10th Dec 2008
Is it Better to Follow or be Followed on Twitter?
On Twitter, which is it more important to follow others or be followed?
At the social networking site of Twitter, the question of whether it is more important to follow people or be followed is controversial. People try to look important by having a ratio of more followers that followers, just like the celebrities and Internet gurus on Twitter. But, does having more followers mean anything or predict success?
On Twitter messages known as Tweets are issued by members. Interesting or informative Tweets are forwarded. When someone with many followers RTs (Re Tweets) a comment, new people see it and a few decide the original person who made the comment is worth following. People also find others to follow through checking out who is following or being followed by others they know or would like to know, such as celebrities and the influencers.
Part of the conundrum is inherent in Twitters’ terminology of follow and followers. While this terminology is correct when understood in relationship to comments, it has an additional meaning in regards to leadership that does not necessarily pertain. Yet many, including Twitter’s own raking system, assume it does.
I used to write comedy professionally, and can be quick with a harmless quip. I have noticed that when I post something funny I pick up followers. Does this mean the people who enjoy my humor are actually ready to follow me into the real and new way of enhanced vision through Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art or through my inspirational self help e book, The Art of Seeing The Divine–Book 1 I doubt it, although who clicks on which links in Twitter comments is impossible to track.
If leadership means that people are eager to read what one writes or hear what one says then every journalist, correspondent, newscaster and TV host ought to be in the congress and run or run for some office. While these people may influence others, there is a difference between leadership and influence.
On Twitter one of the recognized Internet influencers is Guy Kawasaki, founding partner at Garage and co-founder of Alltop , a news aggregation site, author of business books and blogger. Kawasaki has followers who send tweets that link to popular or interesting articles on Alltop. These followers receive a free copy Kawasaki ’s latest book, plus usually more flooders as their tweets are full of interesting links. Since Twitter limits the number of posts that one can make during the day, this scheme seems to work well.
Unlike many of the other Internet and business influencers, Guy Kawasaki follows many people. He is accessible to his followers through DMs (direct messages) while anyone else can reply to his frequent messages. He comments on other people’s Twits, rather than remaining aloof in his own celebrity guru niche. In a recent blog article, How to Use Twitter as a Twool advises Internet marketers to follow and relate to people other than the influencers like him. In my short experience on Twitter I have found Guy Kawasaki to actually be one of the most influential people on Twitter because he is busy interacting and listening.
Another Twitter influencer who seems to follow almost all of his followers is Wayne Sutton. I have witnessed him also interacting with his followers who tweet him. I recognized his name and began to follow him on what was probably my first day and to my surprise he immediately followed me back.
Historically great leaders are good listeners who have open lines of communication to as many of their “followers” as is possible. Leaders who have closed themselves off with their cronies and flatterers are toppled. They lack information about what is happening in their domain. The more information a person is privy too, especially when confirmed by many reliable sources, the wiser and proactive that person’s decisions and plans can be.
About two weeks ago, when I first joined Twitter, I signed on to follow everyone I could from influencers to “nobodies” who lacked a web site and Twittered within small family and friends groups. It was great fun finding someone who seemed especially interesting and then following many of the people that they followed. I made sure to follow English speaking people from around the world so that I would have a real purview of the news in the world outside of the media. Whether anyone would follow me was not half as interesting as what I could possibly learn. I also found as many artists and art related people as I could, including museums.
I kept selecting to follow people until Twitter stopped me at 2000. Twitter suspects that people who quickly sign on to follow many people are spammers. This seemed unfair and frustrating until I was followed by such a spammer. Eventually I will be allowed to follow more people after acquiring more followers and sending many messages. This indicates a level of participation that is unusual for spammers.
There is spirituality –connection– in each personal one on one tweet, no matter how seemingly trivial. That people assume or hope that someone cares that they are having lunch, home from running errand, listening to a favorite song, coming down with a cold or feeling happy or sad is disarmingly trusting and genuine. On the other hand, I have learned much from links I followed, had tastes of life around the world and had first hand updates fro people in Mumbai during the terrorist attack.
