How does twiends work?

Twiends provides introductions to people looking to develop their social network on Twitter. We use seeds to create the incentive for people to check each other out. When you follow someone they give you seeds, and vice versa when they follow you. You can decide how many seeds you want to offer per introduction, and when you run out you remain on the list so people can still check you out if they like. We focus on making the introduction, and you focus on deciding who you want to be friends with in the long run. We are not a "get followers fast" site or a follower train. You get to choose who you 'friend' and they get to do the same. Our focus is community building.

What is a seed?

Twiends uses a seeds system to help you grow your social network. You offer seeds to others as an incentive for them to check you out. Many of these people will become long-term followers. They can then use these seeds to grow their communities too. It is purely a mechanism for encouraging people to check each other out, and it works really well.

Do you sell followers?

No! We want to make it very clear that we don't sell followers. We only provide a community tool where people can choose to follow whoever they wish. We are purely a discovery service, where people can search by interest, country, etc. Seeds are used so that you can have some control over who you allow to follow you, and the speed with which you want to grow your community.

I don't want to follow others.

That's perfectly fine. You can list yourself on the site absolutely free. People will probably still check you out. You can also get seeds through other means, such as daily visits or blogging about the site.

Can I purchase seeds?

You can do this on the seeds page when you're logged in.  All purchases are handled securely through PayPal. The seeds purchased will appear in your account automatically as soon as the transaction clears through Paypal, and you'll find a record of them in your account history.

What happens if my account is suspended by Twitter?

As part of our terms of service, you may only use twiends with a fully active Twitter account. Suspended accounts will not be allowed to use the service. We take their terms of service very seriously, please read our ethics page.

What does the service cost me?

Nothing. It's free..! You do have the option to purchase seeds if you want to, but everything is essentially free.

Why does it say I can't follow someone?

There are a few reasons why this can happen. The most common reasons are; when someone protects their tweets - if this happens, you will get the seeds for following them the first time, but will not start following them until they approve you, or if you have followed the person outside of twiends.

Can I block a user?

Yes, you can block users that you feel will not be of value to you. Simply either click the link on the listing pages, to prevent those users from being able to follow you, or use the "block user" buttons; these are displayed on the listing pages and in your account history page. When you click these buttons you’ll screen out accounts that are unsuitable. We keep a record of the number of times an account is reported, and we suspend users that go beyond certain thresholds.

Your Privacy

We use your personal information to provide the services you've requested (i.e. to process your order). We may also use this information for auditing, research and analysis to operate and improve our technologies and services. We will not pass your details on to any third parties.

Do you offer a VIP option?

Yes, although it may work slightly differently than you're used to. Anybody that purchases seeds on the site is marked as a VIP. This VIP status will last from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the package purchased.

If you purchase more than one package which includes VIP status then you will always get the longer period as a VIP but please note, these VIP days are not cumulative.

What does VIP status include?

The primary benefit of VIP status is that we'll give you some seeds back for unfair unfollowing. VIPs get a priority response to support tickets and your account is highlighted in the listings with a star.

As a VIP, you also get access to your own VIP page which allows you to monitor and manage your account. In addition, you will get 25 seeds for each daily visit you make to the site. You will only be able to earn these seeds once a day.

What are VIP seeds back?

We continually monitor for abuse and give our VIP's some seeds back for unfollowing when your account filters don't prevent it. We don't give seeds back for normal unfollowing, just churning (i.e. following and unfollowing straight away). There are legitimate reasons for unfollowing someone too, and we take this into account. We calculate these drops and add seeds back approximately once a week. Alternatively, you may choose to add them at any time, via the VIP page.

What are free introductions?

We give our VIP's free introductions each day. This means that a proportion of follows are given without affecting their seed balance and will result in them being followed by others without having to use their own seeds for these introductions.

What is a seed?

Twiends uses a seeds system to help you grow your social network. You offer seeds to others as an incentive for them to check you out. Many of these people will become long-term followers. They can then use these seeds to grow their communities too. It is purely a mechanism for encouraging people to check each other out, and it works really well.

I don't want seeds; I just want to make some new friends.

