Recently I posted this question on twitter “What would you say if I said don’t follow me?” which garnered a fair amount of subsequent questions. Let me start off by apologizing as this is a slightly loaded statement. I don’t mean loaded like a new sports car with all of the options or even like potato skins fully loaded with bacon 5 cheeses and chives. No I mean loaded as in a trick question.
It is a trick in that I honestly would appreciate it if you did follow me. The issue I have is when people just click the follow or perhaps I’ve said something that triggered and auto-follow app and now you are in my stream. I really do not want these people following me because they have little intention of interacting with me. I want the retweeters, mentioners and conversationalists to follow me. Honestly follower numbers is all well and good but if you are not interacting with me then I am not receiving the true benefit of this relationship.
I want the interaction because the truest value of this medium to me has come through the conversations that have developed as a result of a single retweet. I want to be able to drop a question into my stream and have numerous people scoop it out into their baskets. A question unanswered is as good as a question never asked.
The best days I’ve ever had on twitter or even my nemesis Facebook have been a result of constant interaction. People laughing at my absurd jokes. People retweeting my articles, or notes about technology and social media. These actions all start conversations that have in turn sparked new articles, jokes and discussions about other technologies.
Ultimately I gain nothing because I learn nothing from the just followers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mikel King has been a leader in the Information Technology Services field for over 20 years. He is currently the CEO of Olivent Technologies, a professional creative services partnership in NY. Additionally he is currently serving as the Secretary of the BSD Certification group as well as a Senior Editor for the BSD News Network.
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I try to be all about this, Mikel, so I appreciate you for saying what few people dare to say!
We still see so many people focusing on mass amplification and reach.. But true reach means reaching out to people individually and showing we care. You have to be authentic with this and it takes time.
I can admit I’m not always good with this.. I sincerely care about people but sometimes we tend to cut corners during our hurried lives. I can honestly say, though.. That my Twitter audience alone is much more engaged. I try to unfollow people that I know I won’t be keeping up with in any way.
Thus, I really wonder about people that have over 10,000 “friends” on Facebook, Twitter, or what-have-you.. It goes back to the ‘ol Tribe-vs-Community debate that I keep bumping into or bringing up myself. You can’t possibly be engaging with such an audience (community), though you may influence so many people (tribe).
I do know a few exceptions to this. Christian Hollingsworth, Marcus Sheridan, and Janet Callaway are both people with HUGE audiences.. but they’re humble and caring enough to help out their peers. They serve as a constant reminder of what we need to do to stimulate the economy and, more importantly, change lives.
On a different note, I LOLed when you mentioned your nemesis Facebook. I’m with you there.. Though, lately, it’s become a sort of necessary evil. That said, Google+ has been very refreshing. Just about every item in my stream is useful and interesting.. Feel free to add me:
http://plusya.com/yomar
(That invitation goes out to anyone that likes to deal with real people and not robots.. Though I admit I do automate a few things, just to keep good stuff dripped to my audience.)
Love it!