Dear Donald Miller,
First of all, allow me to introduce myself to you… possibly for a second time. My name is Greg Loesch, and I’m currently a student at the Ohio State University. I’m a fellow believer and follower of Jesus Christ.
Without meaning to tempt you into prideful thoughts, I’d like to tell you that I thoroughly enjoy your books – particularly Through Painted Deserts. I also read your blog occasionally and heard you speak when you campaigned for Obama this past fall. I actually even shook your hand before you autographed one of my books as I commented on an email you had written to Obama discussing your trip to Starbucks in which you tried to fill your Nalgene bottle with frappuccino. So… moving on to the main point of this letter.
It came to my attention the other day that I am currently blocked from following you on Twitter. My Twitter user name is @compulsiveguile, and I respectively ask that you unblock me. You have some insightful thoughts, and I would like to be kept up-to-date on things such as your book progress, etc. I hope that you didn’t receive too many “tweets” from people that started with “LUCY!”, and I doubt you did, as my blog doesn’t have that large of a following. If you didn’t guess, that was my (lame) attempt at getting your attention. If you’re reading this, I guess it worked (and am amazed at the power of social networking).
I apologize if I have done anything that may have offended you or possibly caused you some great annoyance. If so, I just ask that you let me know what I’ve done. A response in typical Twitter fashion would be acceptable (140 characters or less). However, if you blocked me because you’re upset that my blog is better than yours or because I’m a better writer than you, I rescind my apology and replace it with a mother-like lecture about pride.
I’d like to read your books without thinking “Hey, this guy is an awesome writer!… but he blocked me on Twitter… despite having over 15,000 followers.” If I can be of any assistance helping you figure out the fastest way to unblock me, by all means let me know. You can leave a comment or email me at gloesch.web[at]gmail.com.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this.
Sincerely in Christ,
Greg Loesch
Hey! I have a blog dedicated to Donald Miller and am going to post this on one of the posts! Just wanna know if you were unblocked?
Yeah, I actually got unblocked within 24 hours of posting this. One of my friends sent Don a tweet linking to this.
Don DM’ed me and apologized for the mix-up. He wasn’t sure how it happened and assured me it was nothing personal.
By all means go ahead an post/link this. It’d be my pleasure. Just send me the link if you could. Thanks!
I just discovered that I have been blocked by Don today. I have bee a loyal fan and read all of his books, enjoyed his DVD on Into The Elements, and I am really disappointed and hurt. I have no idea how I offended him. I agree and appreciate many of his insights and share with my friends and family, and now I’m blocked! I’d like to think my case too was unintentional, but I made a couple of comments to his TweetPic prior to me being removed. I didn’t think those comments were that annoying, but I really don’t know. I am just shocked right now.
Bummer! What’s your Twitter name? I’ll try to contact him on your behalf… I make no promises, though. I don’t have that much pull.
I’m @modkoko. Thank you so much for your help!!
Here’s the conversation I just had with him… not sure it’s helpful at all
Me: Don, somebody contacted me saying that you had blocked them on Twitter. Would you consider unblocking them? Thanks! @modkoko
Don: I only block people who are insulting or offended. I don’t want to give them any more offense. That name is not familiar. But why allow people to see tweets when they are only going to use them against me? Sorry.
Me: To clarify on that last DM, they are blocked for a reason? If so, I will relay the message. Thanks for the response.
Don: I have no idea. Never heard the name
Just to make sure… are you blocked from following @donmilleris? Or did you perhaps accidentally try to follow the wrong Don?
Hmm. I don’t understand why he blocked me. Yes, I have been blocked from the right Don. I know because I have been following him and even received DM from him once about his new book coming out. (He followed me just a second so that he could send me a DM) Then recently all of a sudden his tweets stop showing up, so I realized something happened.
I have been a big fan of all of his books and never said anything against him. I have always shared positive things about his books and his views to my friends and family. My twitter ID is Modkoko but the profile also shows name Ministry of Design (as well my icon). I don’t know if he recall that name? Either way, I never said anything bad or offensive to him. If he’s not willing to let me follow him, I am not going to force him, even though I believe it is done unfairly. I am just really shocked and hurt because I have no idea what resulted in me being blocked from someone I adore, but I won’t force my way to follow someone if he’s not willing to see about what happened. If he doesn’t recall my name but not willing to unblock me, I just leave it alone. I thought Don will at least look into it, but I know he’s very busy and understand that he doesn’t have time for this kind of thing. I can still see his blogs on his website, and read his books. I won’t stop being a fan because he is a great author and I still admire his works. But thank you so much for trying. I really appreciate it.