Back in March, my boss, Daryl H. Bryant, and I attended the Search Engine Strategies Expo in New York City. Wow. What a whirlwind of a week. I've done my fair share of gushing about SES NY, so I'll spare you, and move along to "The Art of ‘UFM'"... but not before giving you a chance to relive the gushary in all it's glory.
• BubbleTweet - Back from SES NY!
• SES NY 2009: Recap Round 1
• SES NY 2009: Recap Round 2
• SES NY 2009: Recap Round 3
SES NY 2009 started off with a bang, or shall I say, a "tweet," when venture capitalist and marketing mastermind Guy Kawasaki took center stage to deliver the Opening Keynote: Twitter As A Tool For Social Media.
As I mentioned back in my SES NY 2009 Recap, Guy began his keynote by enthusiastically emphasizing the power of Twitter as a marketing tool. He described, explored and demoed various third-party Twitter APIs he uses to enhance his Twitter experience, spread his Tweets to millions of members (as well as finely-tuned target audiences), and, well, make money.
Guy's plentiful on-screen examples and down-to-earth attitude made his presentation easy and enjoyable to follow. And when I say "down-to-earth," I mean it.
His casual use of vulgarity (nothing too obscene, but there were a few testy zingers in there) made most of us chuckle, and feel like we were really on his page as far as Twitter-usage goes, despite the fact that his followers number in the six-digits.
It's no secret that Guy uses Twitter for business, has ghost-tweeters, and even uses third-party APIs to automate tweets, retweets, and @ mentions. He didn't attempt to skirt this often controversial fact; in what I embraced as a refreshing change from the bashful norm, he tackled it head on-and with humor.
I'm paraphrasing here, but basically Guy said: Sure, I get complaints from people who claim I'm spamming their Twitter feeds. You know what I say to that? UFM!
(Note: pronounced "uff-em".)
Take a moment to giggle. I am.
I think I tweeted that out to the Twitterverse as soon as he said that, and by goodness I combed through my tweet archive for about an hour trying to find it so I could say, "Here! Look! I was fascinated by this curious acronym even then!" But, the search was to no avail. Suffice it to say that I clearly remember sitting in my chair in the Grand Ballroom and being particularly struck by that call-to-action: UFM!
It wasn't vulgar, but it sure as heck sounded like an abbreviated send-off into cyberspace.
"So Lauren," you ask, "for tweet's sake, what does UFM mean?"
Un-Follow-Me.
The moral of the story is as straightforward as that brilliant retort: UFM. Unfollow me. If you don't like what I'm tweeting, you don't have to stick around. Unfollow me and cease receiving my tweets. Then everyone's happy. Or, at least, everyone's a step closer to enhancing their Twitsperience. (I just made that one up. Twitsperience - one's experience on Twitter. Dig it?)
Twitter is chock-full of constantly streaming information. There's no room for whiny complaints directed at who you perceive to be a spammer, or to your buddies complaining about said perceived spammer. Get over it. UFM.
And you know what the best part about the UFM principle is? It's completely legitimate. It's the circle of Twife. You're going to gain followers; you're going to lose followers. You can't please everyone, nor should you expect to.
UFM also works the other way around, which is sort of more like how it sounds: UFM - uff-em - Un-Follow-‘Em. (You know. "Them.")
You're going to totally love a lot of the stuff tweeted by the people you follow, and you're going to totally abhor some of the stuff tweeted by folks you're new to following. Everything about Twitter is dynamic... constantly moving... constantly evolving. It may take a few days (or minutes) before you realize you really don't want to be following someone. Don't be afraid to unfollow them.
Look, this isn't kindergarten. You don't have to sit next to the super gross annoying kid who eats glue and pulls your hair. This is Twitter. You don't have to clog up your incoming Twitter feeds with useless gunk that's of no use to you. You don't have to clog up everyone else's Twitter feeds by constantly complaining about said spammer.
UFM. Or, you know... them.
Flashback to SES NY - I was fortunate enough to speak with Guy after his keynote in the Expo hall. I shook his hand and thanked him for an honest, inspiring glimpse into what it means to use Twitter for business. Some folks discourage the use of social media as a marketing tool, but Guy demonstrated that the purpose of services such as Twitter is open to interpretation.
So folks, whether you tweet about "your cat rolling over" or a special new product your company is selling, it's up to you. If you can't freaking stand tweets like the former, unfollow that person. If you can't freaking stand my marketing tweets, UFM. I won't be offended. I'll be impressed that you're actively tailoring your own Twitter experience to best suit your interests.
Don't get me wrong. Manners go a long way, and I am a firm believer in a certain level of Twitter etiquette. But you don't have to follow everyone who follows you, and you don't have to remain a follower forever.
Twitter is very much about community, but it's also about finding the community that's right for YOU.
Remember that, stay sweet, and tweet on!
