I’ll admit, I’m pretty new to to the Twitter scene. I didn’t start “tweeting” seriously until the beginning of the year. I am always excited when Follow Friday (#FF) rolls around. I love new “tweeps” and like seeing mynumbers rise. Makes ya feel like the cool kid at school… But, I recently realized something about social media and it’s kind of busted my bubble. Even though my Twitter followers have grown substantially since December (from about 20 to about 35o-ish)–I still have very little connection with these “friends.”
I have made a handful of great cyber-friends through Twitter, but you would think out of 300 + people that I would be able to claim more than a handful. Sometimes I think my mic is not working. **tap, tap! Is this thing on?**
I’ll be the first to admit I am not the queen of Twitter. I don’t tweet all day long (most days). Some days I don’t tweet at all. Maybe I just have nothing interesting to say? Does anyone click on the links that we post? Do I need to be SEO savvy to tweet?
Twitter is supposed to be the “it” girl, er guy? of the Social Media world right now, and while I find that my followers are growing…my connections are not. And to me, that’s what it’s all about. I’m not interested in numbers, for the sake of numbers. I am interested in making real connections with real people and not just perusing, but HEARING what they have to say.
I don’t friend everyone that follows me. I don’t pay $19.99 for 1,000 followers. I want to follow people because I’m interested in what they have to say. In turn, I want people to follow me, because they are interested in what I have to say.
I’m truly curious to know what people with thousands of followers think. Do they connect with many of these “friends” or is it just a competition of numbers?
So…for me it goes like this. Follow me! Or don’t. But, if you do–let’s connect.
Follow me on Twitter
Twitter is definitely a two fold thing…business and/or pleasure.
I tweet and I just followed you! Now I’ve got to run to work!
I think it’s hard to find real connections amidst the multitude of blogs and followers out there. Sometimes I feel like there are cliques on Twitter and I just don’t know how to break in, but more than that, I think it just takes time. Time to reach out and get to know others. Even if it’s just knowing, they only want followers and numbers. You are a REAL connection to me. I am glad for it.
Personally for me, twitter has opened so many doorways! After having many doors closed – twitter has given me new, positive opportunities in my life that I would not have had without twitter. Twitter has also meant meeting some awesome people- I consider several of my twitter followers to be my friends! These opportunities did not just fall into my lap, it was up to me to make them happen! But without twitter, I would not have had these opportunities! Nice post.
I like to find real friends on Twitter; it’s definitely not a numbers game for me. I follow new interesting people, and keep in touch with the ones that are fun and engaging.
Great comments!
@ Redhead Riter — thanks for the follow love my friend, coming right back at ya.
@angelia — YOU are one of my FAVORITE connections! ((HUGS))
@sara — I do think Twitter can be a networking tool, but still feel that only a small percentage of what is put out there is “clicked”, have met a few great ladies I like to hang out with on Tuesdays and Skype!
@Vahnee – Thanks for the comment! Glad that you, like me, are interested in friendship and not just numbers.
I actually enjoy Twitter more than blogging for making connections because it is so easy to chat with so many people. And I like the natural flow of conversations, how they expand as others notice the subject of your tweets. And I find myself talking to all sorts of people, not just other parents who might read my blog. But yes, there is a certain insanity to it as well. If I am away I feel like I am missing out on connections and conversations but I don’t want to be a slave to Twitter.
As for follows, I am one of those people who will follow almost anyone I find interesting. I find it disappointing when they don’t follow back but figure I will eventually connect with them if they actively use twitter.
I have learned that I do not enjoy following everyone back who follows me on my first Twitter account. I am more selective on my second Twitter account following only those with similar interests. I don’t care about numbers anymore!
Hey There
I have used Twitter to keep up with friends in other places. It has also opened up another world of new friends.
I use to follow about 250 people. I couldn’t keep up. It was about the numbers at that point….Now for me it is about content. I keep it who I follow to about 50. I also started protecting my tweets which helped get rid of some of the weirder things.
I follow you. I enjoy your tweets.
I also lurk on your blog. You keep it real and fun.
Hi Chrissy, Thank you, first of all, from the comment on my blog. You’re getting it. Twitter is about building community for those who get it. High numbers never mean community because just like a crowded room, the noise gets in the way of real conversation. I’m not a fan of crowds in real life or in social media. I want a one-on-one relationship that can continue to grow naturally over time. I’m not a social media newbie, I’ve been on Twitter since October 2008 and LinkedIn before that. Facebook came later but it has given me many blessings too. But my management strategies have changed much recently.
I just read Theresa’s comment… it wasn’t that long ago, my following numbers were at 1500+, it was way too noisy. I write more about that in How Much Twitter Input Can You Handle, but it made a huge difference to decrease the numbers as Theresa did. I don’t protect my tweets and have a very open social media strategy. I do block people who are either spammers or disgusting (to put it nicely).
You have a great community going here. Keep doing what you are doing — caring will get you much further than numbers!
I love Twitter and while it does have some problems and issues I have made some wonderful connections. Great article
I don’t know if I qualify as someone with lots of followers. 1300+ sounds crazy to me, but to some people it’s just peanuts. Sometimes I wonder why these people are following me! LOL. I love connecting with people on Twitter, but I think the numbers don’t tell the whole story. I spend a lot of time @’ing people on Twitter, and it’s important to me to have fun with the people I follow. If the numbers get too high, I’m probably not going to like it as much, since I can’t follow everyone back.
Some people don’t care to interact with anyone, but all they think about is numbers. They follow thousands, and let everyone follow them, spam or not. They collect people for their own use–to get their numbers up. That’s really anti-social behavior, but it works on Twitter just as well as it works in real life. These people are probably sociopaths in real life, too.
For some reason, people WANT to follow people who aren’t interested in them. Anyway, that’s my take on Twitter. I love it, and my numbers matter in a way, but it’s really about the people I get to meet-er, tweet.
I think most of the people with thousands upon thousands of followers are usually famous people and rarely interact with any of them! I don’t know about you, but even with just 250 followers it’s hard to respond to everyone! I love to interact with the people I follow and my followers too but it is hard to reach everyone.
I have about 4.5k followers/following right now. This is how I’ve grown, but I’ve never been concerned about my numbers.
First of all, I’d say I have made connections with about 7-10% of those people – yes, really, I have made a personal connection with a few hundred. That connection may not have lasted long – I only have a few dozen more lasting connections – but I “know” many of the people I follow and that follow me. And some of those lasting connections have thousands more followers than I do.
Twitter is unique in that it’s a mix between more personal streams (like instant messaging programs) and more broad reaching streams (RSS feeds). You wouldn’t let thousands of people onto your Skype without knowing them personally; but you wouldn’t hold personal conversations via RSS feeds either.
I choose to follow people based on one criteria: Do they offer a unique voice to “The Stream”? If so, I will follow them and include them in my conversation. I like adding people, picking up on the conversations and links, and interacting people throughout the day. It’s a learning process, a chance to expand my diversity with people and with knowledge.
When you first join you think those things about getting a lot of followers is a good thing, but as time goes on and see what it is really about you don’t need that you want real friends/people who talk and care. Great post!
Great post! I just became a Twit. Not sure how I feel about it just yet as I maneuver around the Tweet-dom, but I do share your sentiments!