Does anyone actually follow the Tweets of the people you are signed up to follow ????
OK, I need your response ...
I have enough trouble keeping up with Facebook and the posts of all my friends, let alone actually following the Tweets of more than 1,000 people.
Facebook we generally update once a day or so, Twitter people seem to do abut 6 a day ... no way to actually follow them in real life is there ????
Love to know your thoughts ... Brad Sugars
Twitter is a bit of an odd animal in that it’s uses are so diverse. The simple direction we share with clients is to make it part of an overall social media strategy, with goals being defined, such as # of tweets per day, and what they are intended to do. We strongly advocate to keep tweets personal, of some form of value, and not promotional in any way. A great way to use tweets as drivers for expanded awareness are in posting things like links to recent blog posts (just like this one) or other tidbits of valuable insight.
I can say that I definitely follow the twitter stream I’m tapped into. But, note too, I don’t collect followers like baseball cards either. I do not return-follow automatically, and I actually look at the page of each follower I get requests from to see if they are “real” (not a porn entry point for example), posting regularly, and they are posting stuff I’m actually intrigued by. Seeing tweets that someone just finished their lunch, or has a special date planned is nice, but in the Twitter arena, it’s not why I’m there.
And as an FYI, I hold myself to the same standard – try to post things that are of value, issue thanks to those who are in my follower circle, and advocate on the part of clients or issues that are part of our marketing world.
I do not follow them on a daily basis – it can be more distracting than beneficial unless the people you are following are having a positive effect on your own life and business.
Brad:
When I think of a business like yours, Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In are a powerful combination. To answer your question, yes, people do read the tweets of people that offer good information and that they find interesting. They would definitely read yours. There are tools you can use to help you with time managment so that it does not become overwhelming. Some of the tools and strategies I use personally are on my blog at http://jkw.typepad.com under the Using Social Media topic.
If you want to chat – just call me and I will be happy to share what I have learned so far and how it has worked for me. You were such a great help to us at ASBA – I would love to return the favor.
Have a great Sunday.
Brad,
Interesting question and I will answer it as I do any question… “Here’s what I do?”
I have over 3,800 followers now and you’re right, it’s nearly impossible for me to pay attention to every tweet. So here is what I do with Twitter:
@replies- I watch these daily and respond to almost everyone who talks about me or sends a public message about me.
DM’s- If someone sends me a Dirst Message, I usually reply. However, you have to be careful because people have started sending spam DM’s. Unfollow these people an/or use tweetlater.com to filter these out.
Lists/Groups- I have setup several different groups in TweetDeck to keep track people really important to me. For example, I have a “Local Friends” list that includes people who I know personally or that are in my town. I also have an “Online Friends” list who are people that I’ve never met personally but whom I have connected with online. I find them interesting, talented, etc. You’d be a good example of someone in my “Online Friends” list.
Filters- I have another group in TweetDeck that is looking for certain keywords on Twitter. For example, I run a weekly contest and give away $100 to someone who add the #winwednesday tag to their tweet (on Wednesday). This allows me to quickly and easily see anyone who tweets about the contest. You might use filters to search for anyone who tweets about the word “ActionCoach” and reply to them.
Everything else- As time permits, I may occasionally browse all of the other messages that come across in TweetDeck to see if something catches my eye. If it does, I may add that person to one of my other lists to keep closer tabs on them.
Hope this helps!
Alan De Keyrel
Corporate Web Services, Inc.
@dekeyrel
Brad, I follow these posts that you make. I’m a rookie at Facebook activity. Right now it and Twitter are not part of my 10 marketing strategies. Can see where time consumption could become a real issue, think it has with younger people–students.
New to Twitter, I’m still having trouble staying atop the responses, direct messages, Follow Fridays, etc. I find it a little less user friendly than Facebook & Linked In, but I also think it’s a really exciting and fast-paced deal that can’t be ignored.
It’s a great diversion when you’re waiting somewhere (doctor’s visit, a flight, etc.) and can “sample” the stream of continued consciousness from all over the globe. Kind of like the old “panning for gold”…you never know what can come along from your followers or the “Public Timeline” option.
Embedding photos, websites, our blog articles is easy enough…but now the trick is finding a way to get more followers who can eventually become business partners.
I do follow, but try to only look once a day. I don’t follow everyone every day – but look at the selective topics to see what is relevant.
Brad,
I follow a few locals and a few other coaches on my phone. I am really targeting our market, and gaining learnings on how to make twitter work by following Reggie Shropshire.
