I attached quick surveys to a couple recent posts on twitter issues. All the normal caveats apply: the sample size is small, it is a convenient online sample, and the sample is likely NOT NORMAL since they read my blog and are willing to respond… 😉
But I thought the responses were interesting.
In “Do you check your Twitter DM’s regularly” I argued that Twitter DMs are so spam-y that I often ignore them for long periods of time and they have become largely useless to me. Yesterday Mark Schaefer posted his opinion on Facebook that DMs were no totally worthless and most of the comments seemed to agree. In my earlier post I asked readers their opinions and to date the 18 respondents don’t seem to agree with my opinion or Mark’s:
- 44% said that they still check their Twitter regularly
- 22% still check but find them less useful
- 28% only rarely
In “Should any social media be automated?” I argued in favor of Twitter automation, short of ANY content automation. The 19 respondents who answered were more conservative then me:
- 76% argued for scheduled posts only and
- 18% argued for NO AUTOMATION whatsoever.
What do you think on those issues? Hit the article links above enter your opinion and/or to see the full detail of responses.
Social Media Marketing 4 Business 
I have voted in both polls now!
As the majority of voters I find DMs rather spammy – many of the DMs I have received are de facto spam, sent by compromised accounts, even worse than the “Thanks for following – are you interested in our products – please visit our website” replies.
Probably my account did spam today, too (Too bad the phone verification does not work with my carrier) – there is a new massive DM spam attack: http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/blog/socialmadness/2013/09/twitter-experiencing-a-wave-of-dm-spam.html
As for automation: I think (and I have experienced that at times) that any sort of automation can lead to akward situations – other users may notice that a robot is sending those messages (time-delayed posts appear in strange contexts etc.). I can only share anecdotal evidence but I feel that users and potential clients do notice and do appreciate genuine, non-automated, personal posts on social media.
Thanks Elke! I mostly agree with you… But As noted, I do use tools for timing and have experimented with solutions on follow backs…