I am no social media expert. I am not even that familiar with the ‘ins and outs’ of Twitter, although I have built up 11,000 plus followers to date. Truthfully, I only plunged into the social media world, including this blog, because I am a recruiter, and I run a business that works in the digital and marketing arena. I felt I needed to know what the medium offered, how it worked, what I could contribute to the conversation, and how our clients and talent could benefit it from it.What better way to do that than diving right in!
And even though I am learning, I am in no position to offer advice on how to use the social networks.
But I can tell you why I won’t follow you back on Twitter.
I suppose I get 10-15 new followers a day on average. And when I get time – it might be a few days later – I will click on each of their Twitter profiles and see who they are and what they talk about. And, often, I will follow them back if I feel they will add to the conversation and help me build my knowledge and reach. I imagine most people do the same.
But often I won’t follow back. And just recently I was pondering why I choose not to press ‘follow’. My first thought was that the decision was simply intuitive. But when I went deeper, I realised that I do have a sort of mental check-list I flick through when deciding to follow, or not.
Firstly I look at the picture or avatar of the new follower. No avatar is a big #fail, and personally I prefer a real picture of a real person, or maybe a clever icon or cartoon representing that person in a real way. Twitter is about engagement and conversation, and it’s so much easier for that to happen if you have an image of the person you are tweeting with.
Then I read their most recent tweets. That is key. Lots of one-word Tweets or meaningless phrases and it’s a ‘no follow’. Loads of trivial stuff about how much beer was drunk last Friday, or what they like on toast in the morning, also means ‘no follow’. Self-promoting ads for products or services, or endless streams of automatically generated tweets and it’s a no-go too. I also tend not to follow people who tweet bad language, or who have a penchant for being routinely argumentative and mean-spirited in their comments. That is not what Twitter is about for me and certainly not what I want to see in my Twitter stream each day.
Of course I read the bio. I am looking for some connection. In my case a recruiter, or a marketer, or someone in design. But any field can still get a follow from me, if the bio is interesting and well-written. No bio means almost certainly no follow.
My next criteria is location. Not that I will eliminate anyone because of where they live! No, in fact the worldwide reach of Twitter is a major appeal. But if there is no location on the profile, it leaves a gap in my mental picture of who this is and so they are less interesting and less trusted.
I am always disappointed if the new follower does not list their web address. A link to a blog or a company website obviously adds huge insight to who the person is. It adds credibility too, and it will certainly weigh heavily in my decision to follow you back or not.
But it doesn’t end there. I usually have a quick look at your following/follower ratio. This is not a deal breaker, but in conjunction with other measures, such as Tweet content, can be a knock-out factor. For example, you are following 9697 people and three are following you back. That is a problem.
Twitter, like a lot of technology, can waste lots of time. But I want to extract value out of my involvement on Twitter. So I am rigorous in screening who I follow, and I expect others will be with me too. It’s worth the effort because you end up with a Tweetdeck full of interesting relevant comment at best – and humorous, harmless chit-chat at worst.
Please subscribe to ‘The Savage Truth’ for alerts on new postings, recruiting information and more. It’s free and takes no more than 20 seconds to do. Subscribe
************************************************************************************************
Great points you have made here, Greg. It’s pretty much the same formula I use for new followers, except for one item. What if someone doesn’t have a weblink or webpage that tells their story? In these cases, I always rely on the bio.
I agree with you 100%. I have a friend who said it well, “I only follow those who interact with me, reply to what I say, and build a relationship.” I’m in that camp. I’d rather have fewer followers, with real people who add value to my network, than have thousands of followers who I don’t know, and mean nothing to me. I can honestly say I interact with most of my followers, particularly those I’ve grouped into lists. I have built friendships, received outstanding advice, even determined which purchasing decision I’ll make based on twitter recommendations. At HRevolution, I had the chance to meet many of my colleagues from twitter. Your points are well taken. The most fun people I know on twitter are those who provide interesting articles and blog posts, but also share a bit of their personality as well. Thanks for this post Greg. Well done.
@HRMargo
Greg,
Completely agree and now feel privileged that you follow me
@connorhughes
Hi Connor
I am grateful for all my followers and appreciative of everyone I follow. Its just …we have choice!
