Don't feel bad for being trusting – you're in good company. I followed back someone on Twitter who had recently begun to follow me. They were in Boston, and I'm always happy to connect with folks in my own backyard. I visited this person's web site and was impressed enough with the sincere tone of their bio to follow them back and send them a direct message thanking them for the follow and offering praise for their bio. Their response? To send me a direct message in reply pitching a legal marketing workshop they were teaching in Boston and asking me to "bring that good message there". [gag]

I understand that people want to use Twitter for business purposes, but for god's sake don't use your first direct contact with me to try to sell me something I don't want. I unfollowed immediately. It gave me instant relief for my sense of feeling hoodwinked. So I feel your pain!

Great post, Amanda, as usual.