I can't begin to tell you how many @s a day I get, and ignore, from random tweeters saying 'follow me?', 'follow for follow?', 'want more followers, check out this link', or the classic 'Retweet this in the next 20 minutes if you want to get 20,000 followers'. Honestly the number would shock you, or maybe not if you are heavily involved in Twitter.
What bothers me about people, or businesses for that matter, who do this, is they simply don't get the point of Social Media and more specifically, Twitter.
Twitter is not about the numbers, although so many people tend to focus solely on that. What it IS about is conversations, relationships, and engaging with people on a daily basis. Ultimately, I believe that the numbers don' t matter as much as the quality of the <a href="
http://jillclark.biz/social-media-engagement"> engagement </a> you have with your followers.
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What is the point of having 20,000 #teamfollowback followers if they don't care, or listen to, anything you say? Isn't it better to have a smaller number of loyal tweeps who actually listen to you, click your links, share your content, and RT your tweets? That's where I believe the true value of Twitter and conversation comes into play!
So if you are a person (or a brand) who just sits on Twitter blasting out your self-promoting tweets to your 'huge' amount of followers, chances are nobody cares.
What they DO care about are people who care about THEM first. People listen to, help, and promote, people they care about, are emotionally invested in, or find interesting. I know I preach this in just about every single post I have written so far, but you really do have to put something into Twitter and Social Media in general to get something out of it in the long run.
I recently read an article that revolved around <a href="
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number"> Dunbar's Number </a> which stated that any ordinary person can only manage around 150 social relationships at any given time. I tend to agree with this rule as even though I have over 1,600 followers on my Twitter account and over 1,000 on my Facebook, there are probably only around 100 people that I speak to on any given day.
Why then focus on follower counts and trying to get thousands upon thousands of followers when realistically you can't even effectively manage that many relationships?
I mean, is it just me or does this way of managing your account not seem like a new version of a * groan* high school popularity contest? Only now instead of 'Most Likely To...' it's turned to 'Recently Listed Under...'
This is where I 'd lose, as I was definitely not a popular kid in high school...unless of course you consider having eggs and snowballs thrown at you popular, which I don't.
So this is my plea, to all new tweeters, hoarders, and the broadcasters out there: Don't treat Twitter as an online version of a high school yearbook filled with people you didn't even know existed, frenemies you never really liked, and the popular kids you wish you could be like. Instead, make the effort to get to know the people you follow and those who follow you. Once you do that you will discover a whole new world, full of supportive users who will not only share your content and tweets but also help your profile to steadily grow. That, my friends, is the key to success on Twitter...and if you don't believe it, <a href="
http://twitter.com/Clark_Jill"> tweet me </a> and tell me why I'm wrong.
I can't begin to tell you how many @s a day I get, and ignore, from random tweeters saying 'follow me?', 'follow for follow?', 'want more followers, check out this link', or the classic 'Retweet this in the next 20 minutes if you want to get 20,000 followers'. Honestly the number would shock you, or maybe not if you are heavily involved in Twitter.
What bothers me about people, or businesses for that matter, who do this, is they simply don't get the point of Social Media and more specifically, Twitter.
Twitter is not about the numbers, although so many people tend to focus solely on that. What it IS about is conversations, relationships, and engaging with people on a daily basis. Ultimately, I believe that the numbers don' t matter as much as the quality of the engagement you have with your followers.
What is the point of having 20,000 #teamfollowback followers if they don't care, or listen to, anything you say? Isn't it better to have a smaller number of loyal tweeps who actually listen to you, click your links, share your content, and RT your tweets? That's where I believe the true value of Twitter and conversation comes into play!
So if you are a person (or a brand) who just sits on Twitter blasting out your self-promoting tweets to your 'huge' amount of followers, chances are nobody cares.
What they DO care about are people who care about THEM first. People listen to, help, and promote, people they care about, are emotionally invested in, or find interesting. I know I preach this in just about every single post I have written so far, but you really do have to put something into Twitter and Social Media in general to get something out of it in the long run.
I recently read an article that revolved around Dunbar's Number which stated that any ordinary person can only manage around 150 social relationships at any given time. I tend to agree with this rule as even though I have over 2,500 followers on my Twitter account and over 700 on my Facebook, there are probably only around 100 people that I speak to on any given day.
Why then focus on follower counts and trying to get thousands upon thousands of followers when realistically you can't even effectively manage that many relationships?
I mean, is it just me or does this way of managing your account not seem like a new version of a * groan* high school popularity contest? Only now instead of 'Most Likely To...' it's turned to 'Recently Listed Under...'
This is where I 'd lose, as I was definitely not a popular kid in high school...unless of course you consider having eggs and snowballs thrown at you popular, which I don't.
So this is my plea, to all new tweeters, hoarders, and the broadcasters out there: Don't treat Twitter as an online version of a high school yearbook filled with people you didn't even know existed, frenemies you never really liked, and the popular kids you wish you could be like. Instead, make the effort to get to know the people you follow and those who follow you.
Once you do that you will discover a whole new world, full of supportive users who will not only share your content and tweets but also help your profile to steadily grow.
That, my friends, is the key to success on Twitter...and if you don't believe it, tweet me, and tell me why I'm wrong.