To Follow, Or Not To Follow…
I have been on Twitter for about three years and up to this point I have been quite selective in terms of who I follow. I follow people that I want to learn from, or be entertained by. People who I have a close connection with or would like to get to know better. I haven’t been a fan of following someone just because they follow me. However, I have become more open to the idea as of late and I’m not sure what to do with that.
As someone who manages not only my own social profile, but online communities for other organizations, I have experienced the networking benefits of creating a broad and inclusive web of connections. Nevertheless, I have been hesitant to manage my own in such a way. I haven’t wanted it to become about the number of followers I have, or my personal social reach. However I am becoming more and more interested in establishing connections in different social and professional circles and that might require a less “selective” approach to following.
So my question to you is, how do you use Twitter? Do you using it to connect with a broad base of people or do you focus on a select group? Do you, follow virtually everyone who follows you or are you more selective? And perhaps an even more important question than how do you use Twitter, is why do you use it the way you do?
I’d love your insights.
Posted on April 9th, 2011 by David | 20 Comments »
I keep it fairly selective, mostly because I can’t be on twitter all day, so I need to be able to manage those connections that I have made. Also, for my Twitter is more about connections with other professionals in my field than it is about the people who I would like to have hire me. I use my facebook page as more a promo place, while twitter is pure community for me.
That’s good insight Joshua. Because I don’t have a specific business that I am trying to promo Facebook and Twitter are both pretty much all about community, just with different groups of people. I definitely agree that the more people I add the harder it will be to manage my connections, although I imagine there will be a primary group of people that I interact with the most.
I use Twitter as a way of connecting and networking with other pastors and Christians for sure. I love the resources I’ve come across through Twitter. That’s actually why I started tweeting a little over a year ago. But, I’ve come to see a lot of potential in Twitter for building your “brand” (for lack of a better term) and influence. It’s a way to “get the word out.” (For me, it’s about getting the word out about LifePoint Church. We don’t have a big marketing budget so I’m always looking for creative ways to do this).
But I think the key is you have to find your niche. (For me, it’s praying for people on Twitter). If you use Twitter for strictly personal details, people aren’t going to care. But if you can contribute to their lives in some small way, either by sharing some insights you have or passing along some resources that you think will help them, they will love seeing your tweets. (That’s not to say you should never tweet personal details…I try to keep it about 50/50.) As a pastor, I’ve connected with a couple of people in the area through Twitter. They haven’t come to our church yet, but they know we’re here. One of them has even told me he will be visiting someday. I know it’s a small victory, but hey, it’s still a victory.
Two more things: Firstly, you have to follow back. That is, if you want to continue to build your influence. People will stop following you if you don’t follow back. Granted, I don’t follow everyone (if they haven’t tweeted in a long time or if they follow 1200 people but only have 20 followers) but I do follow most people who follow me. Secondly, you have to be proactive about following people. Most of my followers are following me because I followed them first.
Hope this helps!
Hey Stephen, I think I totally agree with everything you said. Twitter is an incredible tool for building influence, a personal brand, connection, etc. If I decide to go that direction it’s going to mean making some changes to how I use Twitter. Not that that’s bad, it’ll just require me to make some adjustments.
Also…use Twitter lists to manage your connections and keep in close contact with the people you care about most. This really helps it from getting unmanageable.
That is very true. lists are a great tool for managing contacts and if I decide to shift how I use Twitter I will definitely need to take advantage of some quality lists.
Twitter for me is not to follow people, but to get a specific set of news on topics that I choose. I did a bunch of searching for topics that interest me and picked only 5 relevant tweeters to follow so that I do not overload myself with info. Topics for me include technology trends, business/startup advice, financial sense….. Even with five, there are still at least 100 threads per day to filter through, but I typically get what I’m looking for.
I definitely use Twitter in a similar way when it comes to certain topics, but I do like the networking aspect. I imagine if I really open things up and start following a lot of people I will create a list or two related to certain areas of interest.