In the past two weeks I have commiserated with two people with headaches, one who had indigestion, another non-spammer who has also been barred from following more people until she has more followers, been cheered on by new friends, had questions answered and answered some, found interesting blogs, posted at some, been featured in blogs about my work creating Twitter’s first Post Conceptual Performance Art, been inspired to create a new painting and best of all made new friends.
On the day this article was written I sent out a tweet that asked if it is better to follow or be followed on Twitter. Why. I let it be known that I would use the best replies and include the IDs of those selected. In the Twitter community having one’s ID broadcast and promoted means one gets more followers and friends.
The answers are diverse. I decided to use them all as having the freedom to express and see many thoughts and opinions are what makes Twitter unique, vital and splendid.
Twitter allows 140 spaces each update, which means many are written with texting abbreviations or code. They are basically just cut and pasted in the order they were received.
“If we all follow, then we are all followed!– thehotiron
“Following but not being followed is like unrequited love or stalking, depending. Best case is to follow and be followed.”– edgizmo
“Depends. Personally, I’d rather follow the funny/insightful/interesting posts of others. My updates are pretty bland sometimes.”– missmarsh
“Depends on if you want to put on or follow the show…” — GRAIN4YOURBRAIN
“Better to be even steven… otherwise you get complaints… got some real stick n the muds here” — FiveDecades
“ For me depends on what yr lking for. Ppl with stuff to sell will want lots of followers for marketing push. I follow fewer than follow me b/c I value conversation…”– robynmcintyre
“It is better to be followed - so your voice is heard.”– ConchRaider
“Got to follow & be followed IMO. Twitter is a conversation and talking to yourself is the 1st sign of madness :)”– CanDoCanBe
“I have always been a big fan of Lead rather than be led :D”– artbyskym
“It is better to follow, listen, learn from others, and reply when relevant. Result: Ntwrk growth (followers) happen automatically”– jenuinejen
“Its better for my ego when I get followed. But I tweet A LOT so I get followed a lot. When I see someone interesting I follow first”– ImSleepDeprived
“Re Twitter: Better to follow or be followed? Sounds like The Tao of Twitter : )”– realtortweet
“I think both - of course depends upon your use of Twitter; if business, follow and be followed”– LindaCSmith
“You follow and be followed -this is about building relationships - every person comes in ur life for a season, a reason or lifetime… there are of course exceptions to every rule - bottomline is you follow someone if your heart and gut says its the right thing”– scenic_drive
“Neither. Both. Depends on what you are trying to get out of Twitter”.– purplepopple
This week in my email was a notification that Jack Canfield, of bestselling author of Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Secret, is following me. Wow! Jack Canfield is one of my spiritual contemporary heroes. I logged into Twitter where many tweets indicated that he had just become a member. Since I actually do have an inspirational and unique way to visually transform lives, which compliments Mr. Canfield’s work it would make sense for us to follow each other. Except, I am really just emerging, how he or a staff member found and selected me to follow delights and amazes me.
I immediately followed Jack Canfield right back. I follow all of my followers. I joke that I seem to be following me, since everywhere I go I find me. Thus I have something in common with anyone else who follows me.
The thing about Jack Canfield is that he immediately followed his entire initial allotment of 2000 people. I suspect he would have followed everyone on Twitter if it was allowed. He left one post, and now, I believe he is wisely watching, listening and learning.
It has been asked, “Who is wise?”
The answer, which was part of the Jewish oral tradition known to Jesus and the disciples is, “The person who can learn from anyone is wise.”
Please add your comments and leave your Twitter ID at the bottom if you want.
I agree with you article in so many ways. I appreciate Guy Kawasaki and I signed up early to help promote the alltop.com site through my twitter account. I was surprised that I received a copy of his book which was personally autographed to me. Wow, he really is personable!
That goes the same with Wayne Sutton. He is a personable individual and that helps.
If you have personality, great communication skills and you don’t take yourself too seriously then twitter is an oasis for you.
The more you communicate who you are and if you are true to yourself then it is not hard finding followers but you have to though put in perspective that when you have thousands of followers that it is hard to have an intimate relationship with ALL of them. That is why the blogs help so you can continue to nurture the relationship with that individual.
