<a href="http://www.michealhyatt.com" target="_blank">Michael Hyatt </a>recently posted, <a href="http://michaelhyatt.com/how-i-unfollowed-108698-people-on-twitter-and-reclaimed-my-inbox.html">How I Unfollowed 108,698 People on Twitter and Reclaimed My Inbox</a>.  I was an early adopter on Twitter (when the feel was weird and wondering what is this stream of 140 character count random musings) and have heard all the arguments about the etiquette of being a Twitter user.  That includes, follow those who follow you.  Now, <a href="http://www.michaelhyatt.com" target="_blank">Michael</a> is espousing a completely different approach.  Of course with over 100,000 followers, his stream is even more ridiculously unreadable than mine is with over 4,200 followers.  One of his suggestions or alternatives to following a mass of people is to use the "list" functionality to follow people you are interested in.  Once he unfollows that many Tweeple, his Twitter stream will be significantly reduced (of ALL content, not just the spammers).

Here's my suggestion for those of you who are just entering the world of Twitter:
<ul>
	<li>Numbers matter...but if you attract thousands of people as followers who have nothing of interest to share but their own products or services, less is more.  Follow people who you have an affinity to, an interest in or want to engage with.  Include those who are followers of people you follow.  But, take some time to read their tweets and check their bio.  You'll know right away if this is someone you want to engage with or learn from.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li>Begin to use the "list" feature sooner than later.  Set up lists like categories and find people you are interested in and put them into your lists.  You may still want to follow them but you won't miss anything they share if you have them in a list and you review your lists regularly.  You won't be able to send them a message but I'm not convinced that DM'ing in Twitter is a key to its utility.  Twitter is about public sharing, more than most other social networking tools.  It's really the only functionality you use.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li>If you use services like TweetAdder (like I do), make sure that you continue to review the people being added by keywords.  Many Twitterers use certain keywords in their bio knowing they will be picked up by these automated apps.  And, I don't "set it and forget it".  I'm constantly looking at who it's adding, making sure I'm staying engaged and unfollowing those who simply want to spam me with their own stuff.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li>Remember why you are on Twitter.  I had some great time this past weekend conversing with the ESPN announcers who were commenting on the Arkansas Razorback game.  I didn't need to follow them to do that (though I did).  I'm out there to engage, enjoy and educate.  How about you?</li>
</ul>