I am very new to Twitter. I joined to follow my brother but discovered irreverent (mouthy, rude, funny) RN tweets and linked blogs. Now I have a place to vent. Most RN humor is twisted and hard for the average person to swallow. The blogs and tweets are hilarious. It’s anonymous so I don’t have to be on my best nurse manager behavior. When you wipe bottoms and deal with crazy folks all day long it’s great to have a place where nobody knows your name…..you just get to support each other.
I agree GIna, one of the greatest things about Twitter is the ability to connect with people of like professions and experiences. That’s one of the reason I am looking to expand who I connect with.
I’m on a journey with twitter and definitely like facebook and blogging better for connecting and expressing – but I’m learning how to build groups and even published a paper as per your wonderful encouragement through paper.li – very fun and useful – makes twitter groups more like a newspaper or magazine highlighting special pictures and articles from your friend group. I like this better and it becomes more personal for me. I don’t like a lot of information that comes flying at me through twitter – so I have learned to stream line and don’t follow too many people. I dislike the third party generators that help people tweet for them like every 2 seconds – that’s SUCH A TURN OFF for me. I also dislike it very much that people in my music field that I follow – do not answer a direct question that I might have for them. I realize they don’t know me – but part of the reason for me to be on twitter is to find music teachers and others in the music profession and then pick their brain and exchange ideas. I’m still learning how to do this without getting too frustrated.
I appreciate your thoughts Cindy. One of things that you said that really stood out to me is people not responding when you ask them a question. I posed a question the other day to a blogger who is well respected and has a blog devoted to blogging tips. I didn’t necessarily expect an immediate response but it has been several days and I have yet to hear back from him. To me that is a big turn off.
It these vehicles are for not only spinning information – but also for connecting – why are those NOT connecting? I just don’t get it – but I have found my group and when I gain another friend that is “like-minded” – I grab onto them! The others I just let go.
That’s a great question Cindy. Social media is an amazing tool for connecting if you take advantage of it.
Great post, David. I joined twitter 2 years ago, but didn’t actually begin using it until last Fall. I think it’s a great tool to connect with others, share your story – and grow your social radar. It’s important to be connected with others because it’s a deep human need – when we isolate ourselves we start to lose touch with reality – and that can be a dangerous.
I’ve developed some very cool relationships with people on twitter that I would not have met otherwise. It’s helped me to appreciate other cultures and ways of thinking. It’s helped me grow – and I think that’s a good thing.
Justin, I completely agree. There are so many great tools for connecting and I have found that I feel so much more connected to the people I care about than I did prior to Twitter, Facebook, etc. because I know what’s going on in their lives.
Your point about having a deep “human need” is important as well. We were created to live in community not isolation and social media tools definitely can help us do that. I do believe that you can’t rely on social media for your personal interaction but it can help supplement.
There is no doubt that great connections and relationships can be made via social media tools and so for that reason I have started loosening things up in regards to who I follow. You never know who you might make a great connection with.
First, awesome to see the level engagement on the blog. Second, since I primarily leverage twitter to market Some Wise Guy and connect with other man/dad bloggers I try to follow back most folks. It works for now, but once I pass 1000 some day it might be less manageable. I also use twitter lists to help streamline stuff.
Hey KC, I appreciate the encouragement and you jumping into the conversation. I think you have a great strategy in regards to who you follow. You and I both know that finding your niche is important when it comes to blogging and I think that principle is true in many ways when it comes to Twitter.
Facebook is like a class reunion. Twitter is like a huge roundtable discussion. Which is better for business?
My biggest twitter surprise: my 15 year old son fasted for 24 hours to raise food for the food-bank. Posted on our business twitter account and I had total strangers (non-Christians) from our community step in and support my son. I made some real connections and received contacts and business, I can’t say that with facebook …. but, on facebook page my clients keep up and follow us.
it’s good to use both and invest more time in whichever works better for you.
That’s a great point, various social mediums serve different purposes and it is important to identify what your purpose is so that you can use the appropriate tools.