Alan Wolk recently wrote about how we (the current user base) need to “let go” of Twitter and embrace all the new users that will invariably come flooding in.
I agree with Alan that just because we’re doing something a certain way now doesn’t mean it’s the “right way”, but I do think there are a few principles of using Twitter that can be passed on to maximize your early experiences.
So, I’m going to be running a weekly series on Twitter Principles.
This week’s Twitter Principle is: Patience Grasshopper
It happens all the time that people get on Twitter and “OMG look at all the awesome people on here! I need to follow all 1,374 people I might be interested in immediately!”. First off, I love the enthusiasm, you’ve clearly got heart. But jumping in and following a massive amount of people right away isn’t a great plan.
The thing is, when people get the “Captain Followsalot is now following you on Twitter” they go and check out your profile. And then they see numbers that look like this “Following: 1,374 – Followers: 119″. I don’t know about you, but the first thing that jumps into my head is SPAM.
You have to take it slow with a new account. How about starting by following the 100 most interesting people you find/have heard of? That way you build your account and following slowly, instead of not at all.
Also, and I can’t stress this enough, you have to tweet stuff. You can’t follow even 100 people and expect for them to follow you back when you only have 2 tweets.
So to recap:
1)Add followers slowly
2)Actually use Twitter
And if you’d like me to be part of your well-paced expansion, you can follow me on Twitter.
4 Responses and Counting...
Scarily simple advice…but so necessary for people to follow. It's amazing how many people are following 1,000+ people and have 20 tweets to their name. Like in all social media, you have to use it and become part of the community to be successful and get the most out of it. You can't “win” at twitter. Just be part of the conversation…you'll probably learn more then you think.
Glad you agree. I think people get a little overzealous when it comes to trying to follow everyone who has an account.
“You can't 'win' at twitter” is an awesome line. Could be the title of it's own post.
Thanks for reading!
Matt. Awesome little post about twitter. I would and add one more.
3. Interact with those 100 people. Might be summed up in your point #2, but it's one thing to tweet stuff about yourself. If you want to get engaged with the conversation and community, interact with the Scoble's, Owyang's and Brogan's of the world. Argue or agree with their points. Makes for good conversation and people start to pay attention to you.
Thanks for the simple posts. I like that you follow the KISS principle.
Glad you liked it.
And I agree, I had kind of rolled that into my second point, but it's important enough to be explicitly stated. It's okay to let everyone know what you had for lunch every once in a while, but do it all the time and you're missing the point.
Thanks for reading!