isn’t that really what you are doing on twitter. I barely have enough time to speak to the people I know and love. So there just seems something odd about it. I thought it was just me or (should I say it) my age. Perhaps we should start a JUST SAY NO TO TWITTER campaign. If you want to interact with people comment on their blogs where it feels like more of a “conversation”. I’ve had very few click threws from twitter but a lot from comments so to me it’s far more productive. Anyway that’s my rant for the day!
as you’ll have seen today I feel quite strongly about #followfriday (I dislike the #ff tag)
Everyone was new to twitter once and being able to click a tag to see good suggestions makes it easy to follow new people, and more importantly people OUTSIDE OF YOUR CIRCLE, you see I don’t look at my followers suggestions that much, although I will read them, I tend to use the tag to search (as hashtags are designed) and follow people that I have never heard of based on a reason.
I totally dislike lists of names, there is really no point, they tell me nothing, I can check a ‘following’ list to see who you follow – I would like to know why you follow them, are they funny, helpful, a mum, an IT specialist etc etc
I actively unfollow people that constantly fill the timeline with lists of names.
#followfriday is not a popularity contast. Yes it’s nice to be recommended but it’s for other people that you post a recommendation.
I’m off my soap box now (for a while anyway! LOL) but I do think #followfriday is helpful for newbies, and for finding people outside of your circle of friends. I don’t think you have to, or should, recommend everyone of your followers. And I feel you should always give a reason.
#justsaying
couldn’t agree more. I almost exclusively only follow new twits as a direct result of seeing something I consider funny/interesting/intreaguing that they’ve written that one of my current follows has chosen to RT.
the rest of the follows I gather come from following interesting posts made in whatever hashtag searches I’m currently watching. The list changes with mood, whatever’s in the news etc.
it’s daft when you think about it, huh? and such a waste of time
I do like the ones that are for a reason, and if you have the time I think they are super but those long lists make me want to claw my eyes out…well, okay that might be a slight exaggeration…I mean, clawing your eyes out, that’s got to really hurt hasn’t it, and I’m such a wuss.
Agreed, done the right way they are brilliant things, how ever I don’t have the time to really do them and I do feel guilty if I just do a couple so I’m not bothering any more
thats how i find most of my people too, although I have followed people from friday follows that come with explanations as well
the hashtag search isn’t something I really use…maybe i should…
With you on this one – I tend to them when specifically moved to recommend someone lovely. Otherwise I tend to not have time so don’t bother (& I still love people)
Oh, hello again. Back from skull fracture wasteland! I am following you – don’t think you have me. I am @fenngirl. M x
I am following you!