That's perfectly fine. You can find and follow some new friends on the site without listing yourself. By turning your profile 'off' on your settings page you can still find and follow some interesting people without being listed yourself.

Why can't I offer 1 seed?

The minimum offer is 2 seeds, but the site automatically deducts one seed during each follow. That's why offers always appear one seed lower than you set them. If you set it to 2, it will appear as 1. If you set it to 6, it will appear as 5. Deducting one seed during each follow is a very important part of the seed mechanism. It allows us to reintroduce those seeds into the system in other ways, such as giving them to new users or giving them to users who visit the site through daily seeds. It creates a better "flow" of seeds on the site that encourages introductions.

If we didn't do this then the seeds in the system would inflate, and the incentive to check each other out would diminish over time. We would also not be able to offer incentives for referrals and other community growing activities. All of this we have found out through extensive testing and analysis.

Why are some people offering 0 seeds?

The reason you see 0 seed offers in the system is because those users have run out of seeds and can no longer offer any, so they show as 0 until they get more seeds. Generally, only a small number of people will check them out because of this, which encourages them to log in and participate as well.

If I follow someone twice will I get the seeds twice?

No, I'm afraid not. That would be a little unfair on the person offering you the seeds. You only get the seeds once. Also, if you do a lot of following and unfollowing you may have your account suspended by Twitter.

What are daily visit seeds?

We give all our members 10 seeds just for visiting each day. VIP's receive 25 seeds for visiting. All you need to do is make sure your email address is verified and then check back on your account once a day. We've found this is a great way to encourage members to stay active and be engaged in the community.

What is a Featured Users slot?

The 'Featured User' slots are a bonus of two of our seeds packages; the 20,000 seeds package comes with a one day slot, and the 50,000 seed package comes with 2 day slots.

During this time users are promoted in the featured user box on the right of the listings page, and offer a fixed amount of seven seeds to followers - these seeds are supplied free by twiends, so you won't use any of your own seeds for this. Currently, there is a queue for these slots, but we are able to offer them for sale separately which you can do via the seeds page. Please use this link .

Where have my seeds gone?

If you’re new to the site, it can be confusing when you log back in and find a lower balance on your account than you were expecting. Usually, the reason its lower is as a result of other users following you; each new follow will decrease your total by the number of seeds you’re currently offering. Your balance is dynamic and so works in real time - as someone follows you, you'll use seeds, and as you follow people you will gain seeds, and your balance will update accordingly.

Can I see who has followed me for seeds?

You can see all of the activity on your account, including who has followed you, in your account history pages via the 'history' page on the 'People' tab. Click here to go straight to the page.

What is a daily subscription?

These are packages you can choose to purchase which will deposit seeds into your account each day. You will be billed weekly, but the seeds will be allocated daily.

What is the daily subscription bonus?

Every day you get a bonus with your daily allocation. This bonus increases by 1 seed every day. This means that you get your daily seeds plus the bonus seeds every day! For example:

- 75 Seeds Daily package: You will get a total of 76 seeds on day one, 77 seeds on day two, up to a maximum of 125 seeds on day fifty.
- 250 Seeds Daily package: You will get a total of 251 seeds on day one, 252 seeds on day two, up to a maximum of 350 seeds on day one hundred.
- 500 Seeds Daily package: You will get a total of 501 seeds on day one, 502 seeds on day two, up to a maximum of 650 seeds on day one hundred and fifty.
- 1000 Seeds Daily package: You will get a total of 1001 seeds on day one, 1002 seeds on day two, up to a maximum of 1200 seeds on day two hundred.

Can I move my subscription bonus to a new subscription?

Sure, please just open a ticket with us when you're making the change to your subscription and we'll move it to the new package. We can move any bonus amount up to the maximum for that package type.

I have purchased a subscription - when will I get my seeds?

The subscription will start automatically when it completes through Paypal, but Paypal can sometimes take a short while to fulfil the purchase. After that, the seeds are added automatically every 24 hours after the first allocation. These will usually be allocated around the time that you purchased your subscription.

My subscription isn’t working, what should I do?

