Want to see something funny? It wasn’t that long ago that I was ranting about 1&1 suckage. Now, I randomly look at my Tweetdeck and see this appear…

by Tweetsville Station

Did you ever seem to have one of those days
When everyone seemed to be on your case
From your teacher all the way down to your best tweetheart
Well that used to happen to me all the time
But I found a way to get out of it

Sittin’ in the classroom thinkin’ it’s a drag
Listening to the teacher rap just ain’t my bag
When two bells ring you know it’s my cue
Gonna tweet the tweeps on floor number 2

Tweetin’ in the boys room
Tweetin’ in the boys room
Teacher don’t you fill me up with your rules
Everybody knows that tweetin’ ain’t allowed in school

Checkin’ out the halls makin’ sure the coast is clear
Lookin’ in the stalls–nah, there ain’t no tweeple here
My buddies Sixx, Mick & Tom
To get caught would surely be the death of us all

Tweetin’ in the boys room
Tweetin’ in the boys room
Teacher don’t you fill me up with your rules
Everybody knows that tweetin’ ain’t allowed in school

Put me to work in the school bookstore
Check-out counter, and I got bored
Teacher was lookin’ for me all around
Two hours later you know where I was found

Tweetin’ in the boys room
Tweetin’ in the boys room
Teacher don’t you fill me up with your rules
Everybody knows that tweetin’ ain’t allowed in school

Tweetin’ in the boys room
Tweetin’ in the boys room
Tweetin’ in the boys room
Tweetin’ in the boys room
Teacher don’t you fill me up with your rules
Everybody knows that tweetin’ ain’t allowed in school

One more time

Tweetin’ in the boys room
Tweetin’ in the boys room
Teacher I ain’t foolin’ around with your rules
Everybody knows that tweetin’ ain’t allowed in school

As the title indicates, this post is going to outline why Twollow sucks. You can choose to use Twollow if you want. You shouldn’t be ashamed. I certainly use services that suck. But, just set your expectations from the beginning. If you would like to further investigate Twollow, you can do so at www.Twollow.com (nofollowed).

First, what is Twollow? It’s one of the first services that allowed automated Twitter following. At one time, it seemed all of the A-List Twitter bloggers were using it and promoting it. Apparently, a large number of Twitter users still employ the service today. In Twollow’s on words:

Find & Follow People On Twitter by Keywords. Gain targeted followers!

Oh and I bet they won’t include www.smoblogger.com on this list that appears on twollow.com:

As seen on Mashable, KillerStartups, and AskDaveTaylor!

I fell for the Twollow “Bronze” service which as you can see from the price points above, it’s the cheapest. I foolishly paid the annual price of 79.99 thinking I would be saving money. I just happily went along with all of the A-Listers and trusted them.

Quickly, I received about 2000 followers related to my keywords. I was loving it. Then, something happened and everything just went dead. I was stuck at 2000. Why could I no longer get followers? I contacted Twollow support over and over and over and received one response initially, but then radio silence afterwards.

I made this final plea:

Final request. Twollow has not been working for me on my account [removed for privacy]. The info was sent. The transfer has not been made. I’ve sent numerous requests to support asking for help. No response. Please let me know something by tomorrow or I’m out.

Normally, when I purchase a product or service that fails to deliver as advertised, I dispute it with my card company and usually get a refund. I kept holding out for Twollow because of those darn A-Listers, I guess. Still want to believe this product works. But, it doesn’t.

Here’s my satire of the Twollow features:

For reference:
Twollow Twitter page: @twollow (nofollowed)

Does Twollow suck for you too?

Twitter Error: Something Went Technically Wrong

You’ve heard of the Twitter Fail Whale, now there’s this error for those expecting to start their day tweeting:

Something is technically wrong.
Thanks for noticing—we’re going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon.

Which raises the question… will things ever be “normal” with Twitter?

I guess that’s the question these days. Everyone I know a Twitter user. But… everyone I know is an Internet geek of some sort, a designer, marketer or social media type. Okay, maybe my Mom isn’t using Twitter but give her time.

I admit that I thought Twitter to be stupid when it first began for these reasons:

1. Why would anyone want to limit the number of characters that they can post? If you really have something important to say, often it’s more than the terse Twitter character limits.
2. Why give your content away to a third party which can ban or bury your work? Put your content on your blog, keep control and revenue and sit there and own it (feels good doesn’t it).
3. Why did we need yet another social network besides the big ones: MySpace, Facebook, Friendster? Been there, done that. I’m not one to indulge in a social media site just because it’s faddish.

I’ve begun to think more seriously about Twitter. Yes, I’ve become more involved–more tweets, retweets, selecting good friends interested in my favorite topics and removing non friends. Why? Let me answer each of the above objections to using Twitter by saying:

1. You don’t have to worry about the things that sometimes drag us down in life, namely committments. I don’t have to respond to a rant with a counter rant. I don’t have to explain anything, just tweet. So, the brevity of  Twitter becomes a positive instead of a limitation. Getting what I’m saying? Agree?
2. Using Twitter can complement my own blog content. It’s a way to get friends, subscribers and links (sorry web 1.0 folks, you’ll have to stay back in the 1990′s if you don’t get involved in SMO).
3. Yes, Twitter is another social network but yet, this social media tool is different. I’ll probably blog about this in more detail, but I think you know what I mean.

I use Twitter now because I’ve overcome the three objections above. If you sincerely think Twitter is stupid, don’t use it.

He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great. –Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Have you seen the Fail Whale in on Twitter.com? Occasionally I will catch a glimpse of the great white whale off the starboard bow of my browser.

Funny how Twitter fails regularly but no one cares.

Twitter Fail Whale

Twitter is over capacity. Too many tweets! Please wait a moment and try again.