As told in a post earlier in the week “How my Twitter Account Got the Social Media Equivalent of VD http://bit.ly/9agTW9” I blew up a Twitter account last year. Since then I went back to my original one – my name (I know, I’m really creative, too) @JudeCaserta.
I’m a geek. I will admit that without any shame. Call me a bean counter, numbers nerd or anything else analytical and I will not be the least bit offended. Since March when I had 60 followers (don’t get the impression I am one of those Twitter gurus who will tell you how to get a million followers even if you don’t have a computer) I have been keeping track of who follows me. I know when you follow me and I know when you drop me. I have graphs and everything! A serious geek…
I started out with three followers who I followed back. A busy timeline is hard to read without practice. When I did the rapid follow, I knew nothing about the folks who were spitting out stuff by the second. This time I only follow people who were interesting to me and do not have a habit of Tweeting 100’s of times a day.
How did I do that? I read 2-3 pages of their Tweets. This way I could see if their Twitter account was just a cover for a spam account. This took time but has proven to be well worth it. Most of the people I follow are respectful of how often they Tweet and don’t put out constant selling opportunities.
I do not use computerized Tweets. I am sure those folks who have 1,000’s of followers need to use them but I don’t think it is a great way to get to actually know people. A little at a time I am getting to know people from all over the world (who speak English!) and it is wonderful.
I do not always follow someone just because they follow me. That goes against Twitter conventional wisdom but there is a method to my madness. You really do not know if it is a computer deciding you are follow-worthy. Usually if it is a person they will immediately begin a dialogue with you. Start a dialogue (@mention a how are you – you look interesting to me) when you follow someone to let them know why you chose them. Hey @verycoolperson follows you and when I looked at your bio I saw you were into hot air balloon racing! Me, too!
Personally thank, through direct message, all people who follow you. Simple enough.
If you follow someone first and they follow you back, don’t unfollow them just to make your numbers look good. I just think that’s smarmy. I have occasionally done #drop Tweets the same way you do #FollowFriday ones to call those people out. Oh no…my bad…maybe I’m not playing well in the Twitter sandbox after all!
Until next time!
Jude Russo Caserta
AthleticBudgetCoach.com/blog
Twitter: JudeCaserta Linkedin: Jude Russo Caserta
E-mail: judi_caserta@athleticbudgetcoach.com
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