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Twitter : to follow or not follow?
December 29th, 2008I want to share with you what makes me follow someone on twitter and I also want to know what makes YOU follow other people. I see people following 1,000 persons and only getting followed by 30 persons and I also see the complete opposite, so there must be different priorities for different persons. While I agree that reputation and popularity plays a big role in the “follow ratio”, there must be something.
What makes me follow people
I am not too picky about the persons I follow, but I have a couple of things I like to see in a profile:
- Interesting feed. I honestly don’t really care what the person tweets about, as long as it is interesting. You can tweet about cats if you want, if you manage to entertain me, I’m in!
- Activity. I don’t care if 1,000 persons follow you: if you only have 1 update in three months, I’m not following. Showing you are active in the community is important for me.
- Sales page as link. If your website’s link on your twitter profile is a sales page, you better have a good twitter feed. I see it like this: before we even shake hands, you’re already trying to sell me crap.
- Website in profile. I like to see a link on the profile page. It doesn’t have to be a blog, I’ve seen many people using a facebook/myspace/digg/delicious/etc profile link. It’s just a way to learn more about the person.
- Modest bio. I like a modest bio and don’t like bios like “I’m a SEO genius, incredible/awesome Internet Marketer and social medias guru”.
- Real picture. I don’t care that much about this one, but I like to see a real person.
- Not too much self-promotion. If you use your twitter feed only to promote your products or blog posts, why would I read your feed everyday? I can just subscribe to your blog.
Why do I care?
Why do I think for a couple of seconds before clicking the “follow” button? Well, I like my twitter feed to be useful and I like to connect with people that will bring me something. I check my twitter feed quite regularly and I like to have fun when I do!
Am I following you?
If for whatever reason you are following me and I’m not following you, let me know, it’s probably a mistake!
What makes YOU follow other people?
Let us know what makes you follow other people so we can all improve our twitter skills and also remember to follow me! 
43 Responses to “Twitter : to follow or not follow?”
What do you think?
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I guess you’re not going to follow me (yet)
I only just started and haven’t done much with it yet.
Wesleys last blog post..My Internet Goals For 2009
I followed back, but you better start using that twitter account!
hehe
With Twitter I think it’s easier to follow bulk and drop those you dislike than try to set rules whom to follow. I eagerly follow back and such but I am as easy to stop following when someone starts to annoy me.
Rarsts last blog post..Screenshoting for blog – edit and compress
I follow those people i would like to talk to
Husseins last blog post..Sunday Link Love #18 and 2009 Goal Setting
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Great post. I agree with all of it. Every now and then I even check my own profile page to make sure it looks interesting lol. I want to make sure I’m not being a self-absorbed idiot. Just followed you… @seeking_balance
Michelle Evanss last blog post..I [heart] Fridays: Fun Finds
Good insight.
The things I look for before following someone are usually their updates (how often and how interesting) and their avatar. No avatar is a big deal for me. Not sure why. I think it’s like, if you won’t take the time to put something besides that weird default thing, why should I bother to follow?
Also, I almost follow people who are geographically located near me, but that’s more for a sense of community and their tweets about places will make sense to me.
Patrick D.s last blog post..It’s About The Gas…
i follow interesting people. I do not expect them to find me` interesting or follow me back. I do not care about a filled in profile or a link. I have even followed a few who had not tweeted recently because their tweet stream looked interesting even if it was a bit old.
Because I’m usually too lazy to unfollow people I take care of whom I follow and usually go by the same rules as you do.
Except perhaps that someone whose last 20+ tweets are all just @replies to people will not get a follow from me. Clearly they’re too busy chatting with everyone to ever produce anything new that I could respond to.
Very nice post – so you have a strategy for your community that you are building – that is the first step. The very first thing everyone needs to do – find what you are interested in or who and go after it – but your strategy will change over time and those that you think are self-promoting or who don’t update – just might surprise you a lot – never judge the tweet or non tweet by your opinions – maybe engaging those in conversations just might lend to a world of possibilities you never knew existed. Opinions are nothing more than your upbringing and experiences – not right nor wrong – just opinions which can be changed or tweaked based on your flexibility of you.
Life is funny – that you resist-persists – look forward to seeing your posts and more here.
Just breathe and have a fun! laugh a lot – start from the belly.
