Why I Hate Fridays on Twitter

My first indication it’s Friday on Twitter is when I check the @ mentions on my account in the morning. There they are. The long list of Follow Friday suggestions, including me. And many times it’s the same people who have suggested me every Friday. I appreciate the suggestions to other users, but I’m reminded why I have come to hate Follow Friday on Twitter.

If you’re not familiar with what Follow Friday is, it’s a trend where people suggest other Twitter users they find useful. The suggestions are usually tagged with either the hashtag #FF or #FollowFriday. Mashable posted an article more than a year ago about the trend.

There are two ways I find new people to follow on Twitter. One is through the people who follow me. I don’t automatically follow everyone who follows me. But if we strike up continued conversations on Twitter (or, in some cases, I know them personally), I’ll follow back. But most often, I follow people based on suggestions and by watching with who others I follow interact. So the suggestions are an important way to find new, interesting people to follow on Twitter.

But Follow Friday has become a useless tool. People post lists of people from their Twitter feed with no explanation. When the Follow Friday trend began, people would post their suggestions with an explanation. “You should follow this person because they post great photography tips.” “I follow this person because they make me laugh every day.” Those explanations no longer exist. We just get a long list with the #FF hashtag. That’s not helping anyone. Why should I follow anyone on that list. Even a simple “other beat writers” or “great photographers” or “funny people” explanation is better than nothing.

As always, I appreciate every suggestions people post for me on Twitter, but we should grab back Follow Friday and turn it back into what it used to be—a useful too.