Rick Schwartz has long been an outspoken domain investor. From creating the popular TRAFFIC industry conference to writing Rick’s Blog to sharing on Twitter, the “Domain King” has never been shy about sharing his opinions and offering advice about domain investing.
I would imagine that most serious domain investors who are on Twitter follow Rick’s account. People may not agree with everything he believes or posts, but I look at Rick as an industry leader. Rick was an early adopter of good .com domain names, bought many great domain name assets, sold a handful for a great deal of money, monetized his portfolio with PPC advertising, and he retained enviable portfolio of domain names to this day.
This afternoon, Rick announced that he is going to cap his Twitter followers at 10,000 (he currently has just shy of 9,500. He plans to privatize his feed so only followers will be able to access what he tweets about. As you might imagine, Rick shared this on Twitter along with his rationale:
#1 I have made a decision.
I am cutting off followers at 10,000. Not gonna have more.
Once those slots are filled, someone has to leave before someone else comes in.
I’m going to change the settings, so only the people that follow me can see my posts.#Domains #DomainNames pic.twitter.com/EQl48k5CZb
— RickSchwartz.com 👑 The Domain King® 👑 Since 1995 (@DomainKing) October 13, 2022
#2 Anyone else that wants to follow me has to apply. I will probably turn down 99% of the applications. That will start TODAY!
Most domain investors that are credible already follow me. I’m not looking to babysit newbies. They can go to daycare! 🥲🥲#Domains #DomainNames pic.twitter.com/vr3ttT9JQt
— RickSchwartz.com 👑 The Domain King® 👑 Since 1995 (@DomainKing) October 13, 2022
#3 Lastly, wiseguys get terminated from this day forward w/o notice.
If you NEED to be a wise guy, moron or asshole, GOODBYE!
Don’t want to deal with Backstabbers. Don’t want to deal with jerkoffs. Don’t want to deal with fuckers take cheap shots.#Domains #DomainNames. pic.twitter.com/zO1u9WBjhx
— RickSchwartz.com 👑 The Domain King® 👑 Since 1995 (@DomainKing) October 13, 2022
If you already follow Rick on Twitter, there’s probably nothing you need to do to continue seeing his tweets. If you don’t follow him but want to read his insights, now might be a good time to follow before he turns his DomainKing account private.
Florida Man With 9840 Twitter Followers Is “Capping” At 10,000. Film At 11.
I capped mine at ZERO 0 because no social sh#@it ,no problems no issues
Easy peasy
Speaking on behalf of myself and I believe more broadly on behalf of my fellow wise guys, I must say in the strongest possible terms that we deeply resent being lumped in with the morons and assholes.
Rick has dropped more than 600 followers since his “I’m taking my ball and going home” rant, so there is plenty of room under the cap now. If the current trend continues, he’ll hit zero in a couple of weeks. Then, like the previous tantrums where he left twitter entirely or went private, he’ll be back.
Pretty much everyone else in the domain business manages to maintain a presence on Twitter and not interact with – and thus boost the profiles of – trolls and other miscreants. Rick, on the other hand, will reply to them and do his “Blocked!” thing, in order to give each one the interaction for which they are looking in order to boost their profile. Since any anonymous nobody can jerk his chain and get a reaction, his counterproductive profile-boosting of idiots makes him a magnet for them. Then, he doesn’t understand why they do it.
Anyone on Twitter attracts spam and unwanted comments. Normal people just quietly block them or ignore them and move on. You don’t stop and give every idiot the opportunity to use you for attention, unless your ego is too fragile to deal with it.
Rick’s content is so low quality and self centered .. I unfollowed him for the reasons described here. His ego gets in the way of his achievements.