I enjoy the blog of @davedelaney but I don’t necessarily see his tweets at the same time I am on however, he is very personable. I *connected* to him though when I saw that he had tweeted a year ago that he had created a twitter tutorial that I thought was very helpful!
Here -> http://blog.davemadethat.com/2008/02/21/my-basic-twitter-tutorial-for-newbies/
Thanks for sharing your thoughts for I found your blog through @waynesutton’s recent tweet here:
http://twitter.com/waynesutton/status/1049485529
Nice description of twitter! It’s an amazing window into the world. My own opinion is that it is not either/or as to follow - following, but rather both/and. Sometimes I follow, sometimes no. I do follow most people, but some who are blatantly promoting things and not there for relationship get a “no follow” from me, unless I am really interested in what they are doing. I usually follow for a while to see what gets tweeted, then decide.
Twitter is a great way to widen your world.
Thanks for your thoughtful post!
@deniPath4Change
Interesting perspective on this - and I’ve certainly heard it in the much more concise form:
- The more people who follow you, the more influence you have. The more people you follow, the more information about your market you have.
Although I do have more followers than people I follow, that’s more a matter of the way I use Twitter. Instead of thinking of it as “following / follower” I think of it as a place to connect.
So in that light, for every follower I check their recent tweets, website, etc., and ask myself, “Is this somebody with whom we will amplify each others’ energy? Or will the energy flow primarily one-way?”
Of course with that mentality, it’s easy to assume I’d never follow anybody who didn’t follow me. But that’s not true, as it certainly is possible to amplify energy in different ways that don’t involve what would appear, on the surface, to be direct reciprocation.
Twitter / ChrisCade
hmmmm. It sounds like fishing on-line to me.
when I paint it is alot like fishing. sometimes it is alot of work with no catches. sometimes it is enough to see in the boat and gaze across to the far side and admire the changing leaves and the early mist, as it hangs. every once in a while there is a bite, a fish is reeled in, and I walk over to my neighbor to show it to him. sometimes a juried commitee accepts my fish into a show, like the one coming up at the Artichoke in Shawnee Mission, Kansas next February. admittedly I am new to blogs. I do not have a Twitter page yet. I wonder about the time commitment to cyber-space and ambivious to its benefits. also I very much enjoy the daily patter chatter with the students I work with at the high school or at the teacher’s lunch table. in the matter of following…all I care to say, is that, at 53 years of age, working with students, listening to them polish their reading skills, and getting them comfortable with multiplication and adding number without a calculator–is a great source of joy right now, and I get paid for it.
This article lacks an essential element, and because of that omission, it loses virtually all meaning. That is not unique; many blog articles about Twitter suffer from the same problem, that is caused by assuming that everyone uses Twitter for the same goals.
I can easily list 10 different goals for being active on Twitter. To name a few: #1 To keep informed about how your friends are doing; #2 To let your friends know how you’re doing; 3# To amuse yourself reading funny stuff; and so on.
“Is it Better to Follow or be Followed on Twitter?” If your goal is #1, it is better to follow (your friends). If your goal is #2, it is better to be followed (by your friends). If it is #3, it is better to follow some really funny people, and so on.
I even know one person who uses Twitter just to follow her girlfriend and it works perfect. If you do not state for which goal you use Twitter, there is no way to tell what is more important.
@jclont
a healthy even balance of followers and following is probably correct but it seems you will be following more than being followed as you learn social community etiqeute (spell?) and expectations of Twitter. My sense is if its natural to you then its going to be OK.
Judy,
I read your comment on Twitter Tweetaholics on Facebook.
You’ve only been on Twitter for 2 weeks? You wrote this like a Twitter pro! I took the opposite approach to building a Twitter network of followers/following. I started a few months ago with a few people I knew and watched the tweets. As I found interesting people – both as part of my extended network and thru sites like http://search.twitter.com , I followed them and most of them followed me back.
Now, I’m lookin’ to kick up my Twitter habit a notch. But, the trick is to do it without spending HOURS reading Tweets.
~Marilyn
http://www.twitter.com/HealthTalkToday
I Just found you today. Your work is quite impressive. In regard to Twitter, for me it’s a conversation. It seems to be that any one sided conversation is not very effective.
