So as I’ve written about in the past, Twitter is becoming a bigger force in the Web 2.0 world everyday it seems. More so with people like me who work a little in the web field it’s considered a necessity these days to know what is going on and getting the latest, up to the minute news on Twitter minutes before it shows up on the traditional news sites. But the biggest thing with Twitter is getting your word out there. Finding as big of an audience as possible to listen to what you have to say. So I decided to try a little experiment.
Five days ago, I had roughly 150 followers while I was following about 250. Not a bad niche but I figured I could do better. I just needed to be a little more proactive. I realized that usually when I follow someone, they return the favor and follow me back. So I decided to up the ante and I increased the number of people who I follow from 250 to 1610 as I write this post. After the dust has settled, I am currently up to 780 followers. So basically about half of the people that I followed returned the favor. Not too bad.
I’ve realized that in this ever changing Web 2.0 world, you have to stay on top of the trends because in the blink of an eye, they change and you’re left in the dust of yesterday’s must join site.
So I’ll continue with my experiment and keep you up to date on what is going on with it. And hey, I always appreciate new followers so check me out:
How do you keep with that enormous feed?
That was the unexpected part of this experiment. I use SocialThing to read through my Twitter updates and since it doesn’t use pages, it’s a bit easier. I usually scroll through all the new posts and look for keywords.
I think the key is to follow people within your niche, people who would benefit from reading your updates or think you might have something to say. You’ll end up with more reciprocal followers from that I think.
What’s the real value of having a large number of followers for you? I know people who use it as a broadcasting method for new products, etc, but on a personal level I wondered what you would be using this platform for?
I’ve put my twitter account on my business cards, prominently on my website, mention it during networking conversations, and use it in introductions when it seems valuable. I usually get about 1-3 followers a week and have people following me from around the globe. It’s a very interesting experiment and I’ve been trying to keep the level of follower/following at a ratio of 1/1 or more on the side of followers.
Above the numbers is really the quality of contact for me, I want to have meaningful conversations with those I follow and who follow me. I really make an effort to help out as much as I can and keep my social capital up.
Anyhow, have fun with that, lemme know what you think as you keep working on it.
I think Twitter is a great application for work AND for fun. Combining the two on Twitter looks to enhance the value of both relationships. Some of the other social networking sites appear to work better when separating business and pleasure. This is a great web 2.0 app… Heck, you might even run into an old friend.
@RailLife