It's Friday. My Twitter feed should be full of posts by users recommending I #followfriday, or #ff, other Twitter users they admire. But so far I've not seen one #ff and this Friday is nothing new. Is this once key Friday ritual redundant? Or have the rumours of its death been grossly exaggerated?
I've followed and recommended people for Follow Friday and believed it to be an excellent way to make new Twitter friends, as did many people when #ff and #followfriday used to top the Trends list. But a quick look today shows it's not even in the top 10. As with most trends, there's a shelf life. This one feels like it has lived past its expiry date.
One reason I believe the trend has lost traction with users is because it's become too spammy and robotic. Too many users and brands have jumped on the hashtag and inserted spam URLs, enough to put off any member of the Twitterati. One could argue that people have also switched off. Who wants to look at a stream that's just full of #ff and #followfriday? Where's the interesting content? Where's the added value?
I've been sending out #ff Tweets for the past month and have not noticed any benefit for doing so. The only interaction I've had is from people I've recommended. This is not a bad thing, just not the result #ff was intended to create.
Now, I'm not knocking Follow Friday and for some it has its place. My argument is there needs to be a change in the way people post their #ff, for example a good intro one-liner about the person that gives me a reason to follow.
We'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you use the #ff or #followfriday hashtag? Has it led to quality interactions? Drop us a comment below.
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