Q: If someone follows me on Twitter, do I have to follow them back? And could you give us some reasons why we wouldn't want to follow someone? -- Debra S.

A: There isn't any written rule that says you must follow those who are following you. People follow you for a number of different reasons.

Some just want to raise their follow numbers and will follow anyone on the planet, and others might follow you so they can gain knowledge and insight from you.

Of course, Debra, those who follow you want you to follow them so they can market their products and services to you.

Most everyone has something to sell. From the latest get-rich-quick scheme to miracle age-reversing skin creams and everything in between, we all have something to sell. It's up to you to decide whether or not you are interested in what your followers have to offer you.

For example, let's say you own an organic health food store and I'm interested in learning more about organically grown fruits and vegetables; I would want to follow you so I might become better educated in that area.

However, if I sell pet accessories and you don't own pets, well, you might not be interested in following me. And that's OK.

Now to answer the second part of your question ... why we wouldn't want to follow someone.

Here again, people have their own reasons for not following someone on Twitter.

To answer your question I did some research online to see what the most common reasons were why people won't follow someone back.

No profile. How would you know if you wanted to follow someone if you didn't know anything about them?

No profile picture along with a full profile is one of the most popular reasons people don't get followed on Twitter -- or even on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Inappropriate profile photos.

The follow number is much higher than the follower number. When the numbers are highly off balance, people may wonder why there aren't more followers. If anything, the follower number should be higher.

Tweets may be boring or irrelevant.

Only tweeting quotes. Generally this means the tweeter has no thoughts of his or her own.

Too many self-promoting tweets. Promoting oneself on Twitter is OK, just don't do it in each and every post.

Unacceptable/inappropriate subject matter.

Hogging the Twitter page. Posting 20 updates at one time pushes other Tweeters off the page.

Twitter is not a dating service. Don't use it as such.

Here are some good Twitter do's:

Re-tweet great posts.

Respond to direct messages sent to you.

Offer great information.

Engage in conversation.

Be helpful and supportive.

My suggestion is to focus on the quality of the people you follow and not the quantity. The size of your list is not the end goal. The end goal is to create relationships and have people see you as someone they can relate to. Remember, people buy from those they know, like and trust!

Success,

Eydie

Eydie Stumpf is a virtual assistant based in Corona who specializes in creating an Internet presence for business owners using social media and e-mail marketing platforms. Visit her Web site at www.eydiesoffice.com and send her questions via askme@eydiesoffice.com.