Jan
You have sound judgments in following people. I would say I couldn’t agree more with you. You’re cool.
latmarios last blog post..EBC Christmas Banquet/Concert/Party
Agree completely
Especially the part about someone trying to sell you something before they even shake your hand. Am now following you on Twitter. Hope I warrant a followback 
Anna Tarkovs last blog post..Bulls do (almost) everything right, but lack "energy, attitude"
Hi,
I agree with the points mentioned in your list.
What do you think about real names as usernames instead of s.th. short or ‘whatever’?
Is this a decision influencing part for to follow or not to follow?
For me, it is not. Because sometimes a user represents a company, a brand, or maybe him/herself. So it depends.
Stefan
I agree that different people are on twitter for different reasons. I use it to learn new things from interesting people. That being said, one of the only requirements for me to follow someone is that they have posted a few interested links in their tweets. This is what I try to do – it’s nice to have people to share things with! @kate__k
Kate Klingensmiths last blog post..The Beauty of Personal Learning Networks
Great thoughts and I totally agree with you. I just follow people if it interests me.
Franklin Bishops last blog post..How I Gained 200 RSS Subscribers in 2 Days
You nailed it. I use failure to meet the same criteria as a trigger to unfollow as well.
Lee Hermans last blog post..What Wires Will Never Replace
I also look for activity and not just sales or blog posts. A person only promoting his/her blog isn’t interactive to me.
Also, if I’ve followed a person and within say a month they haven’t followed me back, should I stop following them?
Tracys last blog post..Vietnam win their first international title
I agree with most of your list, and I particularly agree about having a criteria. Some people seem to argue that twitter etiquette is to follow everyone who follows you but I think that’s ridiculous. As you point out people use twitter in all sorts of different ways with different priorities. I tend to follow people who mindcast rather than lifecast and mostly in the niche’s I am interested in (social change/social media/media and politics) and/or who are funny.
Lots of people have said they prefer personal photos as avatars but I really don’t care. I actually prefer distinctive images, it can express someone’s personality more than a mug shot. I don’t like company logos as avatar’s though.
Cheers!
Tom – @tomjd
Tom Dawkinss last blog post..tomjd: And please share the best books you read this year using #books08, and spread the word, thkx!
love the list man! i like to follow people with real pictures too… its just more personal like that. Also I follow the people who add me for a little bit but If they tweet too much or don’t tweet at all i unfollow them…
Eric Tans last blog post..Eric Tan’s Crave List for 2009
*Changes his bio line to “Omnipotent online marketing guru extraordinaire to whom even Mark Joyner bows down “*
James Quinn-Hawtins last blog post..Christmas Goodies from Webnerd
Like you I follow people that entertain me. Or some one that I want to get to know. It’s an easy way to say hello to a big blogger from twitter.
Blog for Bloggerss last blog post..How To Set Goals For 2009, Plus My Goals For Blogict
Once again, this is going to be the longest comment in the history of comments! Don’t worry, threaded comments will eventually appear on this blog…
@Rarst: Yep, but I like to cherry pick a bit. I follow most of the people that follow me as long as the feed looks OK, personal and a bit entertaining. I don’t really like un-following people unless they really are a pain or aren’t tweeting at all.
@Hussein: That makes sense…
@Michelle Evans: haha, you are doing some quality control on your feed, that good!
Thanks a lot for following me, I’m now following you as well.
@Patrick D.: I am totally the same with the picture thing! I can’t stand that default image from twitter. If the person has 1 or two updates it’s OK, but when people have 200 updates and still the default, it’s hard for me to follow.
Thanks for dropping a comment and welcome to the blog!
@Moonstruckmania: Oh well, that’s perfectly fin with me if you’re easy on the follow button
Thanks for dropping a comment!
@swizec: haha I don’t know if we can call that being too lazy, but I agree I don’t feel like going through the list of people I follow and check if they are of any interest. But I still do it once in a while…
@JanSmpson: Very nice comment and thanks for sharing your wisdom! I will definitely think about it…
@latmario: hehe, I’m happy to be cool
Thanks for dropping a comment.
@Anna Tarkov: I’m glad you liked. Thanks for the follow, I’m now following you as well@
@stefan: It doesn’t really matter to me. I think a little more before following a brand though because I don’t want to get spammed with promotional offers, but otherwise it doesn’t matter.