Occasionally a subscription payment fails to process correctly when we try to bill it. This can be due to a funding source issue, a rejected transaction by your bank, or just a temporary issue on Paypal. In the first instance, it's a good idea to log into your Paypal account and check why the payment failed. Unfortunately, we do not have authority to query Paypal or your bank.

When the payment fails we automatically pause your subscription so that your bonus is preserved for you during this time. Usually Paypal will try to re-bill the amount again 5 days after the failed payment. Please don’t try and make additional subscription payments during this time, as you may find the payment is charged twice. If the funding source has been corrected, then it will process at this time and the subscription will be resumed. If it fails multiple times then let us know by opening a new support ticket and we can try and cancel the subscription and start it again.

What if my weekly payment fails?

If your weekly payment fails then Paypal will automatically try to process it again in 5 days time. In order to preserve your subscription bonus we pause the subscription until the payment succeeds. Please feel free to open a ticket with us if you need any assistance with your subscription.

Can I move my daily seeds to another account?

We can help you move purchased seeds on a once-off basis, but due to the way these are managed by Paypal we can't automatically change it to another account. In this instance, please cancel the subscription and open a new one on the desired account. Contact us via a ticket and we'll help you move any existing balances and bonuses to the new account.

How can I cancel my subscription?

Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time quickly and easily. In order to protect your security we do not store any payment information on twiends. All subscriptions are managed and processed by Paypal - we are unable to cancel subscriptions at twiends - this has to be done by you. If you'd like to modify or cancel a subscription please follow these steps:

Step 1: Please log into Paypal
Step 2: Click on the Profile menu link in PayPal
Step 3: Choose My Money
Step 4: Choose to update My pre-approved payments
Step 5: Choose the payment to Webcandy Limited

Can I purchase seeds?

You can purchase seeds on the seeds page when you're logged into twiends. All purchases are handled securely through Paypal. The seeds purchased will appear in your account immediately.

Can I purchase seeds without a Paypal account?

Yes! At our seeds page you can see all the packages we're currently offering here.

The left hand column shows all the one-off packages, and these can all be purchased using a credit card using the "Don't have a PayPal account?" tab. We still use the paypal portal to manage the payment, but you don't need a full paypal account.

Additionally, we can accept a wire transfer directly from your bank for our bulk seeds packages. To qualify for this you will need to already be a site VIP and have made several purchases of the larger packages first; as the bulk packages are non-refundable and therefore only advisable once you are completely happy with the return you can expect and the service that twiends provides.

Paypal is not working/Issues with Paypal

Although we use Paypal as a payment portal, we do not have direct access to your Paypal account or details from our site. If you have any issues with a payment, in the first instance we would advise you to contact paypal directly.

Obviously, once you have done this, if you are continuing to have problems, feel free to open up a new ticket and we will try and help you as much as we can.

Why has my payment failed?

If your payment has failed then there is very little we can do to help you with this as we do not have access to your Paypal account.

This can happen due to a funding source issue; such as an expiry date on a card. It can also happen when a payment is rejected by your bank; some banks have stringent checks on internet purchases. And it can also be triggered by temporary issues on PayPal.

We advise that if this does happen, then the quickest way to resolve the issue is to log into your Paypal account and check why the payment failed, as we do not have authority to query Paypal or your bank about this issue on your behalf.

What is aggressive unfollowing?

This is when someone follows a lot of people in the list and then unfollows them almost straight away. Although we realise that you won't want to continue following everyone you check out, we see churning as unfair and of no benefit to users who are trying to grow their social network. When people churn, the list they are effectively taking seeds from others without giving anything in return.

Twiends works on a system of mutual introduction. It's a trust system that says, I'll give you seeds if you follow me for a reasonable amount of time and check me out. People that just churn the list are not even giving their new friends a chance. We monitor for aggressive churning and when certain thresholds are hit your account may be reviewed.

Why have I have received an email warning?

If we see that your account is breaking twiend's or twitter's rules then we will send you an email warning you about your behaviour and, in most cases, we will explain why this is breaking the rules. If you continue to break the rules, we will temporarily suspend or even permanently remove your account.

Why is my account on hold?

