Twitter is an amazing tool.  I have been fortunate to connect to some amazing people and great things have developed from the relationships that I have begun on Twitter.

Recently, I have been asked a lot of questions about how I use Twitter, and how I connect with people.  So here is my general Twitter policy and philosophy:

1. Privacy

I will respect your DMs.  Please respect mine.

2. Content and Subject Matter

Your screen time is valuable. I promise to make my tweets as interesting and non-boring as possible.  I am a news junkie and read about a dozen websites and blogs from around the world on a daily basis.  I will regularly post content from sites that I am not affiliated with, because I find the content interesting, and think that you might  too.  I will also periodically post things that I am working on and I will strive to post valuable content over self promotion as much as possible.

I am very interested in many topics and have strong opinions about politics, government and religion.  I will restrain my opinions as much as I can, though I am only human and reserve the right to  jump into any debate if I feel I can add a salient point.  However, I am here to make friends, not to argue with people on a daily basis. When I am asked, I will be honest.

For the record, I am an independent politically, and sometimes will feel obligated to discuss the failings in the current two party system. I am not religious or an atheist.  I have a strong belief in God, however, I feel God belongs in church, not the schools, my doctor’s office or in government.  Conversely, I think government should stay out of churches, doctors’ offices and bedrooms. I think that is fair.  You can find out more about my background on the Rob McNealy Bio page.

3. Responses, Replies, and Pitches

I will do my best to respond to all @ replies and direct messages.  However, due to my limited bandwidth, I may not always get to them, and sometimes, a few will slip by and I may not see them.  Please do not take it personally if I do not respond.

I openly accept all pitches for Startup Story Radio, but please use the Startup Story Radio Contact Form to send them to me.

4. Following/Unfollowing

I am very Libertarian when it comes to following people.  I look at Twitter like a large cocktail party, and the more people at the party the more interesting it is for me.  Therefore, I will periodically follow people based on common interests, mutual followings, and areas of expertise.  I regularly use the search function of Twitter, as well as other available tools to locate people that I may want to follow.

There is a debate in social networking about quality versus quantity of connections, followers and friends.  I think there is quality in quantity and therefore like to grow my online networks.  The more people I can connect with, the greater the content will be and more varied the prospective I learn from.

I reserve the right to unfollow you at anytime, for any reason.  I regularly unfollow people that do not follow me, are rude, or not active on Twitter.  It’s hard to dialogue with you if you aren’t listening.  I also respect your right to unfollow me at anytime.

5. Spam, Self Promotion, and Commercialization

I am not big on Twitter spam.  I will unfollow and or block you if you are DM spamming me or just keep following me to get me to follow you.  I am pretty open to following most people.  If I don’t follow you, there is a reason.

I don’t mind if you promote your content and are reasonably self promoting.  I followed you to get to know you, and your business is part of you.  However,  if you go over the top, I may unfollow you.  If you are close to me, I will tell you ahead of time.

I have no moral issue with you using Twitter advertising services such as Magpie or TwitAd, just as long as you provide valuable content as well.  If you are only on twitter to run ads, I most likely will unfollow you.  Again, I am here to make friends.

This policy is subject to change at anytime.

Oh, and if you’d like to connect with me, I’m @RobMcNealy on Twitter.