Although there are people I like to follow because they are interesting and I don’t mind whether they follow me back or not; I like to follow everyone who follows me, with the exception of spammers or silent lurkers, because a conversation is so much more interesting than a monologue in my opinion.
http://www.twitter.com/linnetwoods
I signed up for my Twitter account with eyes opened and feet firmly on the ground. I had and still don’t have any extra-ordinary expectations for the time I invest online interacting with people I follow or choose to follow me.
It can be flattering when I’m followed by people I wouldn’t have have otherwise known. I’m curious: “Hey DID they find me? What was so interesting that they opted to follow?” “Is this person trying to boost their Twitter numbers, and have no real interest in interacting with me?”
I don’t (immediately) follow every person that follows me. I’m not on Twitter for a numbers game. I must feel a quality connection over mere numbers. I read a Twitter article that talked about personality types, one of which was a Twitter snob.
Sorry folks, I’m no snob, but I don’t care to read about every mundane detail of someone’s life. I always try to offer information tips, tools, and links to my followers when online.
Is Twitter an out of control schoolyard sandbox without a set of written and/or understood rules? Perhaps it is.
I’m not interested in everyone who follows me. I’m not interested in people who forget they’ve a Twitter account, spammers, or those on a constant mission to push products.
I enjoy the time I spend on Twitter, but don’t take it or myself too seriously when online.
Is Twitter here to stay, or the latest online craze? Twitter can be addictive if you’re not careful.
Twitter is a tool. Use it at your discretion, but it’s probably best not to mandate rules. I live in a democracy until further notice.
It’s better to be true to yourself and allow the gurus, superstars, and pundits do what they will to keep themselves happy.
Guilt should have no place on something that is meant to be fun, interactive, and entertaining. Enjoy life!
I like twitter because I learn about things that I wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Like your post. I’m following someone who tweeted it. I have way less followers than people who I’m following, but that’s okay.
I don’t tweet that much actually, but a few times a day, I check in to see what’s percolating out in the tweetosphere.
Personally I find it quite annoying when someone who is promoting their website or one link follows me. I will never reciprocate those follows. It is clear they have not read my tweets and have no clue what *I* am doing on twitter.
This happens repeatedly with me. I get social networkers or people looking to promote their website who just follow me and never give a thought to WHAT I HAVE TWEETED. If they did, they’d realize it has ZERO to do with them, that we have ZERO in common. I consider people like these to be spammers.
Lots of times with people like that I’ll block them. Or I’ll let them figure it out when they start seeing that my tweets are not for them. I figure they were blind when signing up for me and obviously read nothing I had written, thus figuring out nothing about me.
If you want to follow people you don’t know, fine, but make sure you actually spend time trying to understand why that person you want to follow is on twitter. If, like me, they aren’t into social networking and people promoting their links in a self-congratulatory masturbatory dance, then chances are you are going to have very little in common with them and will end up wasting your time.
Be wise in who you follow. Choose people who will appreciate you for you. Choose people whose words you want to read, not someone you blindly pick because they may be interested in your product, but probably won’t be. Finding social media whores like that in my followers list is like finding junk mail in my mail box.
This is like asking, “Is it better to love or to be loved?”
You can jump through all sorts of flawed statistical hoop jumping to try ranking someone’s Twitter score and have no answer that stands the test of reality.
You can rationalize that one is better than the other based on ones reason for being in a social media milieu.
Or, you can just accept that one is not better than the other. And both, together, is best.
[...] you find the issue of following and followers interesting also read Judy Rey Wasserman’s blog post ‘Is it better to follow or being followed’ DCortesi wrote up on Christmas day ‘08 [...]
What a lovely post and perspective on Twitter. I am an artist and as such initially signed up to Twitter to expose more people to my artwork. Since then it’s become so much more! I’ve connected with people globally on many issues, made new friends, and some great connections. My 4 year old grandson was recently diagnosed with autism and I have met and received awesome info and resources to help my daughter.
While I don’t follow everyone I do try to interact with all of my followers as time permits. It’s disheartening to talk to people who don’t talk back…a bit one sided, so I adjust Twitter accordingly.
