As Twitter has grown, so has the need for a more up to date email notification system. A few days ago Twitter decided it was time to release a more comprehensive email notification about new followers. I don’t know about you, but for me and my already high 600+ followers (Of which I’m honored to be followed by each and every one) I get notifications probably 5-10 times in a day for a new follower. This new email system can really save you time and energy.

1. User Stats

Right away this new email notification gives us insight into how many followers the user has, how many people follow the user and how many updates the user has made. This is critical to me. Now I can see if this is some spam bot made to look like a user or a user who will undoubtedly spam me. I can see if they follow back people they follow. If a user has followed 3000 people and made one update to their profile, me thinks it is a spammy account, hence I wont click the link and I can ignore this email, saving me valuble time.

2. User Avatar

Another trait of a spammers account, the default avatar. Usually if they have a zillion follows, minimal updates and the default avatar, spider senses tingle and I say nay I will not follow you kind sir. Also it gives you a better connect with those people who may be genuine users.

3. Block Users

The ‘block user’ link has been added to the emails now. We can finally block off what we deem spammy accounts with a simple click from our inbox. One less step for me to take, although I can’t say I have ever had to block someone. At least not yet…

These were all very necessary steps to facilitate Twitter in their growth. A positive is now we get some snazzy looking html based emails with graphics. I have not looked at these emails in text format, so maybe someone can share their experiences with it. If I had to nit pick, which I do, I’d say make the email include their recent 5 tweets to give us an idea of the kind of content this person produces.

Enough from me. Whats your take on the new email notifications?

1. The Link Poster

Unless your account is meant strictly for posting links (Ex: @cnn, @techcrunch, etc), then don’t bother posting. Generally its a good idea to participate with others on Twitter. Who wants to read a random persons thousand links to their product? Not I.

2. The 1000+ Updates a Day Poster

It can not be healthy to be tweeting more than 10 times in a minute, unless it is some kind of super exciting event where people need constant and instant updates. If you are one of these tweet happy people, ease up a bit. The twitter world will still be there when you come back in lets say, 40 minutes or more. There are instances where I think its ok to have tweeted more than once in an hour or so. Maybe you’re responding to a bunch of @ questions/comments your followers have sent you.

3. Has the Default Avatar

We are past the age of no identity online. It is 2009 now and everyone needs to have a face of sorts. It can be an upsidedown cake picture, something. Especially on Twitter where it is all about you. I generally don’t follow any new people with the default avatar as nine times out of 10 they are spammers trying to make a quick buck from porn or male enhancement pills.

4. People Who Dont Participate

In essence, Twitter is about actively talking with people in small and informative posts. When all someone does is talk about themselves and what breakfast burrito they had for dinner, instead of spend time getting to know new people, they are defeating the purpose of Twitter. The more active time you put into Twitter the more you get back from it. The same really goes for any social network out there, participate actively and you win.

Twitter is the new Myspace these days and everyday it will become the victim of more and more spam and junk. The folks at Twitter have done an outstanding job blocking most of it and learning from the mistakes of Myspace. I think there are still some new and unfound ways to royally annoy people on Twitter.

What are your Twitter gripes?