UPDATE: The response to this has been overwhelming. Already this morning I’ve added 20+ new people to my followers and they’re real people, all with very interesting tweets to share. (@tommywants, @GailPeckRauner, @JohnLCraig, @NetBizInsights, @Chellemaca, @shadowperson, @kampri, @RayBilodeau, @GrainTalk, @VAinParadise, @pseroogy, @walkfitmaster, @travelwithteens, @PerksBooks, @IRewardChart, @FitKidsOnline, @aafromaa  @bookBuzzr, @mikemyatt, @nicknoorani, @shanegibson, @shelisrael, & @mommyniri ) Please share this post and don’t forget to hit the RSS button at the top to see what’s next. 

I began using Twitter, the social media platform that limits messages to 140 characters each about a year and a half ago.  As of Sunday p.m I had about 9,650 people who were “following” me.  After two late nights and some clicking this evening, I’m now down to 6,350 and that’s alright with me.

Why you ask?  Simple.  It had gotten so impersonal I felt like I hadn’t had a meaningful exchange on Twitter in as long as I could remember.  And I was tired, too, of all the messages that read: “Get white teeth by clicking here,” or “Get 400 followers a day using this service.”    I also got rid of a bunch of the nonsense associated with “Start your online business with us and you’ll be making money from Twitter.”  Maybe that works.  I kinda doubt it.  But it seems to me if they could be running a successful business venture on Twitter, they wouldn’t have to be screaming from Twitterville to get others to do it.

Social media is intended to be, well, SOCIAL.  It can’t be such when you have 9,600 in your Twitter stream and you can’t read what the real people are writing because you’re seeing screens full of BS.

And as I went through and purged any people I was following who haven’t updated on Twitter since the mid to end of November 2009, or if I was following them and they weren’t following me back out of common courtesy, I simply unfollowed them.  Some I even blocked.

To its credit, Twitter has done a great job of getting rid of all those porn followers that were bugging all of us mid-summer.  You know, @SAJS3492 and such.  (That’s a made-up Twitter name.  I hope.)  Click here and you can see my pictures.  Oy.  None of that was in my following pool, so I give them credit for finding all that crap and eliminating it.

And while I went through my followings, I also began to create my lists.  Cool Moms is a fun list to keep up with.  So is Dads. And then there is one of Dallas/North Texas and then there are DaddyClaxton favs.  (If you’re not on a list and think you should be, just let me know.) 

I also began getting iPhone updates of some of the people who I used to interact with all the time.  Already tonight, we’ve had some great conversations about what’s going on in their lives and it feels so refreshing.

My new Twitter policy is going to be simple: I’d prefer you be a mom or dad Twitter user, but if you’re not, that’s okay, too.  I’m not, however, going to follow you if SEO, MLM or any other such lettering is in your screen name. If you’ve not tweeted in the past month, forget about following me.  If anywhere in your recent stream mentions white teeth or starting a business online or making money online, forget it.  If you’re a porn site and you want me to look at your picture, forget it.  I’m married and I plan on staying that way.  And if you’re going to follow me, then I follow you back and then you unfollow me just to pad your numbers, well, forget that, too.

I’m in the process of many other changes here on the blog and on donaldjclaxton.com.  Those are going to be much-needed, positive and helpful changes for all as we go into 2010. I encourage you to stay tuned.  If you’re not following me on Twitter, I invite you to do so, given the parameters mentioned above.  I’m also on Facebook. And I also strongly encourage you to click the RSS feed button at the top of the screen by the blog.daddyclaxton.com URL.

Stay tuned.  There’s good stuff just around the corner.