Jul
5
Follow Responsibly
12 Days of Twitter :: Day 4
(What the heck are the 12 days of Twitter?)
Follow to increase conversations, not to increase numbers
One of the most common questions I get from new Twitter users is “How do I decide who to follow?” People also ask how many people they follow and if they should follow everyone who follows them.
Who you decide to follow is a very personal decision, and it needs to be based on what you want out of your Twitter experience. There are a few schools of thought:
1) Follow everyone who follows you
The natural assumption is that if someone is following you, they’re following you for a reason. They know you or want to know you. Maybe they read your blog. Or, you tweeted something they found interesting and want to hear more. Remember, people follow search words to find others who have similar interests. If you find yourself wondering how all these people are finding you, it’s likely that they track a word or phrase you tweeted about.
You may decide that if someone is following you, you’d like to know what they’re saying as well. This could help you to participate in the Twitter conversation easier. Unfortunately following some people comes with a major downside. Some people follow you so they can sell you things.
A couple days ago I wrote a post about Twitter and SPAM. For the most part, you only should get SPAM on Twitter from a follower once. If someone SPAMs you, unfollow them, if that doesn’t end it, block them.
2) Follow only friends, family, and co-workers
If you’re on Twitter to keep up with the the analog people in your life, and you have no interest in connecting with new digital people, you’ll probably wind up only following your friends, family and co-workers. If you’re not trying to build a network, Twitter has an option that keeps your Tweets private.
3) Follow no more than a couple hundred people
It’s very difficult to actually pay attention to more than a couple hundred people at a time on Twitter. A river of correspondence is one thing. Trying to keep up with more than a couple hundred people turns the information overload from a river into a tsunami. The good news is that you don’t have to follow someone to have a conversation with them. It’s possible to continue having conversations with other Twitter users, without following each of them because of Replies/Mentions, Direct Messages, and Twitter Search.
I choose the third way. Now if you look at my stats, you’ll see I’m following 4,000+ people. TweetDeck’s Groups feature allows me to pay close attention to about 150 people. The other 4,000+ people I follow are people who talk to me on a consistent basis. Not every conversation needs to be a public conversation, and following people who talk back regularly gives them the ability to send me Direct Messages (you cannot DM someone who isn’t following you).
The point is … there are no hard and fast rules. Following too many people can make you look like a spammer, but ultimately … follow anyone who adds value to your Twitter experience.
Read More
Introduction to the 12 Days of Twitter
Day 1: The Secret Code: What are all those initials and symbols?
Day 2: Use TweetDeck to Manage Conversations
Day 3: Share Your Funny Anecdotes While They’re Still Funny
Day 5: 3 Newbie Mistakes Made by New Tweeters
Day 6: Use Twitter Search to Connect and Find
Day 7: Twitter Mobile
Day 8: Five Awesome Things You Can Do with Twitter
Day 9: Mix it Up!
Day 10: If You’re Not a TweetDeck, You Might Be a Seesmic
Day 11: Twitter for Prizes and Profit
Day 12: Schedule Tweets in Advance
