Hummingbird 4 Twitter

On April 21, 2009 a friend told me about a software called Hummingbird that people were using to get more followers on Twitter. So, I did a little research, looked for some user reviews, but couldn’t find any good information. So I bought the software myself to see if it really could help me get more followers like it was supposed to. After a couple days of use, there was no question – it works.

So I’m here to share my experience, show the results of my test, talk a little about the features available, and give my opinion on a few of the biggest questions I hear people asking about Hummingbird for Twitter.

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What Does Hummingbird Do?

For those tweeps you follow who don’t follow you back after a while, you can automatically un-follow them – which brings me to the next point: Hummingbird is also an “auto-unfollow” tool.

If you do the “auto-follow” and “auto-unfollow” process over and over again – follow Tweeps, wait for them to follow you, and then un-follow the ones who don’t – you can easily get more followers. And that’s the idea – Hummingbird helps you get more followers, indirectly, based on the idea that many of the people you follow will follow you back. And based on my experience, that’s exactly what happens.

Why Do I Want More Followers?

If you’re not sure why you would want more followers, then I assume you’re just using Twitter for social reasons, rather than professional reasons. Either that or you’re really new to Twitter, and you’re still figuring it all out. But for people who are promoting products or services – people who want to be heard by as many targeted people as possible – the number of followers you have indicates how many people will potentially see your “tweets” on their Twitter home page. More followers means more power on Twitter (relatively speaking) - and for people promoting products and/or services, that’s a very good thing.

NOTE: As for me, I’m not personally promoting anything on Twitter, but I’m an internet marketing consultant. I’m primarily testing the software as a form of professional research.

UPDATE: I’m now past the research phase (it clearly works), and I’m using Hummingbird to promote my clients’ products and services.

Does it Work?

I just started using it a few days ago, and I can see that it definitely works. The chart from the Hummingbird website (seen here) make it look like you can gain 15,000 followers in a month, and I can honestly say that doesn’t sound too far-fetched.

Within a few minutes after downloading the software, I was able to start using it. You just search for people to follow – and then follow them. Within 48 hours I grew my list of followers from about 120 to 520 (that’s just in 2 days of casual use). It’s grown more since then…

UPDATE (4/25/2009): My list of followers has jumped to about 1,000 (it nearly doubled again in just 24 hours)

UPDATE (4/27/2009): I’m up to over 1,500 now, and didn’t even actively follow many more people over the weekend…the momentum continues.

Future Updates will be listed on the ‘Track my Progress’ page…

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How Much Does Hummingbird Cost?

The software is available for download from TwitAddict, for $197. It may be a little much for casual users, but for people or businesses marketing products or services, online, it could easily pay for itself.

Are There Other Tools that Do the Same Thing?

Kind of. There are several software packages out there that do similar things. I’ve tested some of them. Hummingbird has by far delivered the most impressive results, but you may be interested in the features these tools have:

• One popular tool that does more than just auto-follow is TweetLater. Their auto-follow feature isn’t advanced as Hummingbird’s, but the list of other features is pretty long. They offer a free version and a professional (paid) version.
• The first autofollow tool to hit the market (Twollow – released back in November, 2008) allows you to auto-follow people based on the keywords they tweet. That’s a nice feature, but they charge a monthly fee, and limit the number of keywords you can search, which to me is unattractive, and makes the tool all but useless if you have multiple Twitter accounts.
• This simple looking tool called SocialToo supposedly has an auto-follow feature, and even interfaces with Facebook. I haven’t tried this one yet, but others’ reviews are luke warm, so I’m in no hurry.
• Another tool, called TweetTornado has an introductory video on their site that shows some pretty advanced auto-follow features, but it really seems to be aimed at marketers of “get rich quick” schemes. I’m really put off by that kind of stuff, so I have to be honest I really didn’t look much further at this product. Add that to the fact it costs $99/month (yes, that’s every month). But hey, if you don’t mind the price, and you’re marketing get rich quick schemes, then maybe you want to check it out.

Is Hummingbird and Auto-Follow Considered Spam?

I really looked into this idea before buying Hummingbird, because there are so many scams out there these days, I wanted to know if that’s all this was, or whether it was considered an acceptable “white hat” tool. The better I understood what Hummingbird for Twitter actually does, and the more I searched for other peoples’ opinions on the software, the more clearly I came to the opinion that following people is just not spam…and neither is Hummingbird.

If you really boil Hummingbird down to it’s essential purpose – it just makes it easy for you to follow and un-follow lots of tweeps. I just can’t find anything wrong with that. Anyone who follows you back is doing so by choice.

I mean, if you’re a spammer, and if you spam all your followers, then you’re a spammer with or without Hummingbird. Likewise, if you’re a respectful Twitter user, and you tweet useful or entertaining stuff, then you’ll still be a respectable Twitterer – with or without Hummingbird. In my opinion, the way in which one communicates with one’s followers is what dictates whether that individual is a spammer or not. Hummingbird itself definitely is not spam, because it doesn’t enable you to send tweets at all – it just enables you to find and follow (or un-follow) tweeps easily.

What Are the Possible Implications of Auto-Follow Tools Like Hummingbird?

Besides getting more followers – obviously – I have considered how using an auto-follow tool like Hummingbird might end up effecting the way people use Twitter, the value of a “follower,” the methods of attracting followers, and the measure of power on Twitter. These are all things that I think auto-follow tools could, and probably will, effect over time. Exactly how? Maybe the bar for how many followers people have will be set much higher. Maybe the value of a follower will decrease. Nobody knows. But you can either continue to do things the way they used to be done (follow people one-by-one), or participate in the shift in the use of Twitter as we know it. It’s better to be part of the movement than to be left in the dust, trying to keep doing things the old way. That’s my opinion – would love to hear yours as well!

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