[dhconnelly]

I enjoyed reading this until I reached the end: "I still have nightmares about playing Temple and not being able to find the proximity mines. If you like James Bond, lattes, startups and design, you'd enjoy my tweets."

Talk about a non sequitur.

[Jonanin]

Yeah, what the hell? I don't get why people beg for followers at the end of their blog posts. It just leaves a sour taste in my mouth after what would have been a great reading experience.

[pknight]

It's this kind of mindset that prevents a lot of people from actually getting the shit they work hard for seen by other people.

The people that make their work matter in the world find ways to extend influence and this is just one small tactic that simply works.

[benihana]

>I don't get why people beg for followers at the end of their blog posts.

You don't understand why people promote themselves? You made it to the end of the blog post, which likely indicates that you enjoyed the content. Why wouldn't he say "hey follow me on twitter so that if I write another post that doesn't make it to HN front page, you can hear about it," to try to get some extra followers? Would you prefer he ask you to follow him at the beginning of the post?

[dhconnelly]

There's a huge "Follow so-and-so" Twitter button immediately following the writing, so I'm pretty sure that the corny self-promotion didn't need to be part of the article itself. I read lots of articles where this happens, and it's always jarring.

[pjscott]

I'm about as aware of those buttons as I am of individual grasshoppers in tall grass during summer, i.e. not very. They're everywhere, and I hardly ever want to press them. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banner_blindness

[robryan]

The suggestion text has been shown to work better than just placing a button. Building up your personal brand can be worth a lot in the long run, so why not?

[michaelgrafl]

I don't like being manipulated. Every time I see a "You should follow me on Twitter" kinda thing I make it a point to not follow the author, or maybe even unfollow them.

Holding your readership in higher regards than a meaningless metric can be worth a lot in the long run, too.

[ashray]

Manipulated ? He just said in other words - "Hey follow me on twitter if you want to stay updated". Is that manipulation according to you ?

I actually looked for the twitter button on his site so that I could follow him - since I did enjoy the post and would like to see more from him. Didn't feel manipulated though.