Why Having A Ton Of Followers On Twitter Is Totally Irrelevant
Why having a ton of followers on Twitter is totally irrelevant
Last weekend a friend and I were having an interesting chat about Twitter and how its proper use can really boost the effectiveness of someone marketing program. As happens in a lot of Twitter related conversations, the number issue came up.
This really brings me to the main point of todays blog post: Does the number of followers you have on Twitter really matter?? In my humble opinion, NO.
Frankly, I am getting a bit tired running into article after article and blog post after blog post, sharing tips on how to get more followers on Twitter. Further, I think many have really missed the whole point of tools like Twitter and Facebook. It is not a numbers game. It is about engaging others in a meaningful and authentic way. Furthermore, I do not even think when these tools were created the focus was on the quantity of friends and followers one should or would attain but the quality of relationships that would be developed. When it comes to Twitter, it really is all about the QUALITY and VALUE of the connections. I swear if I run into just one more post on How to grow your Twitter list, I am going to scream to the top of my lungs! I mean, enough already! Sheesh.
If you are like me, you probably have a Twitter account already and are using it on a frequent basis. Let me ask this: What is your focus, the quality of connections or the number of people following you? I get a bit irritated when I see people on Twitter boasting, Yay, Ive got 5000 followers. Yawn. Big deal. What does it really mean? How is it even translating in terms of visits to your site, engagement on your blog, business leads, new clients and new value-added relationships? If it is not, then you really need to re-evaluate your focus on Twitter. Let me just clear something up. I am not saying its not cool to have a ton of followers, I am saying do not get caught up in the numbers game.
At the time of writing this post, I had 193 followers on Twitter, was listed by 12 individuals and following 144 people. Pretty mediocre stats I guess for someone who has been on Twitter for almost 3 years and participate actively. Yet, I am not perturbed. Why, you may ask, because my emphasis is on the level of engagement I have with my followers and the people I interact with. It is also pretty hard to be social and engaging with a ton of followers, unless you had a Virtual Assistant or someone else ghost tweeting for you or you lived on Twitter. My question to you is this When last have you really engaged with someone on Twitter? When last have you answered a DM or answered a question someone in your following asked or really tried to be of value to someone, help them? Forget the numbers, or you are going to fall in the trap of building a legion of followers but not really connecting with them and that would not be cool, after all, is not Twitter really about being social?
I have met some really fab people on Twitter and learned a lot too. Through advice I got on Twitter, I was finally able to make the shift from PC to Mac (and have been loving it too, might I add). I was also able to get advice on which restaurants I should not eat from, learn the latest news in my industry and stay on the cutting edge. For years friends have been inviting me to go hashing, I always declined. Yet, through one of my Twitter contacts posting a picture of a fabulous scene of the island she took while on a hash, hashing has become a new hobby of mine. I have also been able to network with great business owners, partner with a couple, meet people I would have never been able to meet had it not been for social networking and pick up a client or two along the way. These only happened, because I opted to engage with my contacts and not build a tribe of followers.
Like I said before, there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting a ton of people following you. But being followed for the sake of being followed really does not cut it and is a tad childish, if I dare say. It must be because people like you, are intrigued with you and think what you had to say is worth listening to. Personally, at the end of the day, I would rather have 12 die-hard followers, who are answering questions I post, sharing relevant content with me, retweeting my stuff, visiting my blog and commenting there, bombarding my brain with new ideas and concepts I would never even dream of, recommending me to their friends and colleagues that are interested in the services that I offer and of course, enlisting my services, as opposed to 1200 followers, clogging up my Twitter stream, not engaging with me and not giving a darn about me or what I have to say. But hey that is just my two cents. What works for me does not have to work for you.
So forget about the numbers game, enough already, Sheesh!
Last weekend a friend and I were having an interesting chat about Twitter and how its proper use can really boost the effectiveness of someone marketing program. As happens in a lot of Twitter related conversations, the number issue came up.
This really brings me to the main point of todays blog post: Does the number of followers you have on Twitter really matter?? In my humble opinion, NO.
Frankly, I am getting a bit tired running into article after article and blog post after blog post, sharing tips on how to get more followers on Twitter. Further, I think many have really missed the whole point of tools like Twitter and Facebook. It is not a numbers game. It is about engaging others in a meaningful and authentic way. Furthermore, I do not even think when these tools were created the focus was on the quantity of friends and followers one should or would attain but the quality of relationships that would be developed. When it comes to Twitter, it really is all about the QUALITY and VALUE of the connections. I swear if I run into just one more post on How to grow your Twitter list, I am going to scream to the top of my lungs! I mean, enough already! Sheesh.
If you are like me, you probably have a Twitter account already and are using it on a frequent basis. Let me ask this: What is your focus, the quality of connections or the number of people following you? I get a bit irritated when I see people on Twitter boasting, Yay, Ive got 5000 followers. Yawn. Big deal. What does it really mean? How is it even translating in terms of visits to your site, engagement on your blog, business leads, new clients and new value-added relationships? If it is not, then you really need to re-evaluate your focus on Twitter. Let me just clear something up. I am not saying its not cool to have a ton of followers, I am saying do not get caught up in the numbers game.
At the time of writing this post, I had 193 followers on Twitter, was listed by 12 individuals and following 144 people. Pretty mediocre stats I guess for someone who has been on Twitter for almost 3 years and participate actively. Yet, I am not perturbed. Why, you may ask, because my emphasis is on the level of engagement I have with my followers and the people I interact with. It is also pretty hard to be social and engaging with a ton of followers, unless you had a Virtual Assistant or someone else ghost tweeting for you or you lived on Twitter. My question to you is this When last have you really engaged with someone on Twitter? When last have you answered a DM or answered a question someone in your following asked or really tried to be of value to someone, help them? Forget the numbers, or you are going to fall in the trap of building a legion of followers but not really connecting with them and that would not be cool, after all, is not Twitter really about being social?
I have met some really fab people on Twitter and learned a lot too. Through advice I got on Twitter, I was finally able to make the shift from PC to Mac (and have been loving it too, might I add). I was also able to get advice on which restaurants I should not eat from, learn the latest news in my industry and stay on the cutting edge. For years friends have been inviting me to go hashing, I always declined. Yet, through one of my Twitter contacts posting a picture of a fabulous scene of the island she took while on a hash, hashing has become a new hobby of mine. I have also been able to network with great business owners, partner with a couple, meet people I would have never been able to meet had it not been for social networking and pick up a client or two along the way. These only happened, because I opted to engage with my contacts and not build a tribe of followers.
Like I said before, there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting a ton of people following you. But being followed for the sake of being followed really does not cut it and is a tad childish, if I dare say. It must be because people like you, are intrigued with you and think what you had to say is worth listening to. Personally, at the end of the day, I would rather have 12 die-hard followers, who are answering questions I post, sharing relevant content with me, retweeting my stuff, visiting my blog and commenting there, bombarding my brain with new ideas and concepts I would never even dream of, recommending me to their friends and colleagues that are interested in the services that I offer and of course, enlisting my services, as opposed to 1200 followers, clogging up my Twitter stream, not engaging with me and not giving a darn about me or what I have to say. But hey that is just my two cents. What works for me does not have to work for you.
So forget about the numbers game, enough already, Sheesh!
