I sent out a status update this morning. It read, simply “I think I just quit smoking…” Within minutes, @StopSmoking_Now retweeted my message. I don’t have a problem with that. However, within 3 hours, @QuitSmokingZone followed me and I’m unsure how to react.
You see, my twitter feed is public, so it’s not like following me will help you, unless you’re interested in what I have to say and want that delivered to you. I don’t know why @QuitSmokingZone is interested in my feed - perhaps it’s my insightful prose, or occasional use of the word “fuck”.
The only reason I can think they’re following me is in the hope that I auto-follow and build a relationship and their relative importance in the Twittersphere. I don’t auto-follow, so that’s not an issue.
Now I’m left with the question - should I allow them to continue following me, which could represent some relationship between us, albeit rather one sided, and also has a small benefit to me of increasing my follower count and increasing my perceived importance (not that I could care less about that)? Or do I block them for no apparent reason, at least none that I can rationally explain?
What do you do when someone follows you because the content of one of your Twitter/Status.net updates relates to their cause, irrespective of the general content and context of your status updates?