I love social media, and Twitter is still my favorite and most-used social media site. That said, there are things people do on Twitter that annoy me, get on my last nerve, aggravate me to no end—in part because while they drive me crazy, they usually aren’t quite bothersome enough to make me block them. Their transgressions can be the bane of my existence, but in the end, they are nuisances or quality-of-life crimes, not capital offenses.
I do my best to pay them no mind. At most, I’ll disregard the follow requests of the offenders. But sometimes, they make me wanna holler and throw up my hands (props to Marvin Gaye). With that in mind, I am airing out some of my pet peeves in this forum.
Without further ado, here are 10 things I ignore on Twitter:
1. TrueTwit validation requests.
2. People who ask “favors” without so much as an introduction, much less a follow.
3. People who ask, “Can you tell me more about you?” or “What’s happening with you?” Don’t you see my bio and tweets (also known as status updates)? I have never been accused of under sharing on Twitter.
4. Automated direct messages. #lame
5. Followers promising “20,000 real new followers for just $50!”
6. Followers with avatars of young women and bios that read: “Just a girl looking for fun. Bored. Up for anything.” (Is it me, or are these nearly always white girls? Just saying.)
7. Followers with 0 followers, 5 following—and thousands of tweets. Wait for it…. Wait for it… BLOCK. Aaaah!
8. Crowdfunding requests from people I’ve never met, for causes/businesses I’ve never heard of, much less patronized. You must think I’m Boo Boo Da Fool.
9. People who ask 140-character questions they know damn well will take more than 140,000 characters to answer.
10. People who make assumptions about who I am/what I think based on my Twitter bio, a single tweet or who I follow. For example, you would not believe how many people jump to the conclusion that because I am a bow-tie wearing, Christian, advocate of small businesses owners, I must be a black conservative from an economically privileged background.
There. I’ve gotten this out of my system for now. It won’t change anything, but I do feel better. By the way: What are your pet peeves about how people use social media? Please share them in the comments section (especially if I’m the offender).
Black Enterprise Executive Editor-At-Large Alfred Edmond Jr. is an award-winning business and financial journalist, media executive, entrepreneurship expert,  personal growth/relationships coach, and co-founder of Grown Zone, a multimedia initiative focused on personal growth and healthy decision-making. This blog is dedicated to his thoughts about money, entrepreneurship, leadership and mentorship. Follow him on Twitter at @AlfredEdmondJr.