Again…great post! Thanks,
Valerie aka ElysianFields
This is an excellent question - the microblogging phenomenon is still very new and I don’t think any of us really understand it fully. New ways to use Twitter will continue to pop up, and I expect the answer to the follower-or-followed question will rock back and forth several times. Ultimately I think the right ratio will depend on the tweep himself and, as mentioned in a previous comment, the reasons for being on Twitter. Since those reasons are evolving, the cycle will continue . . .
I have learned so much by following on Twitter. I read my stream and follow the links to blogs and other interesting sites. Many days, I hardly tweet at all. Other days, I respond to many of my friends.
All in all, it is the conversational flow that means the most. To me that means balance. Twitter’s not about the leaders, it’s about YOU.
Joy~
Jeanette
Thanks for the insight into twitter; I’ve dabbled there but wasn’t sure how to make the best of it.
thanks for the info on twitter, I’m still not sure if its something I want to deal with right now. there are so many things to add to blogs now that its starting to make them load slow. thanks and i love your artwork.
Follow me then:
http://www.twitter.com/fawnukker
Twittering is like ying and yang. Balance is the the important element of all life experience.
I enjoy both following and being followed, The flow of thoughts and conversation is enlightening, exciting and just plain entertaining.
@NYCWrite
For me, twitter at its best is about dialogue. I follow back and appreciate it when those I follow do too.
You have to be followed in order to be heard. It’s great if you go out and follow 10,000 interesting people but if no one follows you back how will you ever have a conversation?
http://twitter.com/JaredOToole
Be followed is a great benefit because you can share your expertise, gain feedback and insight, and build new relationships.
However, I think following others serves a greater benefit. There’s always much to learn - and as we all know, people on twitter have a wealth of knowledge and information to share.
Great post!
@acalabrese83 / @uofss
Just because you follow someone, doesn’t mean you have a relationship with them. @ & RT is what it’s all about.
@freerangemom
yes, it doesn’t have to but isn’t it great when we have new relationships with new people? (^.^).
I don’t expect people will reply to my tweet but when they do, I appreciate it so much.
and that’s what I do when I see my tweet-fellows ask or tell about what they’re doing…I respond them sometimes.
I just think, It’s great to tweet tweet by myself but if Itweet tweet and someone respond it, I feel like heyyy i’m exist (^o^). I’m not talking alone here
Although it is real cool to have a large number of followers I really only benefits from those I follow and communicate with. I know I have a unbalance of followers to whom I am following, but comes from two things.
1. People who are daily starting to follow me, some I can not figure out as to way, they are about things like IT stuff or dog breading, stuff I’m not into or wish to follow.
2. I there is a limit as to how many people I can actual read and communicate with, and that I wish to save for the people I really have an interest in to do so with.
Sure there are others I’m very sure would be cool to hook up with, but when you turn on your client and it has 150 current tweets and is adding more faster than you can read, you just have to say, I have a limit. And if 2000 people want to follow me, that is way cool, but there is just no way I can follow that many of them. @dennismuse
I follow those that follow. I unfollow the same!
Me on twitter: http://twitter.com/mrintech
@tweetsy
It’s great if you’re famous but those with large followers don’t tend to take the time to follow those who follow them.
I started to follow lots of people and then I decided to follow a particular group that fits with my business interests ( marketing and Business Development)
I still tweet off message and look to have fun with it. I have regretted a few snappy comments. As a Brit I can do irony and some people outside the UK struggle with it.
The personal messages for me bring in my humanity and make me likable. It is what I appreciate in others there are couple of people that I adore for their wit and presence. It is amazing how much can be conveyed in 140 characters. May be it is just my interpretation and imagination filling the gaps.
I tweet some of the things that my 6 year old tells me, they are priceless bits of wisdom. There are some very tight twitters that just do facts. They are interesting but lack soul. To answer the main question I follow people in batches of 10 a few here and there. I sometime pick a profile and look down the stream and follow from there.
That is enough all the best
Paul Harvey (twitter Market_that)
Whoa… this site is pretty awesome
your layout is really well designed, and your blogs are (judging from what i’ve read) very interesting. heehee… consider yourself favorited. 