Bill
I use twitter on a daily basis and follow some interesting people. I tweet things of interest to the general population based on my profile. If people get value from this they follow.
I am new to the social networking side of things and have yet to realise any serious value. For me its about abundance and giving to receive….
I am totally loosing interest in Tweeter. Not convinced it will have a lot of traction once the novelty of a new social network media wears off. I am active in Facebook & Linkedin but Tweeter has been a struggle for me to stay interested/connected. Will see, maybe I’m wrong. I do have a tweeter account that is fed by ping.fm. I only update/add info in one location that is fed cross multi social networking platforms.
Not a huge fan of tweeter.
Here in OZ we are yet to see it take off to the degree it has in the USA. At this stage it is a very unknown quantity. I for one do not have ONE twitter happening (in or out!). I am yet to be convinced of the ROI…but am off to a breakfast meeting tomorrow here in Perth on the subject. Interestingly they got over 100 people signed up which says a lot about the level of interest and the lack of knowledge…watch this space!
I keep up with people that I follow Tweets on a daily basis. Let me qualify that by saying that I limit who follow. I do not follow everyone who follows me. My concentration is business people who are in my local community who I want to build a relationship with want to stay in touch with. I have 426 followers & I only follow 188 (only 40-50 are active on a daily basis). Here are some of my follow guidelines if they follow me on Twitter..
90% of local #ilm business people make the cut
100% of other ActionCOACH Team Members
20% of small business service Twitters & Coaches that find me
2% of random people but they better be interesting.
0% of anyone who looks like a spammer or has a super high following to follower ratio.
Because I keep my following numbers down it allows me to keep up with people that I follow. I don’t believe the purpose of social media is to collect followers but to interact with your social media sphere.
Reggie Shropshire
ActionCOACH, Wilmington, NC
Twitter: @coachreggie
Thanks, Antoine. I love the idea of Ping.fm.
I will check is out today.
Brad,
I don’t tweat and I don’t follow Twitter. I can see no real benefit from following someone on Twitter except idle curiosity. Stick to channels which demonstrate business value such as Facebook and Linked-in.
Brad,
There’s a new application coming out called “MyRema” and it will keep “ALL” of your social media in one place. (Linked in, Facebook, Twitter, etc) This will allow you to view and post everything in one place without having to go to many places and trying to keep up on various websites. go to this website ( http://www.myrema.com ) to signup for the beta that is coming out this week and enter the promotional code of 001 in the space provided.
I scan the tweets but I’ve come to know who’s to really read and those that I pretty much pass over. I don’t follow a lot of people and don’t ask everyone to be a friend though so it’s easier for me than it would be for you.
I look at the various sites and tweets but not daily, probably a couple of times a week.
Loved Alan’s informative response – very helpful suggestions there – thank you Alan!
Also like the idea of myrema to co-ordinate the different areas . . . that would leverage time better.
I follow yours more than others Brad – they’re helpful and informative and generate some great insights and ideas. Part of my ongoing learning and development in this area . . . thank you!
Mary
Alan had some good advice [above] I find using tweetdeck or destroytwitter enables me to use Twitter in a protocol and filters and is easier to manage… I agree – information overload! The next big move will be to disconnect and actually knock on someones door – which happened to me this last weekend and once I got over the shock it was quite delightful and old fashioned and I felt oddly without words…almost asking if we could sit in opposing rooms and just text each other [!].
Whilst I am not as rampant on Twitter as I am on FB, I do find that it is a necessary ‘tool’ to have for our business or personal life. Some of my celebrity friends say they can connect with their fan base on a more intimate level – but even themselves whilst they have 2M people following them – only follow about 80[!] which is telling.
The people I follow on Twitter and indeed the ones that I direct to my phone are inspirational and (I find) offer critical information to my life on a business and personal level. Fantastic…but the vapid narcissistic use of Twitter…I just have no time for and am grateful for blocking protocols for that.
For me FB offers the best integration of status, video, photos, fun and games along with great content all on one website. Having said that – some of my greatest website finds have come from tweet recommendations and I do enjoy the ustream videos in realtime that people post.
One thought that comes to mind for me – is that these social media tools – if you can harness and capture them are a great time capsule to be remembered and known by – I wish I had such mechanisms for getting to know the thoughts and lives and influences of my grandparents or friends long forgotten…I wonder what I would have been posting 20 years ago – I forget what that girl was like.
@louisarelia