Thanks for dropping a comment!
@Kate: Ahhh, I don’t really look for links, but if you’re looking to learn new stuff it’s definitely the way to go. Nice strategy!
Thanks for the comment. I’m now following you and hope you’ll do the same.
@Franklin Bishops: Yep, interests has to be what triggers the click on “follow”.
@Lee Herman: haha, nice to see you have the same strategy, but for un-following people
Thanks for the comment.
@Tracy: Well I don’t know if you should un-follow these persons who don’t follow you back. If they are interesting people, I’d say keep following them, otherwise drop them!
@Tom Dawkins: Yep, it’s important to keep a certain level of quality in your feed, otherwise you lose control very quickly and interesting tweets get buried very quickly by stupidities
@Eric: Cool to see we’re on the same mindset with pictures. I think I tend to un-follow more people because they tweet too much than because they don’t tweet enough. I guess that’s just because I see them as being annoying hehe
@James: haha, that sound very modest…
@Blog for Bloggers: Yep, I agree it’s a nice way to say hello to big bloggers. The proof is that @garyvee follows me hehe
Gee Ben, why make such a BIG DEAL out of it! hehe haha hoho I crack myself up. (Inside joke)
Once I get crakin;, be on the lookout for a similar post…I also have a peeve regarding certain followers (in any social network).
Dennis Edells last blog post..Twitter for You and I in ‘09 – The Post You’ve Been Waiting For
Here is my short list.
They must have something other than the default avatar. If they are too lazy to change this then they are not taking twitter very seriously.
They must have something in their bio and some kind of website link even if it’s just to myspace. In other words why the hell would I follow someone if they don’t have any info about themselves in their twitter profile. I want some idea of who I am following.
They must seem somewhat interesting. I generally like to follow people that have similar interests but as you say if they seem somewhat interesting they can tweet about cats or art or whatever if they seem interesting.
I won’t follow if their twitter profile is an over the top sales page or links to an over the top sales page. i.e. If you follow me and download the crappy e book that you will get in my auto mated reply plugging my ebook I will show you how to make a million dollars in 3 days. BTW if you follow me I promise to spam you regularly with my affiliate links because I am that awesome!
-Gerald Weber
Houston search engine optimizations last blog post..Is Your Captcha Killing Your Business?
Before I comment I am interested in how one adds the threaded thing to comments. I don’t get enough comments for that to matter but would be good to know. Why isn’t that automatic in the WP upgrade?
About whom I follow – I am relatively new to Twitter and am finally getting into it a bit. It’s a matter of time. I don’t follow people who don’t have a picture of some kind. I don’t follow if there is absolutely nothing in their bio. I check out their links to see if I relate to it in some way. I look for people who have similar interests and that includes a wide range.
I’m also confused at the moment about following and who is following me. Just today I got a sudden rash of people following me. I have no clue why. Maybe because I started to interact a bit. When I see a person who has 7000+ people they are following I am wondering how does one deal with that? If anyone knows please tell me the part I’m missing here. There must be a reason.
I’ve just noticed that there are a lot of coaches out there doing a lot of following so that looks like they are looking to coach more people. How many coaches do I need?
I also will follow some people whom I know would never follow me – big names who are doing interesting and worthwhile things in tech or the arts.
I just followed Steven Colbert. I would follow him anywhere. I see that he is only following 51 people and has over 34,000 followers. I wonder if he REALLY looks at Twitter or if an intern does it.
oops – think I forgot to click the notify me button.
Adeles last blog post..Katya Walter, PhD Publishes New Free eBook
I generally follow those who follow me and stop following or block them if the direct messages are too off topic or just plain annoying.
Michael Henrys last blog post..…New Year!
@Dennis: hahaha, you got me with that one
@Gerald: Short list?
Well it seems we agree on most if not all points! avatar, link in profile and no crappy sales page as the website… Thanks for dropping a comment and sharing that “short” list Gerald!
@Adele: THe threaded comments is really a PAIN even with WP 2.7. The feature comes built-in WP, but you have to modify your theme to support it. I bookmarked a couple of websites that explained the process, so I just need a kick in the butt to do it one day.
Even if you can make a science out of twitter, it really comes down to following people with similar interests. If you start to interact you will get new followers for sure because a lot of people use search.twitter.com and search for some specific keywords. If you talk about what they’re searching, they might follow you!
