Following Me on Twitter

LAST UPDATED: 4-December-2009

First, thanks for stopping by and checking out my Twitter stream and my blog. If you're curious about who the person behind the YatPundit tweets is, you've come to the right place. The YatPundit homepage is here, and you'll find a list of my other websites and blogs when you get there.

You're more than welcome to follow my Twitter stream, but please be aware that I don't follow everyone back automatically. I don't subscribe to Kawasaki's advice that you should follow back every person who follows you. As the number of people I follow on Twitter expands, it's difficult for me to keep up with everyone's thoughts here, so let me share with you some of the mental criteria I use for determining who to follow.

(more after the jump)

Are you social? If your twitter stream is one-way, I'll probably pass. Unless you're interesting (see below), I prefer two-way conversations. After all, if Rachel Maddow (@maddow) and Tavis Smiley (@tavissmiley), as well as the PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) and National Public Radio (@nprpolitics, @nprbackstory) can be two-way, why can't you?

Are you interesting? There are a number of one-way feeds on twitter that I find interesting to read, such as @engadget, and @nolanews, the feed for the local New Orleans newspaper. Following folks is a good way to "advertise" your feed to others on Twitter, so feel free to do so.

Are you a kindred spirit? Road warriors, foodies, wine geeks, computer geeks, UNIX enthusiasts, and folks from New Orleans, come on in!

Not to be negative, but there are a few things that will just about guarantee I'm not following you back:

Enraged Republicans. I gladly tweet with Republicans who are social and/or interesting (see above), but if all you're bringing to the conversation are Hannity's talking points and other foolishness from Fox News, please, please, please, go play somewhere else. I occasionally refer things of a political nature to the "Top Conservatives On Twitter" hashtag (#TCOT) in the hopes of an intelligent discussion, but I'm not interested in following wingnuts.

"non-partisan" Conservatives. If you expend a lot of twitter-energy posting attacks against Democrats, but then claim to be "non-partisan," because "both sides do bad things," I'll pass on following you. I'm not interested in intellectual dishonesty. Conservatives had control of all three branches of the federal government from January of 2001 to January of 2007. The Democrats' role in where we are now is NOT equal to what we saw from Republicans over those six years.

"non-partisan" Liberals. If you voted for Nader in 2000 or 2004, I'm not the kind of guy who's going to get along with your way of thinking. It's clear there really was a difference between Republicans and Democrats in 2000, and if you don't see it by now, I won't be the one helping you to find a clue. I'm a "Daily Kos Democrat" who is committed to removing the Republican party from political control in this country.

Thumpers. I was raised Catholic in New Orleans. I've lived my life walking past street preachers damning me for my religious beliefs. If I can ignore you in real life, I'm certainly going to ignore you on Twitter. If religion dominates your tweets to an unhealthy degree, I'm going to take a pass. OH, and Apologetics class is down the hall, take a left--it's the second door on your right. Keep walking right past here, please.

Fundamentalist Pagans. You lot are probably the one thing I have less patience with than Thumpers. I see a lot of value, virtue, and spirituality in Christianity, particularly in Catholicism. There are mountains of crap to go with that value, virtue, and spirituality, but wholesale, angry, bitter rejection of a religion is something for which I don't have time. I'm actually more patient with "fluffy bunny" Wiccans than fundamentalists. They may be clueless, but they're usually not so bloody angry at everything.

"Social Networking Experts." That snarky comment in my bio blurb isn't there just to be snarky. I have a job and a life. I have a blog or two as well. I'm not bad at this computer stuff, and I don't appreciate condescension from those who with newly-discovered computer expertise. My work is of a nature that I'm not likely to hire you, so you can scratch me off your potential client list. I may be in a position to refer you to folks I know, however, if you treat me with respect and you're social on here. Additionally, if all you do is tweet about how you have meetings and phone calls with other supposed "social networking experts," that's not something I find interesting. You're welcome to follow me and I'll gladly engage you in conversation if you @-reply me, but I'll pass on that strong a daily dose of self-promotion.

Yeah, a lot of this is judgmental, I know. Feel free to discuss, or flame away in comments.