There is an ongoing debate in the Twittersphere about whether it’s better to follow everyone who follows you or to limit the number of people you are following.
Those who are in the “follow only a few camp” maintain that when you are following more than a few hundred people, you can’t possibly keep up with the number of tweets. Plus, they say that following only a few people lets you maintain a closer connection with them.
OK…fair enough. I can’t argue with that…but those folks are missing the point.
Social media is not about exclusivity…but about inclusivity. Everyone is invited to the party!
My personal Twitter “philosophy” is inclusive…not exclusive. This means I follow everyone who follows me. For too long, I’ve watched as a few savvy and well connected marketers have dominated the internet marketing conversation. And that conversation has been, for the most part, one-way.
But please don’t get me wrong, I admire these guys (and a few gals!) and have learned a great deal from them.
And I have to admit…that when I first visited Twitter using only my web browser interface, I didn’t understand how anyone could follow more than about a hundred people without being completely overwhelmed.
Then someone suggested I use what is known as a Twitter client, an application that allows the user a bit more flexibility. I tried Twhirl for a few days, then heard a lot of positive chatter about an application known as TweetDeck. That’s when a whole new world opened up to me.
One of the most useful features of TweetDeck is its ability to allow you to sort the people you are following into various groups, which are then displayed in side-by-side columns. Using this feature, I can dip in and out of the Twitter stream when someone’s tweet catches my eye, without ever losing the ability to keep track of those folks I’ve labeled my VIP group, my @replys and my direct messages as well.
But there is one powerful thing that I do that gives me insight into my followers that all of those “only follow a few” folks can’t ever experience. And that one thing is this…
several times a day, I take a few minutes to just quietly observe the Twitter stream as it flickers by, a virtual meditation of sorts…
the flow of hopes and dreams and thoughts of thousands of human beings from all over the world expressed in 140 characters or less.
Their beautiful faces…smiling…pensive…happy…childlike…thoughtful…funny…
looking out at me, as if longing for connection, for some small reassurance that they matter…
and I love them all, just for being who they are.
So that’s my personal Twitter “philosophy”…inclusive, accepting. And sure, I won’t be able to read, much less respond, to every single tweet from every person I follow…
But in those quiet moments when I’m simply sitting back and observing the flow of people I’m following in my Twitter stream, I feel a deep connection to each and every person who flashes for a moment upon my consciousness…
and for that I am most deeply grateful.
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photo source: Jef Safi http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Great point.
Ellen — You’ve eloquently expressed what I’ve been doing, but wasn’t able to explain well why I was doing it. “Inclusivity” is exactly it. Tweetdeck enables that process, which makes it an essential tool to really get the most out of (and give the most to) Twitter. And I love the idea of doing a Twitter “meditation” — I’ll be adding that to my daily routine.
Yes Terri, I agree…it took me awhile to realize what I was doing is a type of meditation…kind of like a window into the collective stream of consciousness of the planet!
Ellen, and excellent post! I, too, seriously limited my Twitter activity until I found TweetDeck, and that changed my entire relationship with Twitter — i.e., I now like it! Also, I love the way you talk about the “virtual meditation” of watching your Twitter stream. I’ve had similar thoughts at times as I look at my Twitter stream on TweetDeck: Wow, all those wonderful people are out there in the world! Thanks!
Wonderful sentiment:
But in those quiet moments when I’m simply sitting back and observing the flow of people I’m following in my Twitter stream, I feel a deep connection to each and every person who flashes for a moment upon my consciousness…
Like being at an airport or the mall and watching folks flow by. I get it. The twittering masses! The poetry of Twitter…
ZuD
Ellen,
I am visiting your website because you followed me on twitter. The lights were on, so I took the liberty of entering. You have a great twitter page and a well designed website/blog. You raised a question in your recent post that has been widely discussed on Twitter. What resonated with me was the elegant way you expressed your opinion.
Our twitter philosophy is a little different. You made your take on follow vs. not follow crystal clear, Nicely done.
When someone follows me, I visit their twitter page and website. If their passions match mine, I’ll follow them back. If their passion is something that interests me, I’ll follow them back. If there isn’t a match, I won’t follow them back.
I don’t play a numbers game, one way or the other. I’d love to have a gazillion people I follow. I use tweet deck, and love it.
My daughter said to me when she was 11 years old, after I gave into her 2 days worth of pleas for a later bed time, “Dad, you have to set limits. If you don’t, I’ll get out of control.” Each of us set limits, which differ from person to person. Sharing each other’s perspectives is a benefit to all.