You don’t need a specific number of “coaches”, follow the ones you think can bring you something.
For the question on how people deal with following 7000+ persons I don’t really know. I know you can blog some people even if you are following them which reduce the amount of tweets.
Following the big guys is a good strategy because not only you will learn, but you’ll discover that they’re more accessible than you might think. For example, I answered a Gary Vaynerchuk’s tweet a while ago thinking he wouldn’t answer, but he did answer and followed me back! How cool is that?
@Michael Henry: I never tried that “block” feature…
Hi Ben, I’m one of those that’s followed by more than I follow with very few updates. It’s not because I’m real picky as to who I follow. I tend to get lazy and simply get behind on checking profiles and following back. I hope to do a better job this year with Twitter and a few other social sites.
Brian D. Hawkinss last blog post..A New A Year Of Vision And Focus
I figure that it is a big pain to do what ever I have to do for my theme to get the threaded thing working and just too busy trying to keep up with everything. Wondering – are there themes that work automatically with the threaded comments? Although changing a theme is a big pain too because I don’t know php and of course have to make changes.
Thanks for the tip about sending a tweet to one of the big guys. I’m shy about that. But am going to give it a try.
I’m finding some interesting stuff on Twitter – I just need 4 more of me.
Adeles last blog post..Hexagram Seven – Shih / The Army
Recently, I started using twitter. As i am new i don’t think much
i just see someone’s blog and follow it. I didn’t too much on these lines that you have mentioned. I have to think and start following.
Nice post.
Nihars last blog post..December 2008 Blog Traffic & Income statistics
I look for a roughly even ratio between a person’s followers and followees. If some one has 1000 followers but only follows 5 people themselves, that’s a red flag to stay away.
Spots last blog post..Play Music, Wirelessly, Throughout Your House
I agree, Spot from Canon 50 D. It’s the height of arrogance.
latmarios last blog post..Oh Dear Choir!
Hi, Ben:
I usually will follow those i know from other networks, those who have a completed profile, those who are recommended by my current followers, those who send me a cool link or tip.
Otherwise i don’t follow back. With the recent issues on Twitter, i don’t recommend auto-follow at all. It is too risky IMHO. But to be honest even without the current issues, i don’t believe in auto-follow.
Great article.
Missy.
Missy (from G34 Media)s last blog post..I Won An iPod Nano!!!
one reason I follow because of the interest on the topic, I don’t follow a person, that from time to time, saying, hey I am here eating burger, cut it!
hi ben,
the blog title-”to follow or not follow” really caught my attention. I thought you were writing the do follow or no follow attributes in regards to PR. Guess i am wrong
I heard to lots of blogger claiming that Twitter can really drive massive traffic to your blog? Is that really true?
Or twitter is just a social networking tool like Technorati or Facebook to get connected with people from all walks of life?
I hope you can share some light here as i am newbies in blogging and recently just launched my love blog – Cupid Blogger Dot Com
Cupid Bloggers last blog post..Making Love Out Of Nothing At All
Twitter will drive to your blog traffic if your profile is a big one with a lot of friends.
You’ve written some good stuff here, and every single one of them fits my qualifications. What I hate, though, is when you decide to follow someone, and they have those automatic return messages about subscribing to this or visiting their blog or something else irritating. A simple thank you is fine, or just don’t do anything except let me start following you.
Mitchs last blog post..Is Control A Facade?
I think it is very important to have a set of rules/guidelines down for who you are going to follow and who you want following you on twitter. I believe that a picture is a must either of the person or your logo. It is very unlikely that I will follow you with the default image. People who have a landing page that is there just you sell you there products and services are unlikely to make it on my list.
I am looking for people who are interested in my interests, so I won't go hog wild and follow everybody that follows me. There is just no way you can follow thousands of people effectively and expect to keep up. I will settle for smaller amount of followers so I can socialize more effectively manner.
Thanks for the tips dude. By reading it, I have become a follower of you!
I agree with your post….especially about using a "real" picture. It helps to have an actual image of who I am following. Also, I MUST be some-what intrigued in what you are doing in order for me to follow. Sense of humor is nice too.
Geez I feel old, I am so out of touch on the latest….
You have to follow. Because twitter is all about following and followers. That is why its different from others. Its great to exchange quick messages with friends.