You nailed it. The problem is not the trolls – we block them. The problem is the endless parade of people with something to sell and nothing to say. Who DM you when you follow back offering you some special deal on their startup techniques package but never show any interest in your tweets thereafter. I doubt they are interested in anything that happens in Twitter. They’re just using it to grow their brand.

I’ve come to identify these people at a glance. I follow them but, I must confess, I mute them immediately.

The disturbing thing is: aren’t these users simply a reflection of social media’s success? We’ve been telling business professionals for years: get on Twitter, it’s amazing! Now they are here. Is it surprising that they want to use it to grow their brands? Not at all.

If I may try to anticipate your response… These people are using Twitter badly. They are pushing content rather than pulling people in with valuable, thoughtful tweets. I agree. I wonder, though, if it were ever possible for them use Twitter differently. I’m becoming quite curmudgeonly in my old age, and increasingly of the opinion that, in some (many?) professions, lack of character – or mediocrity, basically – is an enabler of success. The people with any backbone today are kicking against the status quo because the status quo sucks. These are the people that I will inevitably engage with online, just as I’d engage with them irl – the fighters, explorers, adventurers, and innovators.

My tribe and yours, sir.