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Time to Twitclean

Earlier this week we posted a link on Avalanche Media’s Facebook page to some excellent new year resolutions of the social media variety.

My Twitter essential:  Twitcleaner runs straight forward reports on who and what your Twitter account follows, with the option to unfollow those you decide to remove

My Twitter essential: Twitcleaner runs straight forward reports on who and what your Twitter account follows, with the option to unfollow those you decide to remove

One particularly pertinent point was made about losing weight:  shedding unhelpful Twitter followers.  This is also a useful exercise to apply to users you are following.  I would advise fairly regular reviews on this score – my favourite (and free) online tool is Twitcleaner.

Keep this one bookmarked.  It runs straight forward reports on who and what your Twitter account follows, with the option to unfollow those you decide to remove.  Before you do however, some cautionary advice:

1. Avoid unfollowing in bulk – Twitter may confuse this with spam account activity.

2. Reconsider unfollowing people who interact with you regularly, or are influenced by you.

3. Twitcleaner’s reports organise those you follow into helpful categories, with lower echelons including “Not So Interesting”, which reduces further into a “Self Obsessed” layer.  While this is great fun and often yields quite satisfying results, it’s worth keeping in mind that there will always be exceptions to the rule.  Many Twitter users in these categories will be guilty as charged, but others could see themselves promoted into higher ranks, depending on when you run these reports.  For example, if you are following a Twitter account linked to an annual event, it is very likely its behaviour will change throughout the year, which in turn will affect its performance or score rating in reports of this kind.  If in doubt, keep following, but run regular twitcleaner reports to keep things in check.

For more 2013 social media resolutions, refer to this Chicago Tribune article.