We reserve the right to place a temporary hold on any account that has broken our rules or those of twitter. We hope that this will deter users from using the site unfairly. We would ask that you please review your activity on twiends, to make sure that you are conforming to our rules.

A hold period will usually be between 2 and 7 days depending on what caused the hold. It could be a little longer if your account has been on hold before. It is temporary and will be lifted automatically after a few days.

My account has been suspended for no reason – what should I do?

At twiends we actively suspend accounts that we feel have broken the rules. We clearly publish these rules and do each suspension in person to try and keep mistakes to a minimum. Firstly, if you think that your account has been suspended unfairly, please check here to make sure that you have not broken any of the rules or terms and conditions of both twiends and twitter. Of course, we are human too, and there is a possibility we can get it wrong sometimes. If you feel that we have suspended your account in error then please open up a ticket and contact us.

Please note that we have a full history of all the actions that you have taken on twiends and all the profiles that you have previously and are currently linked with. You may have been suspended for one of your old profiles, or even another account that you own. The most common reason for suspension is creating fake accounts. Please make sure you are aware of what we consider a fake account, we will be able to see all of the recent activity from your account(s) .

If you still feel you have not broken any rules and would like us to look into this further, please open a new ticket in the forum and we will review your case.

I did not realise I had broken the rules – can you reactivate my account?

We provide detailed information on our site about what we do and don't permit, and our forums cover all of the suspension scenarios we see each day. It is therefore up to individual users to check that their actions are within the rules.

Suspended accounts will not be allowed to use twiends and will not be reactivated; both the linked profiles and the seeds remaining on any suspended accounts will be forfeit. We take on twitter's terms of service very seriously too. If you are unclear on any aspect of what is permitted, please visit our ethics page or our rules page for more information on this.

What happens if my account is suspended by Twitter?

As part of our terms of service you may only use twiends with a fully active Twitter account. Suspended accounts will not be allowed to use the service. As stated above, we take their terms of service very seriously, please read our ethics page or our rules page for more information on this.

How can I reduce my drop rate?

This is a key feature for twiends, as adjusting you filters will really help to reduce drop rates. Please check this article for further information on how to adjust the filters.

It may take a day or two before you'll start to notice the difference, as you'll still be getting unfollows from the previous settings.

There will be a percentage of unfollowing on most accounts, as a guide we tend to work on a figure of between 25%-50%. There are several factors that will determine this including the filters you set, the seeds you offer and your tweets. It can just take a bit of adjustment to get the optimum settings for your account.

How do I add my 'Country' and 'Interests'?

When you set up your twiends account, you can also add the country you are from. This can be done on the Setting page.

If you check our main page, you will see a green frame with a button called "modify" at the right. This button opens the 'Interests' popup. You can add or amend up to 5 interests here, and your account will then be classified in our directory. Other users will be able to see your country setting and interests and use this as a guide when they decide whether or not to follow you. However, it is just a guide, we don't monitor the information users add or who they choose to follow but setting these options can help.

Why can't I follow any more people?

If you find that you can't follow any more profiles then it is possible that you've hit the twitter follow limit. Twitter restricts the number of people you can follow to 2001. Once you reach this limit, twitter won't let you follow anyone else until you increase the number of people following you. You'll need to allow some time to gain more followers and the restriction will be automatically lifted, allowing you to follow more people again.

Please note that if you are using the following back feature in your twiends 'Settings' or if you just manually follow back most of those who follow you, you might be hitting the twitter limits for that too; as twitter limits you to 1000 follows a day, so when you hit this limit you won't follow people back until the limit is reset by them. This could be causing the followback to pause from time to time.

I have a new account but why can't I follow people yet?

If you link a new twitter account to our twiends profile you are likely to get this message "Although your twitter account is approved, you may not follow others yet".

Generally speaking, if you use your twitter account normally and add some good tweets, then your account should approve automatically after a day or two. You may also need to improve any areas that have been flagged including adding your picture and bio to your twitter account.

If your account does not fully approve after a few days, then please contact us via the support forum. For more information about this topic, please check twitter's guide of rules and best practices.

How can I close my account

You can close your account on the advanced settings page. You can also de-list yourself without closing your account on the settings page by turning your profile 'off'.