TwitterMass: A Smarter Way to Auto-Follow on Twitter
Auto-following is a sensitive topic on Twitter, and the release of TwitterMass is surely going to create some controversy, as it takes auto-following to the next level. TwitterMass is a clever tool that automates what many Twitter users are already doing: finding new Twitter users to follow by searching for keywords and then following the most interesting of these users. One twist here, however, is that TwitterMass also automatically unfollows users who don't follow you back within a few days. The point of this, of course, is to create a larger network of followers, which, because it is built on top of keyword and hashtag searches, should, at least in theory, be built on mutual interests.
Features
Using TwitterMass couldn't be easier: you simply set up a keyword search and TwitterMass will automatically follow every user who uses this keyword.
The twist here is that you can also set a 'timer.' After a set number of days, TwitterMass will check if those users it added followed you back, and if they didn't, then TwitterMass will automatically unfollow them.
In the near future, TwitterMass will also provide its users with detailed statistics, the ability to bulk upload user lists, and the ability to 'clone' a Twitter account, which, we assume, means you could automatically follow every user who is currently following @rww, for example.
Because these new 'relationships' are built on mutual interests, TwitterMass should, at least in theory, be a better way to extend your Twitter network than just blindly auto-following users who subscribe to your feed.
There are, of course, other Twitter auto-follow tools like SocialToo and Twollow (though SocialToo charges $5 for this feature ), but few can rival TwitterMass' feature set, especially once TwitterMass activates its stats features.
TwitterMass describes itself as a "hyper networking tool for Twitter," and it will surely stir up some interesting discussions about the nature of Twitter as a social networking and marketing tool. Judging from our own tests, however, TwitterMass will definitely help you to increase the number of people who follow you on Twitter.
Thanks to Marjolein Hoekstra (@cleverclogs) for alerting us to this new service, and, as you would expect, you can also find TwitterMass' developer Jonathan Nelson on Twitter (there is also an official, though oddly spelled, TwitterMass Twitter account here).
You can find ReadWriteWeb on Twitter, as well as the entire RWW Team: Marshall Kirkpatrick, Bernard Lunn, Alex Iskold, Sarah Perez, Frederic Lardinois, Rick Turoczy, Sean Ammirati, Lidija Davis and Phil Glockner.
Facebook
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
If everyone simply starts using TwitterMass that eva 1 wud be connected to loads of other users.. nd sure it wont be easy to follow the updates of each person.. might jst degenerate Twitter from being an amazing tool to keep onself abreast with the latest to jst anthr web marketing fad... i sure do hope dat doesnt happen becoz I fr one love the way it keeps one abreast with the latest stuff in which eva field one is interesting in knwing abt..
Also, the Twitter users have barely recovered from the attack of the worm Mikeyy.. with auto-follow tools like these ,I m nt sure, but it might jst end up facilitating the spread of more such worms making it easier to spread to connected twitter accounts..
The twitter mass twitter account is misspelled because twitter does not allow user accounts with the word "Twitter" in them. Twitter Mass is great by the way, even as a beta tester it grew my twitter network a lot!
I hate this #FURR behavior (Follow-Unfollow-Rinse-Repeat). I was a big advocate for mutual following when I first started on Twitter a year ago. But that is when there was actual conversation going back & forth.
This current crop of Auto-Followers is all about racking up follower numbers. It doesn't matter if you're @BarackObama, if you don't follow them back they cut you loose because they are hyper aware of Twitter's following limits which they have to keep under. What makes it even worse is that I've read notes for a Social Media seminar for business where this behavior is promoted and people who actually select who they want to converse with were called "Twitter Snobs".
This is funny because the people racking up 8,000 followers in a month aren't even reading the Tweets that they receive. It kind of defeats the purpose of following a person, doesn't it? People are just numbers, not people to talk to/with. I guess it is a heated topic!
I'm CEO of SocialToo.com - SocialToo is 100% free to auto-follow or auto-unfollow. The only thing we charge $5 is for anyone SocialToo did not follow for you, along with the ability to delete all your friends if you've been overwhelmed with auto-follow services.
