The other day, a close friend of the flock relayed a rather hilarious anecdote about a Twitter account they’d recently unfollowed. “Every tweet,” she laughed, “was punctuated with seven to 10 exclamation marks. Every single tweet!!!!!!!!!!”

While we chuckled about why anyone would want to waste 10 of their allotted 140 characters by violently exclaiming something, we began to think — what makes someone tick? What makes someone click the “Unfollow” button on a person’s profile? What are the underlying reasons behind a decision that is usually made instantaneously?

If you’ve ever wondered something along those lines, you’re in luck. Without further adieu, here are the seven ways you can lose a Twitter follower — and what you can do to prevent it.

Your Twitter feed is repost after repost after repost.
Whether you’ve set up your Twitter account to automatically tweet your Facebook posts, or you share every single one of your Instagram photos to your Twitter feed — DON’T DO IT. It’s lazy and sloppy — and chances are your message is getting truncated (or worse, lost) beyond the point of recognition or clarity.

You have 140 characters to work your magic, so do so.

CAPSLOCK IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.
NO, WAIT, IT’S YOUR ONLY FRIEND. Now, we’re big fans of the occasional word or turn of phrase in all caps. But an entire tweet? 140 characters of nonstop screaming? We don’t think so.

Carefully consider what you’d like to emphasize and capitalize it accordingly. BOOM.

You have the word “follow back” in your Twitter bio.
We can’t help it — the word elicits a visceral reaction and sends shivers down our spines. “Followback,” and its evil twin, “#TeamFollowback,” have no place on Twitter — a platform meant for fostering meaningful relationships of substance. Just because someone follows you doesn’t mean you have to follow ‘em back. You should connect with accounts that can help you grow and learn — not because you to see your follower numbers grow. Connect with the right accounts and they will grow.

Shortened URLs? What’s that?
Goo.gl and bit.ly and ow.ly were created for a reason. Use them to shorten unsightly, ridiculously long URL addresses. Your followers will thank you.

You only tweet about yourself. To yourself.
If, after scrolling through your feed, we see ZERO interaction, we can’t help but wonder if you are a human being. All those tweets and not one directed at another Twitter user? What are you even doing on Twitter?

People don’t want to just read your tweets. They want to interact with you. Engagement is everything, people.

#Every #thing #is #a #hashtag.
Life isn’t an endless series of hashtags. Your Twitter feed shouldn’t be, either. Hashtag keywords strategically and conscientiously — “#a” should never be a thing. EVER.

You’re a fan of subtweeting.
If you’re not familiar with subtweeting, it’s indirectly tweeting about someone without mentioning their name. Petty stuff, if you ask us, and it truly has no place on the World Wide Web — or your Twitter feed.

Well, there you have it. Now go ahead, clean up your act and keep those Twitter followers you’ve worked so hard to amass.

Seven ways you can lose a Twitter follower and what you can do to prevent it.

How To Lose A Follower In Seven Ways

Regular

It’s said that two minds are better than one. After this month’s artist(s) stopped by for our Blank Slate chalkboard mural project, we’re inclined to say that THREE minds are the best! Our new friends at Griffin Creative transformed our wall into a tribute to the creativity each of us has and needs to share.

Equipped with a giant (and ingenious) transfer template and a well-trained crew of artists, the team pulled together the massive project right before our eyes. With this new piece, our office is reminded every day that we’ve each got a gift to give to the world.

We’re excited to share this piece with all of you. Now, we open the floor to Griffin to tell you how they structure their creative process. Take it away, friends!

The work that we did was a collaboration by the artists at Griffin Creative. We see ourselves as graphic designers rather than illustrators. This was an unusual challenge for us.

Can you tell us a little bit about the work you created for The Black Sheep Agency office? Where did you get the idea, and what do you want viewers to learn from it?

We wanted to tell a story that was pertinent to the creative process that we all face in the commercial arena every day. The illustration is an amalgamation of ideas that serve to ask the question, “What is the creative process and why is it necessary?”

We enjoy working together. Our best ideas are the result of the accidental creative process that occurs when multiple thinkers are working closely together.

If you could be any artistic tool — pencil, crayons, oil pastels, computer, etc. — which one would you be?

A pencil. It is the rudimentary form of communication at its most raw. As cavemen drew with charcoal, the pencil is its modern relative. Sometimes in the ambiguous lines of a pencil, new shapes form with a creative eye. The computer is too direct and too cumbersome to get where you want to go with an idea quickly.

What is your most favorite thing you’ve created?

It’s difficult to nail down any one particular project or outcome. Every project presents its own problems, but it’s the unusual, out-of-the-box requests that truly get us excited.

What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

Open our eyes, and then have a glass of water.

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new art project?

Artists are notoriously weird. Prove it. (Or argue it.)

Charles Mingus put it best: “Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”

Has anyone ever said to you, “I don’t get it?” If so, how do you respond to that?

Art has to stand on its own. It’s always instructional to discuss the hard to discern. Not every viewer is on their best game and, sometimes, they need a little help. Once the discussion is over, most viewers are capable of getting your point.

Fill in the blank. “I would die without ________.” 

What advice do you have for other creatives?

There are a lot of highs and lows in our business. Most of our highs occur when our thought process is in sync with the client. Those informal discussions between yourself and your client are what get you in the same direction. Learn to speak “client” fluently. Keep your ideas on your sleeve.

Blank Slate: Ft. Griffin Creative