Don't be a Twit.

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Imagine you're at the store, and a mother with two tiny kids is struggling to navigate the door with all her bags while keeping her children with her. You hold the door open, just like your mother taught you, but rather than thanking you she stops dead and holds out her iPhone. On it you read, "Bonnie uses TrueTwit validation service. To validate click here." The link takes you to a page where you have to type out two Catchpa words before she'll walk through the door you're holding for her.
Huh?!?!
This happens all the time on Twitter, and just like the mother episode above, I just don't get it!
Say you notice a person interacting with a mutual friend on Twitter. You go to their profile page to check them out. They seem pretty interesting, so you take the plunge and click "follow."
...and the first thing they do is ask you to jump through a hoop. "[Person] uses TrueTwitvalidation service. To validate click here" followed by a link that takes you to a page with two of those Catchpa security words.
How is this okay? Whose mother would say, "Oh, yeah, that's good manners right there. Good going, Sonny!"
Are you with me on this? When you follow me, you are showing me a courtesy. My only appropriate response is "thank you," although I'm sure some people prefer to say "no thank you" for whatever reason. Allowing someone to follow me - that doesn't take me any effort at all. It doesn't detract from my Twitter experience in any way. A person can have a million followers, and so what? None of those followers take anything from the person they follow.
Now, if you spam me, that's a different story. And if you're a bot, there's at least a chance I'll figure it out. If I do, I'll unfollow you and block you with extreme prejudice.
Folks, you aren't doing anyone a courtesy by "allowing" them to follow you on Twitter, any more than that mother is doing you a favor by walking through the door you've opened. Saying "thank you" - that's polite, and expected, and maybe we'll take umbrage if you don't. But let's not confuse the two.
If you use TrueTwit, please stop. It's rude. Your mother raised you better than that.

*****See you here at the start of every week for Social Media Monday! I post a bunch throughout the week, as well, so don't be a stranger. And if you like what I write: thank you for commenting, and for sharing it with your friends. Don't worry, I won't make you validate your humanity before extending those thanks. ;)