We are also not necessarily an "auto-follow service" per se - it is a feature we provide, yes, but my ultimate goal is to make Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, and others less spammy. Anything "auto-follow" we provide will be to help maintain that purpose. We are also striving to educate our users more about the people they follow through stats and other tools. We'll never provide a service such as twittermass, as, IMO it only encourages the gaming of Twitter, making it a more cluttered place - something completely against my goals for SocialToo.
So if you want to game Twitter, go ahead and use these other services. If you want a cleaner Twitter, come to us and we'll make it much better for you. While with these services you get quantity, with SocialToo you get quality.
hit me ima this is the shit if he opened up limits
rock on! awesome
This app looks quite useful.
The app sounds interesting, but in practice it seems to be crappy...
this is evil!
Cool Video. Will have a look at the twitter mass website now.
@saurabh
what you said is right there will be danger of your twitter account get infected with auto follow feature of Twitter mass.
This is the next level on making Twitter what it should not be. I am not sure how Twitter is going to block this kind of behavior, or even if they want to. If they don't Twitter will be hell.
Check out the following link, I have been thinking on this for a while:
http://unofficialmac.com/2009/04/08/17-things-to-keep-sane-on-twitter-and-enjoy-it/
Twitter is all about supplying good information to those who are interested, not gaining ten thousand or more followers.
While your account can be more dynamic with TwitterMass I don't like adjusting to who I follow just by common interest. But this does look like a great tool for some.
[E]
These tools are exactly the perfect way to kill twitter.
The more people that use strategies like this, the more twitter will become a circle-jerk of spam.
Wrote about it here:
http://blog.obijan.com/2009/03/you-are-all-special-thats-why-you-ride.html
http://blog.obijan.com/2009/04/biz-stone-reads-my-post.html
This can be head hitting the wall. Why would I follow someone who isn't interesting to me? Jeffrey Zeldman has almost 20k of followers! Should he follow all of them?
Awesome Post. I am so going to be a member!
Apps like these may be great for people who are using Twitter as a marketing strategy, but it is pretty annoying for 'normal' users to be "spammed" with followers.
I'm torn with this application. I see the potential spamming and ruin it could cause, but because it is somewhat specific, I think that might not be a huge issue.
On the other hand, as a somewhat beginner Twitter-user, I can never find the time to find my own followers in Twellow, etc. So for someone who would actually read the tweets of my "new" followers, I think it can be beneficial.
Twittermass actually doesn't allow autofollow (well at least not in ie7).
basically the page hangs.
great way of bringing like minded people together, but I am not sure how successful this would be since the tool automatically unfollows those who do not follow with the next few days. But definitely a great way to build channels of people to target specific things/ads at since they might have followed in regards to certain key words.
TwitterMass takes twitter to the next level, it's the best twitter tool that requires no download. A new dashboard that improve your experience and better manage your twitter network. The easiest way to target a niche twitter network of followers and best of all it allows to to automates your tweets at a scheduled time.
lol wow I’m really underpricing MyTwitterButler at only $10 ….
Go check out http://www.MyTwitterButler.com for $10 it’s a windows .net application that run directly on your windows pc instead of in the cloud.
It does two things;
1/ Auto Follows Users with up to 4 search terms per twitter account (allows multiple accounts - I run mine with 11 twitter accounts simultaneously but it slows it down).
2/ Direct Message Broadcast - you can send a direct message to all you users with just one click.
It’s quick and dirty because i built it to solve a personal problem i had at http://www.LiveBaseballChat.com and i wasn’t planning on selling it but when i gave it away to about 10 or 15 friends they were all like…you should sell this - “so here we are”.
Not sure if it’s better than the $100 application, thats your choice. BTW if you want to see what one user wrote check out this link
http://saunderslog.com/2009/05/19/build-an-audience-with-mytwitterbutler/
Cheers,
Dean
Good way, but I was trying to followin users automatically... Just gave the script some URL and followis all from these... it should be more interesting
thx 4 share
http://rohfun.com/blog/
While it may be good for some people to use the automatic 'mutual interest checkup' function, it is not really about mutual interest on twitter is it? Interesting but maybe they should be looking for a different extra functionality?