eric rochow

This has been in the front of my brain for a while, and David Eckoff’s post on the “Twitter dilemma, how many people to follow” has caused me to finally write about it.

To some people, Twitter may seem like a waste of time. I find it useful, to a point. You follow people, they follow you, you and they learn things and perhaps grow a bit.

Twitter can get out of hand. There are some people who I’ve followed on Twitter who post constantly. I am not the only one who has wondered if these people do anything else other than post on Twitter.

My answer to the question of how many people to follow is less than 150.

When someone decides to follow me, I check their Twitter page to see what kinds of things they post. I don’t follow people who:

1. Almost all of their posts are “@person” posts. I more than likely don’t follow the person they are talking to.

2. Their posts are mainly about what kind of food they are eating. A bit of the mundane of life is interesting, but learning what all of my Twitter friends are having for breakfast is not a good use of my time.

3. They post multiple Twitters to write out a thought. When you see someone’s name next to 4 posts in a row on your Twitter, that’s not using Twitter for what its best for. Twitter’s beauty is its 140 character limit.

4. They are following hundreds or thousands of people, with few of those following back. The goal for some on Twitter is to get as many people to follow them as possible. Their posts are not relevant, many of them blatantly post, “get your friends to follow me” Why?

5. Their ‘about me’ section is blank. If I can’t learn more about you before I decide to follow, I don’t follow. Transparency is key here.

What causes me to follow people? I’m very pragmatic in life, and this shows on Twitter.

1. People who post interesting links. Usually something like: “Good blog post on Social media and Senior Citizens http://tinyurl.com” . What I find frustrating is when someone will post something like: “You must check this out! http://tinyurl.com” . I don’t have any idea what this is, you need to tell me more. Don’t waste my time.

2. Thoughtful comments. These might be on the news of the day, or a personal observation. To be able to sum things up in 140 characters is not easy.

3. New blog posts. Some people use Twitter solely to plug their blog, but someone who intersperses blog post notices with their regular Twitter chatter is fine with me.

4. People whose lives are interesting.

Newmediajim is a cameraperson for NBC News, and is always doing and observing interesting things. His posts are a look into the world of news and politics.

5. Web Shows and sites that post new items that interest me.
Make Magazine twitters neat things from their blog. Potato bazooka is a long time favorite.

Social Media Club uses Twitter to announce new meetings.

OK, that’s Eric’s early morning Twitter thoughts. You can follow me on Twitter if you find me interesting.