If you are trying to increase your reach and gain more followers, the last thing you want to see are your follower numbers decreasing. Unfortunately, for numerous reasons, follower numbers can and do decrease. The most likely reason is that Twitter activated its delete account autobot. I’ve had more than 400 followers deleted off my lists over the last three months simply due to Twitter’s delete bot. There’s nothing you can do about this.
The other reason is that you accidentally followed a Follow for an Unfollow Account. I’m sure you’ve seen accounts that state - #followback 100%! Well, there are also other accounts that go through and follow hundreds if not thousands of accounts at a time. Once you follow, the account owner unfollows you.
The other reason is that you accidentally followed a Follow for an Unfollow Account. I’m sure you’ve seen accounts that state - #followback 100%! Well, there are also other accounts that go through and follow hundreds if not thousands of accounts at a time. Once you follow, the account owner unfollows you.
This doesn't do you any good. When an account unfollows you, they are no longer seeing your Tweets, but you can still see the tweets from that account and engage with the account, pushing their numbers higher and higher while you stagnate. The best way to deal with this is to unfollow and block the account, but you have to find them first! Thankfully, there are lots of free apps that will let you do just this!
1. WhoUnfollowedMe – This happens to be my favorite way to track unfollowers. Once you Signin with Twitter, you’ll be taken to your dashboard where you can immeiately see how many unfollowers you have. You click on the blue Unfollower button. If anyone in that list is red, copy their twitter handle, paste it in the search bar in your twitter account and search. Once you find them, click on them. Then, Unfollow and BLOCK! It’s that easy. If you ever can’t find a follower via Twitter’s search, you can also click on their handle from within WhoUnfollowedMe. It will take you immediately to their page so that you can unfollow and block them. The only caveat here is that some “red” accounts will have 0 followers. These accounts have been punished by Twitter for some reason. You can skip over these or unfollow and block them. I skip over them since I’m so harsh with the Follow for an Unfollow practice.
2. Unfollower Stats – I don’t use this one, but this is another way to track unfollowers. It appears to work the same way as WhoUnfollowed me. You sign in with Twitter then view your unfollower stats and specific unfollowers via your dashboard.
3. Manage Flitter – Another way to eliminate unfollowers. I’ve never tried this one, but they do have a free option for a single account.
4. Circle Boom – Another app with a free way to manage those pesky unfollower accounts.
Reasons and Other Ways to Tell if You’re About to Follow an Unfollow Account
The number one way to tell is to look at their Following VS Follower Ratio. If they have 100,000 followers and are only following a few hundred accounts, this is a Follow for an Unfollow Account. Do not follow it. If you happen to follow an account like this by accident, your new Twitter manager tool will help you fix that.
These accounts typically think they are SPECIAL! They’re sooo hot that they have a zillion followers and only follow 400 people, so those 400 people think they are super special because X account followed them. Let me tell you, none of those guys are special. Not in a good way anyway. Unfortunately, the only way to stop this detestful practice is to delete these accounts off your account. That will decrease their followers, because let’s face it, if they are only following 400 accounts, they should have somewhere around 400 to 600 followers not 400,000! So, do yourself a favor and get rid of them, cause let me tell you, they aren't going to help you with your Twitter reach or marketing goals.
