If I see one more person tweet, “Get more followers fast, go to www.whatever.com,” I’ll … I’ll … stop following him or her! Like bloggers want lots of readers, Twitter users want lots of people following them. Human nature does that. C’mon, admit it — no one talks on social networks for himself or herself. They want readers, lots and lots of readers.
I admit that in my first days on Twitter, once or twice, I’ve said, “Hey, only 25 more until I reach 1000 followers.” Oh, how I wish I could take that back. We emulate what others do and many make such proclamations. No longer do I pay attention to my numbers because I believe in quality over quantity when it comes to Twitter followers. The exception to the numbers don’t matter rule is to make sure they don’t look lopsided, which often reeks of spam or low quality twittering.
Great Twitter Numbers Don’t Equal Great Tweeter
Someone who has fewer than 50 following/followers was complaining about her numbers. Her biggest problem? Expecting and wanting high numbers in an instant. People who boost their numbers in a short time don’t have high quality conversations happening on their side. Fine with me. That’s their choice.
I still review the Twitter stream of a person with 4000+ numbers knowing people can pump up their numbers and not be the kind of tweeters I want to read. Two of my new followers have balanced numbers beyond 5000. Yet, I pass on reciprocating. (It’s OK not to follow everyone back. I mean it!) Their tweets contained fewer than five words, lots of RT, lots of links or a mix and nothing of value.
I study more than a couple of tweets as I know we all have personal tweets or ones with little value from time to time. A page or two of a person’s tweets should be enough to help you decide if you want to connect.
Bad Tweet Types
When a bad tweet appears in my stream, I go look at the rest of that person’s tweets to see if I made a mistake in following them. It happens.
So, what makes for a bothersome tweet?
- Encourages getting loads more followers with such ‘n such site.
- Shows whole page (sometimes more!) of #followfriday names, quotes or links.
- Thanks for everything. Thank you for RT. Thank you for following me. Thank you for linking. It’s not the politeness, but the waste of air. Thanking, of course, is OK! Turn it into a direct message (DM) or sum up multiple tweets into one tweet.
- Claims you can make fast $$$ with this latest scheme!
- [Links to self back-to-back]
- Asks you to RT. Most people know how to use RT and they will RT when something is worthy. Telling them only cheapens the RT-ability.
- Agrees with someone and nothing more. Add a little more thought.
John Reese, the kind of person I thought would abuse Twitter, actually gets it (except the part where he asks you to RT). He shares five reasons why Twitter auto-follow is bad marketing.
And of course, do what you can to avoid overwhelming your followers’ twitter stream.
The Secret to Great Twitter Numbers
The secret? Christina Katz gets it.
thewritermama @merylkevans I get all of my followers the slow and steady way. That’s how you do anything that lasts. 🙂
I wouldn’t have followed some people had I known then what I know now. Unless a person reads up on all the Twitter tips before joining, it’s tough to do things right in Twitter from the start. Most of us learn by using Twitter on a regular basis seeing what works and doesn’t work.
The secret? Good content! Seriously.
Bet some of you sit there thinking, “No way. Nuh-uh! You forgot…” Love to hear your thoughts in comments.
Photo credit Billy Alexander
Hi Meryl. When I first opened a Twitter account last December, I was excited every time I received a new follower. I almost always followed them back. Now, I follow back about 50% of the time. I always read through a few pages of their tweets and check their website to see if there is a connection. If they have no link, or I land on a sales page I am 99% likely to not follow back.
I received a new follower last week who I chose to follow back and DM them to connect. They DM’d me back to inquire what my business was. That surprised me because all they had to do was click on the website link to find out. So that makes me wonder whey they followed in the first place.
Yeah, we’ve been growing really slow with our twitter followers, but I know that those who follow really want to know about the biz and what we’re doing. Still, I’d rather do it slow and easy rather than doing a mass-follow just ’cause.
.-= Tao’s blog …Small Publisher Contest : DriftWood Games =-.
I agree, slow and steady is the way to go. I have to laugh when I run across someone who’s been using Twitter a couple of days, has no tweets posted yet and they’ve got hundreds of followers? It’s ridiculous. Too many people are treating Twitter like a mass media tool. This isn’t a broadcast medium, it’s a relationship-building, knowledge-sharing tool that has great potential if used properly.
.-= Dan Hutson’s blog …Planning a Great Newsletter =-.
@Davina, that’s about what I do, too.
@Tao, you’re on target. And besides, not everyone likes board games (I know!!!).
@Dan, if you just follow everyone — you’ll have a very messy twitter stream full of every topic of every kind and a majority of those will probably not interest you.
I’ve had people who are into hunting or sewing follow me. So I check them out because sometimes people with a topic also have intelligent discussions about other things. But when they solely focus on a topic not interesting to me, sorry… gotta let you go. Want my stream to have people I’m likely to read and respond to.
Meryl,
My number of followers on Twitter has grown quite slowly, but there is one plus side. I know that all the followers I am getting are really interested in following me. I see too many people who get 4000 followers within a short time, and they are probably using some sort of bot. They then simply spam their affiliate programs over and over. I’d rather have quality than quantity.
.-= The Gooroo @ Finance Advisory Stop’s blog …Car Leases And Their Hidden Costs =-.
Meryl,
Ugh. I can’t believe it took me a week to get to this post.
I’m at about 1600/1800 and I’ve been serious with Twitter since last November. All organically grown. I’m way happy with where I’m at and where I’m going.
I have to admit to being too “thanky”. Your point is well taken and I’m going to consolidate/Dm thanks from here on – it’s what a good Twitterer does!
George
.-= Tumblemoose’s blog …Let’s help a friend build momentum =-.
numbers are everything. if no one is listening, whats the point? the more listeners the better
strobeiw, you make a valid point. But you want the right people listening. Building up your numbers in Twitter is the same thing as a sales team that sprays and prays. I have a client who has fewer than 1000 followers, but he has deeper interactions and is building relationships with the right people. If he had 10,000 followers, he would struggle to deepen the relationships and it’s unlikely they would be the right ones to know and help.
Plenty of folks are like you in having 10,000+ followers. And it can and does work. Let me ask — what are you getting out of your exchanges?