Twitter can be overwhelming and intimidating! I do believe that everyone wants to tweet but it is the “big and scary” social network site. Twitter does not have to be if you take things slow, steady, and strategic when getting started.
The first thing you should know before continuing is DO NOT; I repeat, DO NOT follow everyone who follows you. You will receive follows from:
- Spammers who you clearly don’t want to follow back.
- Automated follows from people who follow you because you followed someone that triggered an alert somewhere.
- Weirdies and creepers.
- Finally, the legit ones that you will want to follow back!
This leads into the topic of today’s post – to follow or not to follow.
Here are some quick tips that allow you to make a decision as to whether they are follow-worthy. Your stream is sacred! Don’t flood it with just anyone! You will get the most out of this experience if you only follow those who you are really interested in.
Do they have a profile image?
I am not going to follow someone who is missing a profile image. I will not even engage if they are faceless! Since social networking is about engaging with people, it is hard for me to want to engage with a faceless person. Do you think they are taking social networking serious if they don’t upload an image before trying to build a following?
What is their profile name?
Does their profile name contain their name or brand’s name or something cheesy like make_cash_today? Yes, you will be surprised by some of the names that will come through. I will only engage with those who are going to bring value to me. Even though their name says “make_cash_today”, you probably won’t! ?
What does their bio say?
A Twitter bio can tell you a lot about that person or brand. Take a few seconds and read over it. What type of vibe do you receive when you read it? If you get an icky feeling, don’t follow them back! It really is that simple. This is also important to remember when setting up your bio! This is a first impression for your future followers.
What and when was their most recent tweets?
If you are still questioning whether you should follow someone, take a look at their most recent tweets. Are they recent? This tells you if they are active on Twitter or not. What do their recent tweets contain? This will help you decide if they are someone to follow or not.
If the person/brand has made it through this cut and you are still unsure of whether to follow or not, I say don’t. Clearly they are not interesting enough or you would have clicked follow by now. But there is one more thing to consider when making the decision.
What do their numbers tell you?
Look at their Following : Follower ratio. Having a balanced number of following : followers can tell you that they are safely interacting and engaging on Twitter. Celebrities and brands are usually the only exceptions to this rule because they are likely to have a high amount of followers with a low number of following back.
Take things slow when getting started. Create your profile first, customize your background and bio, and then start to grow your list. Twitter is not a popularity contest. Be strategic from the start so it is not so overwhelming.
Please feel free to share your Twitter name below!
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Thanks for your post! I am following you back now! 🙂
I’m another Emily! I just followed you, Emily. I am @EmilyKVA on Twitter and these tips are easy to follow for Twitter newbies.
Loyal follower, Alicia. Thanks for the valuable tips.
@FriesenVA
Thank YOU for reading xoxo!
Emily great information. After using social media for awhile you forget that others are new to it. I just wrote a blog post on vetting connections on LinkedIn and one of main points was to not follow everyone. Had to chuckle when I saw your post :-). @OlindaServices
Alicia great information. After using social media for awhile you forget that others are new to it. I just wrote a blog post on vetting connections on LinkedIn and one of main points was to not follow everyone. Had to chuckle when I saw your post :-). @OlindaServices
Awesome! Great minds think alike! 🙂 Thanks for reading! xo, a
Great tips and advice! Weirdies and creepers is right! These are so valuable to anyone using Twitter. I never follow anyone without a picture either. Thanks Alicia, great article!
Thanks Paula! They really can be valid for all social networks too! Facebook has its share of weirdies!! 😉 xo
Agree on EVERYTHING except the profile pic. It is moot whether someone has chosen to post a pic. For me, as for many others, privacy is a higher priority. The object of Twitter is to dispense news “quickly” AND to relate and communicate with like-minded people around the world. Yes, it can be abused by spammers, but that’s what the “block” feature is for. POOF! They’re gone!
Hello Ladies, I just followed everyone who commented. @Alicia, you get me hooked up on your blog every single week 🙂
Hi Alicia,
Great tip, I made the mistake of setting up an auto follow – which I thought would save me time in my early days with Twitter, it was a big mistake, and I ended up automatically following people who I wouldn’t dream of following! I then had to spend all the time I had saved, removing all the people I didn’t want!
I am actually doing an article on that one too!! 🙂 I made the same mistake in my early days too!! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and reading! Xoxo, a