Getting Started On Twitter

If you’re not familiar with Twitter, watch this explanatory video, and then learn how it applies to your blog in two great posts called “9 Benefits of Twitter for Bloggers” and “A Quick Introduction to Twitter for Bloggers“.

Don't be the Cowboy
Creative Commons License photo credit: 顔なし

Since my last post about how I add followers on Twitter, I’ve received some questions about the metrics I use to choose who to follow back (or not). Then I posted a tweet that generated a much bigger response than I expected:

Can’t believe how many “Internet Marketing experts” follow me who obviously have no concept of Twitter etiquette. Not so impressive.

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How I Follow People on Twitter

If you’re not familiar with Twitter, watch this explanatory video, and then learn how it applies to your blog in two great posts called “9 Benefits of Twitter for Bloggers” and “A Quick Introduction to Twitter for Bloggers.

My social Network on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and MyblogLog
Creative Commons License photo credit: luc legay

Having been on Twitter for a while, I find that a dozen or so new people follow me every day. To be honest, I’m not sure why they follow me (I’m only moderately interesting and tend to talk about work too much), but still, they do, so I’ve had to decide what to do about it.

When people follow me, I like to take a moment and view their profile, and decide if I’d like to follow them as well. I have a pretty open attitude towards following people; if they’re interesting, I’ll follow. I use tweetdeck to organize people of particular interest into groups so I don’t get overwhelmed with general chatter, and then rely on serendipity for the rest.
The time management pit of managing Twitter followers
The haphazard nature of new followers makes it easy to waste a lot of time. If I checked out a profile every time I got a new follow notice, I’d never get anything else done—because if I’m being haphazard about it, I don’t just look at the profile… I also click links, follow @replies, and generally wander (delightfully but aimlessly).

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