May 19, 2012

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Why I love my autoDM Fail

November 30, 2011 By 13 Comments

On Monday I was reading one of my favourite blogs, PR Breakfast Club. The post was called 'Yet More Auto-DM Fails' and is part of a regular series on this blog featuring the worst auto direct messages received on Twitter.

I was going through this post and I came to #3 on the list: "Hi, nice to meet you. What's your favourite book?"

Hahaha, that's me! That's my auto direct message! Oh my goodness, I had tears rolling down my cheeks from laughing so much. The comment beside it was also quite funny: "This one’s interesting in that it attempts to be personable…yet is obviously personable to everyone who gets it. I do enjoy books, but never mention as much in my bio or elsewhere so basically this boils down to a socially awkward auto-dm."

Socially awkward? You know what's really socially awkward? Twitter. What a strange thing we've created to interact with complete strangers.

Anyway, I thought that I at least deserved a chance to defend my little message and I chose to do so in a video.

And of course, I do invite everyone to share their favourite book with me!

What do you think? Was my Auto-DM out of line? Are PR people over-sensitive? Would you have responded to my inquiry?

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NewDriverUpdate
NewDriverUpdate 7 pts

That is really great blog that you shared to us.. Keep posting some more blogs like this..

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Whitney Punchak
Whitney Punchak 45 pts moderator

NewDriverUpdate Thank you! Although I hope I don't make too many 'worst of' lists. :P But if I do, there will definitely be another video retort!

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stevecunningham
stevecunningham 6 pts

Hey there! My favourite book is "The Black Swan". Yes, 99.9% of all PR people are oversensitive :)

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Whitney Punchak
Whitney Punchak 45 pts moderator

stevecunningham Lol! 99.9% eh? My, my...talk about an industry on egg shells! :P

'The Black Swan' sounds right up my alley! Granted, I haven't read it yet, but its summary remind me of a book called 'Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior'. I quite liked it.

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LauLau81
LauLau81 131 pts

Haha... Of all questions, you really chose the favorite book huh! I tell you a little secret, i only read romance pocket books! Hahaha

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Whitney Punchak
Whitney Punchak 45 pts moderator

LauLau81 Guilty as charged! I'll read pretty much anything - including romance novels, especially on summer vacation. :)

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fergusonsarah
fergusonsarah 101 pts

Yeah! Me too, once I've read a book, I never want to reread it again. It feels me a little dizzy.

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Whitney Punchak
Whitney Punchak 45 pts moderator

fergusonsarah lol! Or time traveling!

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keepupweb
keepupweb 22 pts

That is very funny. I'm glad to see you kept your sense of humor through this. I don't like automated DMs in general but I think yours was personal. Now, if the person who didn't like your DM had replied to you and you came back with another automated DM - that would have been funny. If you engaged them in conversation instead, they would have benefited from connecting with your personally.

Great use of video BTW. Now that's personal!

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Whitney Punchak
Whitney Punchak 45 pts moderator

keepupweb Thanks! A funny story indeed! I love it!

When I created the message, I wanted it to be something that I would feel comfortable asking a stranger. A lot of people were good sports about it and 'played along'. They would ask me "what's yours?". And I actually have had one or two people (usually who have multiple accounts) tease me about my automated intro.

Sherryl, do you have a favourite book? :)

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AdrienneSmith
AdrienneSmith 40 pts

Hey Whitney,

Ah, you poor thing. Were they picking on you?

Now I've seen some lame auto DM's and yes, they are suppose to be more personal but I agree with you. Yours is an ice breaker. It's much better then come over to Facebook, join my fan page and let's get acquainted. I hate those.

Just wanted to put in my two cents. Now as for my favorite book, I don't really have a favorite. I've read so many over the years and I don't like to go back and reread them. It's like movies, once I've seen them I don't want to watch them again.

I will say though that one that continues to stick with me to this day that I absolutely love is "The Travelers Gift". That one sticks with me much more than any other although I've read some awesome books.

Thanks for the video and I say to heck with them. You do what works best for you.

~Adrienne

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Whitney Punchak
Whitney Punchak 45 pts moderator

AdrienneSmith Haha, picking on lots of people! I couldn't help but laugh - what a funny little surprise I had on Monday!

I don't mind reading books again but I have to have some time in between the readings. It seems I pick up on different points each time I re-read it. Although I can't do this too often - unlike my younger sister who has read each Harry Potter book at least 7 times! Now that's dedicated.

I just looked up the book you recommended. It sounds excellent!!! It's on my list!

Thanks for your kind words Adrienne and your recommendation! So nice of you to drop by. :)

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