I’m looking forward to following your tweets!
Kia ora (Hi) Ellen, wow that is a very “zen” way to express your thoughts about follow or not too!
I’m going to replay lawrence berezin a little and say I too, click on everyone who follows me and look for similarities and if I perceive it to be a match through my filters then I follow as well.
I was doing this simply because for me I don’t want a zillion people following me If I’m not able to “help” them if they @SpidaHunter me. Now, I don’t have even a 100 followers yet so this may change if I had your number that’s for sure.
I too do “twit-meditation” of observation, and until now I feel you are right, it does impact me at some level of enjoyment/gratefulness. So thankyou so much for pointing that out.
Since I’ve taken the time to post on your blog I will defiantly follow you back
Thanks,
Ditto many of Lawrence’s comments! Your article is a beautiful read on the topic!
No doubt, my first priority after reading this is to utilize my tweetdeck more efficiently. I’m ready to work on it! Thanks for the inspiration!
Up to now, I’ve been skimming through all tweets (although if they’re dropped from Tweetdeck before I can get to them I don’t search elsewhere). And I love it! – insightful motivational helpful fun.
But, like Lawrence, I look through a follower’s twitterfeed+. If I don’t find a connection of some kind (or I see excessive negativity or someone who only wants to sell, not engage), I don’t follow them. My time is too precious and it feels false to me if it were simply to mean hiding them in a tweetdeck group that I would never make the time to refer to.
Again, beautiful article. Thanks!
Good post! I often follow those who follow me, I don´t draw a line that easily.I could follow only those who are in my niche but I think it is all about sharing information and not marketing on Twitter.I recently discovered a blog that gave me load of good Twitter Tips, twitip.com
I go backwards and forwards on this. I use Twitter more for fun and as a social interaction. If I get clients from it, great that’s a bonus. If I don’t, then no worries at least I’ve had some fun.
I follow anybody that talks to me and regularly drop people that never respond or talk to me. I also drop people that just post links, I can find stuff if I want to. Although I do see the value in that for some people, just not for me.
I do get frustrated with people like Tim Ferriss who insist on saying “this is how you should use Twitter” Well no it isn’t Tim. That’s maybe how some should, but I’m having a blast and that’s good enough for me. I certainly don’t feel any pressure to conform to your model even if others do. People can drop me (and do) if they get sick of my juvenile humor!
I also rarely follow people that link to a squeeze page or sales page, but that’s another matter altogether because I’m deeply suspicious of what will happen to Twitter if it gets taken over by marketers as seems to be the trend.
Did I just rant?
Hi Ellen
I found your website by sheer synchronicty and had no idea how I got there. But since I had arrived, I knew there was a purpose and downloaded “Zen and the art of building your list”. Thank you for this wonderful gift. It has some very good tips and information I needed and is so clearly presented that I enjoyed reading it. But I have to share with you that I still don’t know what this syncronicity was for. Normally I would jump at an opportunity to create a Joint Venture deal but I don’t think the work you do will resonate with my audience. Also, I’m increasingly experiencing “goal frustration” with Collaborative processes because in Lesotho, where I work, we are so far behind when it comes to internet connectivity and applications. The people who come on my workshops and sign up for coaching and mentoring programmes with me still read hardcover books and don’t have computers at home to access the kind of material my JV partners offer. And all of my material is still in MS Office format and I haven’t even been able to find someone to convert it to pdf files. So for the first time today as I thought I was about to seize yet another opportunity to build an alliance, something stopped me and told me that I’m sort of on the right path but that my purpose is really very different to those of marketers, business people, coaches and trainers. However, I do need Masters in my social network and so I have started just telling all potential Jv partners: I’ll become an affilaite and do whatever I can to market your products and services on the ground here but you have to be wiling to come here in person. Virtual Business Models are still a very distant destination for us. There may or may not be advanatges for you in visiting Lesotho and South Africa. I don’t know how this will resonate with you so please visit my blog when you have a chance and let me know what you think: http://thekingdomfootsteps.blogspot.com
Thank you for the free report: Zen and the art of building your list. I found it by pure synchronicity. I still have no idea why I was led to it but it has some very useful and insightful tips. I enjoyed reading it because of the clarity and simplicity of your style. I am not involved in internet marketing and because I work in lesotho, it is very difficult to market potential JV partners’ products and services. I would like to attract potential Jv partners to this part of the world in person as Virtual Business Models are unheard of here. I don’t know whether this is something that would resonate with you or not so please visit my blog when you have a chance and let me know what you think.