I know it looks like I’m on a Twitter etiquette rampage this week and, you know what, maybe I am. My timelines seem to be filled with my social media pet peeves this week and if they annoy me this much, I can’t be the only one. So think of these rants as helpful posts that show you what not to do and I’ll promise to write some “what you SHOULD do” posts soon.

Today’s culprit? The Twitter scourge known as the Auto DM. Possibly the worst Twitter fail in existence, the Auto DM has been proven to cause up to a 245% increase in unfollow rates but people still keep doing it.

1. It’s pushy. When I follow someone, it means I’m interested in what they’ve posted on Twitter. It doesn’t mean I am open to unsolicited messages selling me products or trying to direct me to a website.

2. It’s lazy. If you’ve set up an Auto DM for every time someone follows you, turn it off. Send a public @reply saying hello. Be friendly. Be a real person. This especially goes for you ‘social media gurus’ who do this all the time. “Hi! Click this link to magically learn all the secrets of social media success!” Yeah, right.

3. It’s spam.  Auto DM’s look like spam, read like spam and will get you reported for sending spam. They will also swiftly erase any credibility you had with your follower.

4. You will lose followers. I unfollow every account that Auto DM’s me. It tells me right off the bat that the person behind the account is not genuine and since I have no desire to follow robots on Twitter, it’s an automatic unfollow from me.

5. It’s just plain rude! I bothered to follow you because I’m interested in either you or the content you share. Don’t waste my time by pushing a bland, generic message  at me the second I hit the follow button.

The bottom line – don’t do it. It’s ok to want to thank people for following you, but either send a public tweet yourself or skip it. A few quality conversations over content that interests both of you will build a much stronger connection. And that’s real.

Do you send Auto DM’s? Why or why not?