A recent CNET article on Twitter is wrong. The thesis: follow everyone who follows you. Here's my own process when someone follows me on Twitter:
Now, I really don't think I'm ruining the Twitter community by not following spammers, people who don't share my interest, and addicted Twitter-ers.
Also, about the interests thing, CNET-Twitter douche says:
I simply don't see how users get more value out of Twitter by following a select group of people. I've tried it and it was disastrous. More often than not, that grouping is filled with co-workers and friends that probably share many of the same interests. If you ask me, that sounds more like a big, private chat room than a social network where you can communicate and interact with people from all over the world.
A.) Few of the people I follow are coworkers or friends. B.) Yes they share the same interests. I don't really want to tweet (or read) about American Idol, nuclear physics, or how to repair lawn-mowers. C.) Since when was shared interest strictly determined by geographic location?
Now, you can use Twitter however you want. I won't tell you how to live your (Twitter) life, unlike Mr. Reisinger (aka CNET-Twitter douche). Just don't be surprised if you tweet every 2 minutes only about your latest blog post on how to tweet or blog and what you ate for breakfast.
[Update 1/14, 10:19am CST — Fixed a few typos on the chart.]
