webrampage

People have been talking about this thing called Twitter “follow spam“. So, what is this thing? And are we defining it correctly? Today I’ll talk a bit about it.

Follow spam is the act of following mass numbers of people, not because you’re actually interested in their tweets, but simply to gain attention, get views of your profile (and possibly clicks on URLs therein), or (ideally) to get followed back.

That’s what the people at Twitter wrote on their blog. Well that explains what “follow spam” is. You just follow tons of people, so that they add you back and/or click on the link on your profile. Now I would agree that this is pretty annoying. But, not everyone is trying to “spam”.

On rare occasions we may see a person who is mass following and actually cares about every tweet.

See Twitter is also saying that. Yesterday, an old lady was bitching at me and was accusing me of spamming Twitter. Hmm how so? She said that I added a “zillion” people on Twitter, so that they click the link on my profile.

Okay I’m actually interested in people’s tweets. I reply to a lot of them and have like a small conversation. I agree that I added a bunch of people on Twitter. But, that wasn’t “follow spam”. Now of course, I wanted them to follow me back. What’s the point of tweeting if only a few people are following you?

Did I add random people? No. I added people who were interested in tech & web. Most of the people I added were TechCrunch’s followers. Did I start spamming them with links to my site? No. I made like 2 or 3 tweets about my sites. 2 or 3 out of 171 tweets? Is that really spamming (or huge self-promotion)?

Is Obama spamming Twitter? He is following 64K people and he’s got about 61K followers. I’m not sure how he managed to add 64K people, but I don’t think he wants to spam. He just wants to keep more people updated.

I don’t agree with the current definition of follow spam. It should be when you follow thousands of people (who you’re not interested in) and want them to follow you back. And you spam them with your links! Maybe this would define follow spam a bit better.

I know that there are lots of spammers on Twitter. I mean the REAL spammers. But, not everyone is a spammer! So, What do you think? Do you think my way to define it is better? And what about popular bloggers who keep posting links to every single one of their posts? What about Obama?

Rejaw is a new micro-blogging platform which launched about two months ago. Now the question is, is Rejaw just another Twitter clone or is it something really unique? Well lets find an answer.

The basics

First of all, I like their design. Its nice and simple. Maybe they could use images instead of using those big ass texts for the headers (ex: shouts, replies, etc). They could make it look a lot better by doing that. But, the colour scheme rocks.

Oh and the name, Rejaw. I’m not too sure if its a good name. I guess its a memorable name.

Profile Customization

Nothing special. Just lets you upload a profile picture, lets you write a bit about yourself and you can enter your location. Doesn’t let you edit the CSS like in Plurk or change the colours and upload a background image like in Twitter. So, that sucks.

Friends & Fans

It’s like Twitter. They have followers and following. Nothing to explain here.

Shouts

The shouts are a bit like Plurk. You get like a page with all the replies. So, that’s good. And it updates real-time. That’s a really good feature. They also have this thing called “whispers” which is like private messages.

The community

The people over there looks pretty active. I made my first shout and I got a few replies within seconds. I was pretty surprised. I guess its because they display all the latest shouts on the front page. Now that’s a good way to keep the level of activity up.

How popular is it?

Its not really popular. I would say its just hyped. So, that means there isn’t a lot of users or at least, active users. People signup for new stuff, they use it a bit and then they leave. I found a lot of users like this on Plurk, so you should be expecting the same from Rejaw too.

Is it just another clone?

No, its not just another Twitter clone. Its more like a clone of Twitter and Plurk. They took the basic idea from Twitter, copied the reply page idea from Plurk and added their own unique feature which is the real-time updates.

Would I use it?

Well I’m not too sure. I mean I’m already using Twitter and Plurk. And now, Rejaw? Plus its not even that cool, to be honest. I might try it out for a bit if I get a few followers there. Right now its 50/50.

Would YOU use it?

Are you going to try it out? Or are you already using it? What do you think of it? Do you think it can compete with the big guys, Twitter and Plurk? Please share your thoughts with us.

I’ve seen a lot of bloggers say that you shouldn’t micro-blog, it’s a waste of time, bla, blah. But, some did say that you can micro-blog, but it shouldn’t be your priority. Now I agree with these folks.

You could micro-blog, but make sure its down somewhere on your list of priorities. Don’t spend too much time on it. Well here are my 5 simple reasons:

1. Get my name out

I know that my blog isn’t popular (yet). I need to promote my blog and get more people to read it. They need to know about it. I need to spread the word. Once in a while, I share one of my posts there and a lot of people check it out. I got a bunch of new readers from Plurk too. Sometimes they even share my post with people, so that’s great.

And of course, self-promotion. I need to get my name out too. Actually wait. I don’t really do it for self-promotion. Well maybe, a bit.

2. Breaking news

People do a bit of micro-blogging when something is going on. There was an earthquake and the news got on Twitter within seconds. Redux.com got 8 million in funding. People are like mini-journalists on there.

So, I can stayed updated and hopefully, get the word before other sites do. I try to be the first one to blog about something important. I like to beat those big guys at blogs like TechCrunch. It’s like a little race, you know? Never mind.

3. Traffic!

Oh yes, don’t forget traffic. I got my link on my pimpin` profile. People go check out it and they click on the link and tada! I signed up for Twitter a few weeks ago and I didn’t really use it. Yesterday I started using it properly and I got about a hundred unique visitors. Not bad, huh? Think about what you could do in the long run.

4. Connect with people

Yeah I don’t just micro-blog for traffic and promotion. I also do it because its a great way to meet different people. Like connect with other bloggers and don’t forget, you can meet a few important figures (aka web celebs) on there too. Its a great way to share tips, ideas, etc.

Oh and with you guys too. I mean my readers. I think bloggers should get to know their readers and so, a lot of them do it on micro-blogs. I haven’t done it yet, but I will. I’ll put up links to my Twitter and Plurk on the sidebar.

5. Because I actually want to do it

Okay people seem to forget this. I wanna micro-blog because I like the idea. I have things to talk about which are too short and sometimes, irrelevant for my blog, so I do it there. That way I’m keeping up the quality of content on my blog rather than quantity.

Now I don’t mean micro-blogging about things like “okay I’m going to take a shit now. i’ll be back in 10″. No. I mean geek stuff. For example, sharing what another blogger posted about, a breaking news, sharing links to cool sites, etc.

Over to you

Are you micro-blogging right now? Are you thinking of doing it? Or will you pass? Tell us what you think about it. And check out my Twitter vs Plurk post if you’re not sure which one to use.

Oh and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Plurk.