LOL
Its not like that
Regards
Greg
I agree Greg. I get the feeling that some people see the fact that they have thousands of followers as some kind of badge of honour, whereas in reality it’s just a list of people the majority of whom you don;t know and will never meet. I am flattered to be followed by the few hundred I have and I too follow a fair few, but when I get a notification that I have a new follower if it’s someone who owns a pet shop in Iowa or a dating site in Bombay I tend not to reciprocate. I have recently even unfollowed a few people who I know but who just post about ‘going for a walk’ or ‘feel like I am getting a cold’ and nothing else. That was the main reason I came to Twitter relatively late. I thought that was all everyone did. I find when you have a bit of a following and people feel they know your style a bit you can get away with the occasional tweet like mine from the other day about how I missed a train because my 17 month old launched himself headfirst into a bath full of water – but I wouldn’t make a habit of it. i hope he doesn’t either the little nutter.
Hi Greg!
Love the check list! It also works well for newish Tweeters (like me) when building a list TO follow. I learn more about my work and industry by following blogging, tweeting, bio-sporting profiles rather than 10-at-a-time gushers. That formula also shows me the quality of tweets that get response, so I can make my comments better. Better comments receive follows, follows mean better conversations… everyone wins!
Of course, I’m still learning. Is there really no room for chit chat posts?
Bridget
Hi Bridget
And thanks for your comment. Sure there is a place for chit-chart posts. Absolutely. We just have to decide what we are using Twitter for.I post the odd Tweet about my sons rugby game, the weather, a great restaurant meal, or whatever is on my mind. And I enjoy similar personal insights from people I follow. It adds richness and personality to things after all. But it’s not the main game. Not for me anyway
Best wishes
Greg
Great article, Greg! I didn’t originally follow these guidelines, but I’m starting to and finding it more rewarding. Thanks for putting it out there.
I recently read that some use another analytic to measure Twitter success, the ratio of followers to listed, ie. divide followers by # lists and that indicates the value of your following- are you important enough to be included in their lists ( which presumably are more apt to be accessed and read than the all Tweets posted by all the people anyone is following at any given time. However, I have not been able to find any info about what constitutes an “effective” or “desirable” ratio. I calculated this for some “influencers” and the ratio runs about 30-35:1. Mine is 10:1. I wonder if this measurement varies by total number of followers and the ratio’s meaning depends on the # of followers as well as the ratio itself. Also, what is a “good” ratio? I am interested in hearing from others on this topic. Thanks.
I have a small “include” list.
1. I know and like them
2. I do, or want do business with them
3. They are a competitor
I don’t expect a reciprocal follow from anyone, especially if I’m just eavesdropping. I try to avoid Twitter-sluts, who send non-DM’s to everyone, soliciting for comments to their latest blog. One general message will do. You know who you are(so does everyone else).
@stephenodonn
I go by these same rules generally! And I don’t get offended by those that do not choose to follow me as I maybe (like @stephenodonn) eavesdropping, gaining knowledge in a new area etc.
Great points that I think makes people “think” what they are using “twitter” for.
@NatalieJayW
Greg, totally agree! This is some of my same criteria for following. With all that said thanks for following me. Given your criteria, I feel honored that you chose to press that follow button!
Hi Greg,
)
Thanks for sharing this blog post, I really enjoyed reading it. I also realised that I have been sub-consciously applying a similar set of criteria to my decision to follow tweeps.
Thanks for making me think! (Can be hard at this time of year!
Cheers,
Amber.
Thanks so much for the great post Greg. Along the lines of what you’re saying, my goal is to add value to those individuals I serve which in my case are my clients and do throw in the occassional personal tweet so people don’t forget I’m a real person. People do business with people… I’d also like to add that I don’t follow individuals who’s ‘following’ numbers greatly outweigh those who are following them. Something about that makes me uncomfortable. Let’s hear it for common sense!
In the Real World, followers follow leaders, not other followers.
Can you imagine how disordered our world would be if folk simply followed each other around at random?
If you want to be “followed” then be a person that others would want to follow, either on Twitter or in the Real World.
Excellent Article. I would ad a few line about Bloggers Talk Radio hosts and Celebrities!! but it will be a turn off. Thanks for writing it. @princefeliz
Interesting article for someone like me who is new to Twitter. I also look at how often they tweet. If it is every 5 minutes I am less likely to follow them.
Don’t be too critical on our follow ratio when we are still small. You have to follow people to get followed if you aren’t a celeb.