Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

Some of the blog articles I have recently started to publish have been about the social media venue, Twitter. Of course, like most systems that have gotten popular, there are people who abuse it by one of the following:

• Are people racking up numbers of followers to spam and not give valuable content
• Are bots created by people that rack a number of followers to spam
• Phish the site like they did during New Year’s Eve

Of course, for anyone who has done forums, and other types of social media places, this is normal, yet still annoying all the same. Of course, there are regular people out there who are not just politicians, celebrities, and businessmen. It is very much a diverse community. However, the name of the game people have come to get into is getting the number of followers… period. There are offered ploys by many in the Twitter community to “Get 10,000 followers in 100 days” and so forth. Although I can be optimistic, I was quite skeptical. I am sure it can be done, but some of the suggestions are quite agressive and frankly, for me, although I like to follow, I also like to try to converse with others. Come on, I spend 3 hours on Tuesdays with the GNO (Girls’ Night Out or trend topic #gno – A group of women on Twitter with a focal topic each week.) However, the formula of these ploys are done by simply joining and thinking that at least 25% of the tweeps that you follow each day will follow back. I know, I have subscribed to these out of curiosity and the fact that I knew eventually I would be blogging about things like what I am blogging in this article.

Tweepl is doing and experiment with Twitter that is a non-spamming bot to collect data on the value of collected followers and trying to prove that it is not important. Of course, with a lot of numbers, your tweets are streams on all of your followers timelines. However, they are not doing this. I am interested in what they will find out and will be following their journey from time to time.

However, anyone who uses Twitter can do the following if they are trying to organically build a following… that is, a meaningful one:

• 1. Follow 2-15 people in a day (this is depending on your time) and try to communicate with them honestly. You do not always have to tell them why you followed them, but try to take an honest interest and try to talk with them.
• 2. Even if you communicate with the people the day before, do not exclude them. They are worth the time and remember that. Everyone is worth a chance and worth the time.
• 3. Try not to use the Automatic -Direct Message (Auto-DM). It really may not pertain to anyone and if you do make one and could prov annoying. If you do make one, make a webpage specifically to welcome your tweep followerers by introducing yourself (not your business if you are one.)
• 4. It is okay to follow back for those who follow you first. However, if it is merely a business with no interest in communicating anything other than their specials, perhaps unfollowing is better. There are a few businesses that are honest people and have great products, so do not rule all of them out at first sight.
• 5. Engage new topics like: Question of the Moment, Fact of the Moment, Project of the Moment, Poll of the Moment, Thought of the Moment. These might bring a wonderful conversation. These are ones I actively use myself and enjoy the feedback.
• 6. Tweet your blogs, but do not overtweet them. This one is kind of an iffy, but if you believe you have content worth a look, then tweet it.
• 7. Visit some of your followers sites or ask them to DM you when they blog something new. If you have to ask daily, then do so as a reminder. It shows you are interested in at least reading their articles and they might give you a look in return.
• 8. It is okay to disagree with another, but to unfollow them based on the fact you disagree with them on an issue is not just rude, but ignorant. Arguments/Debates are ways to grow as a person and know more. Now, unless if it is totally against your morals, then perhaps it is best to bow out politely with a DM to the other tweep. They will understand.
• 9. Follow people who have filled out their profile either partially or fully. The profile might give you a clue if they are a person or a robot. Check out their stream and see if they have anything interesting to say. It might help as a great conversation starter.
• 10. If you have no idea what to talk about, try Tweetworks. It is another Twitter tool that you can use to focus on certain group discussions based on a topic.

Anyway, I am sure there are even more suggestions and sure it is okay to follow more in a day, but make sure you can handle it. Like anything, use Twitter with caution.

Here are some articles that Tweepl shares that I think are also worth both pluggage and read on the issue:

• Why numbers are not everything on Twitter by Bud Gallant – Tells how it is more important not to focus on the number of followers but the content quality of your tweets.
• Your Followers Are NOT Following You by Tweetworks – Lists reasons why people might follow or unfollow you and how to use twitter with meaningful conversations rather than bulk up in numbers.

There are far more blog articles on the issue and the majority of them read quite similar: Numbers are not always important.

So think about it. Why are you using Twitter? What do you want to talk about? What type of people do you want to connect with (if you do want interaction… at least I hope you do)? If it is for just the numbers, spamming and not for interacton, then why bother using it? What substantial topics do you have that another can take back with them or even respond?

In the end, remember: Real people will follow you if you are truly real with them. If you want the numbers and it makes you feel good in the morning, but you having absolutely nothing to talk about, by all means do use Twitter that way too. However, if you want to effectively use Twitter for what it was intended, then take this blog seriously. I did not waste 1000 plus words to come up with junk.

Related posts:

1. You Can Own Your Followers: Buytter.com
2. 10 Ways To Turn Away Followers With Auto DM on Twitter
3. How to Get More Twitter Followers By Answering Their Questions