How to know who unfollowed me on twitter

You already get e-mail notifications when someone follows you on Twitter, but how do you keep up with who stopped following you? We rounded up three free services that alert you when you've lost a follower.

With all the coverage last week regarding Facebook and the changesthat will be rolling out, it was discovered that Facebook users can now see who unfriended them in the new Timeline view. But, for some users, Facebook isn't a preferred social network. What about people who care to know who has stopped following them on Twitter?

By default, Twitter sends you an e-mail when you gain a new follower, but not when you lose a follower. Luckily, there are some pretty good services out there to fill the void.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani

1. TwUnfollow.com
TwUnfollow.com seemed to be the fan favorite in our unscientific Twitter poll. Before you begin using TwUnfollow, you must grant the app access to your Twitter account. After having granted it access to your account, you will be redirected back to your very own account page on TwUnfollow. Since you just signed up, your history section will be blank, but in the future you will be able to see your unfollower history once you have logged in.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani

To adjust the settings of alerts, click on the Settings button. Under Settings you can enter or change the e-mail address at which you wish to receive alerts, as well as adjust the frequency of the alerts you receive. If you want to avoid getting alerted each time one of those friendly (yet annoying) spam-bots stops following you, make sure to check the box that prevents alerts for unfollows by users with zero tweets. You also have the option to subscribe to an RSS feed of your unfollows, instead of receiving e-mail alerts. Click Save once you are done.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani

2. Qwitter
Qwitter is different from TwUnfollow in that it doesn't require authorization to access your Twitter account to perform its duties. All that is required from you is your Twitter username and a valid e-mail address. Once you have entered both, you will begin receiving weekly e-mail updates with a summary of your unfollows. There are no settings to adjust, and nothing to tweak; Qwitter is as straightforward as it gets.

Screenshot by Jason Cipriani

3. Unfollowr
To use Unfollowr, you only need to follow the @Unfollowr account. After following the account, you will begin receiving direct messages from Unfollowr alerting you to your recent unfollows. The one downside of a free account with Unfollowr is that the alerts seem to be random, with no real time frame to expect the latest update.
If you prefer to receive unfollow alerts via e-mail, you can log in to the Unfollowr site and adjust your account settings. Also offered is a premium account, promising more-frequent alerts. There isn't a price listed on the site, just a request for a donation.