June 20, 2009 at 10:28 pm
“Follower” counts on Twitter are highly overrated. There’s limited value in having tons of followers that you don’t know and don’t converse with. I consider myself blessed to have as many followers as I do (see right), but the truth is that I don’t know most of them, don’t speak with most of them … and, frankly, don’t have a clue why so many people follow me.
But numbers are numbers, and this post is all about numbers because, for now, I’m more popular on Twitter than a bunch of Seattle Seahawks! Like, for example, Walter Jones and Nate Burleson:
I have more followers than both of them combined! I’m also ahead of the two TJ’s — Houshmandzadeh and Duckett.
I’m even more popular than 1st-round draft pick Aaron Curry, whose Twitter account was listed in the latest ESPN The Magazine.
But my glory comes to an end there, sadly. For I am nowhere near as popular as Matt Hasselbeck.
Still, five out of six ain’t bad, right? (Not that I’m bragging or anything.) Let’s hope the Seahawks do better on the field than they’re doing on Twitter. Just sayin’….
April 30, 2009 at 11:22 am
I joined Twitter a year ago today. I knew Twitter could be a fun and effective way to keep in touch with my friends and peers, but I had no idea how important Twitter would become to me over the next 12 months.
Many people don’t “get” Twitter, or they get it but still think it’s a waste of time. And they might be right. Twitter is like anything else — TV, video games, the telephone, etc. — if you let it be a waste of time, that’s what it will be. Twitter will become exactly what you make it. If you want to make Twitter into something valuable, you can. I think that’s what I’ve done over the past year. Twitter makes my life easier and makes me more productive. It adds value to my work, my hobbies, my life. Here’s how:
Twitter as News Source
I have about 300 feeds setup in Google Reader, but I find more interesting news and blog content from Twitter than anywhere. News spreads faster on Twitter, and it often comes with personal recommendations from people I trust. So, when someone like Vince Blackham tweets about a social media interview with Chris Bennett (another friend), I know it’s worth clicking and reading.
Since I do a lot of work with small business owners, it makes sense for me to follow the WSJ Small Biz and Small Biz Trends tweets.
I can get general news from the New York Times, tech news from Wired, and social media news from Mashable.
I love sports, and can get updates via Twitter on the Mariners and Seahawks. I get all my national sports news by following ESPN.
Twitter as Career/Networking Tool
I attend a lot of marketing conferences all over the country, and I always meet new people at each one. They’re great for networking, but Twitter keeps those connections open and alive. So, for example, after I moderate a session in which Google’s Peter Linsley speaks, we can follow each other on Twitter and stay in touch occasionally that way. Jeremy Rivera and I met at SMX West in February and have kept in touch since then. Ditto me and Don Campbell. Twitter helps me stay in touch with people like Mack Collier, whom I first met at the SBMU conference in Houston last year, and Todd Malicoat, who’s played a huge role in helping my career along.
Twitter as Local/Networking Tool
Cari and I write four local blogs. Her real estate business is dependent on local networking and referrals, and I try to help out with that as much as possible. I wrote a post on my HyperlocalBlogger.com blog called How to Use Twitter to Find Local Blog Content. I use sites like Tweepz, ChirpCity, and Nearby Tweets to find other Tri-Citians who are using Twitter and I make connections with them.
I can follow the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce. I can follow Megan Neer, who works for the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau and who bought a couple of my photos for their 2008 Visitor’s Guide. I can keep in touch with Craig Sutton, who invited me to speak at the Learn About Web conference he organizes and schedules “Tweet-ups” here in the Tri-Cities.
Twitter as Marketing Tool
Twitter has turned into a great way to drive traffic to web sites I care about. I occasionally use my Matt McGee account to post links to articles I’ve written on Small Business Search Marketing, and I also use the atu2 Twitter account to post links to U2 articles on atu2.com. Over the past year, Twitter has become one of the Top 7 referral sources for each site.
Twitter as Email/Phone Replacement
We could pick up the phone or send an email, but it seems like me and Eric Lander talk a lot more over Twitter than anywhere else. David Comay is a U2 fan that I’ve known for at least 12 years, but we lost contact for a while … until we re-connected on Twitter. Now we chat just like in the old days, only we don’t use email. Ditto for Tassoula Kokkoris, who works with me on @U2. We trade a lot of U2-related emails, but we talk a lot over Twitter, too. Sometimes it’s just more convenient.
Twitter as Hobby/Interest Feeder
Speaking of U2, I can follow Neil McCormick, one of my favorite journalists who often writes about U2 and has been friends with the whole band since they were schoolmates together in the 1970s. Alan Cross is a Canadian radio host/journalist who writes about U2 pretty regularly (and plenty of other bands, too). A lot of U2 fans on Twitter will send in news tips or just want to chat via the atu2 account. And lots of other U2 web sites are on Twitter, like U2log and U2tour.
It’s no secret that I love Pixar. Thanks to Twitter, I get to follow Andrew Stanton, the genius who directed Wall-E and Finding Nemo. How cool is that? And I can get updates from UpcomingPixar, one of the excellent unofficial Pixar blogs.
Twitter as Personal Service Assistant
I love DirecTV, and it was because I follow DIRECTV on Twitter that I learned about their super-cool iPhone app that lets me check TV schedules and set our home DVR from anywhere.
In my dreams, I’ll be able to travel anywhere I want, anytime I want. Until then, I live vicariously through the Travelzoo Twitter account, which sends out alerts of the latest and greatest travel deals. Someday, there’ll be one I can use….
One More Thing…
For anyone reading this who’s not on Twitter, but is thinking about giving it a try, don’t try to use the Twitter web site for conversations. You need a Twitter program to make it easier. I use Tweetie on my Mac and iPhone. Tweetdeck and Twhirl are two others that are great both on PCs and Macs.
Conclusion
Twitter can be whatever you want it to be. It’s a matter of connecting with the right people and accounts and making sure you’re not wasting (too much) time. If all you do is post updates about what you had for lunch, and follow people who do the same, you probably won’t enjoy Twitter nearly as much as I do.
Thanks Twitter, and thanks to the people/accounts I follow, for a great, great year. I had no idea it would be this important to me when I joined.
February 5, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Go here and hit the blue PLAY button. Then sit back and watch. Pretty cool stuff…
January 6, 2009 at 10:36 am
For about the past two months, I tend to get 3-4 new followers a day on Twitter. It’s not something I particularly care about because, as Mack Collier has eloquently said, the size of your Twitter following doesn’t really matter. And I agree with that. Better to have a small group of passionate followers (i.e., friends) than a large group that doesn’t engage in the Twitter experience.
Well, in the past couple days, my Twitter following has jumped by like 50 people. Here’s a look at my IN box today:
I have no idea why this is happening. I was listed on this post about SEO gurus on Twitter (even though I’m hardly a “guru”), but can that explain the entire increase? I’m sure that’s some of it, but I also think it may be from people reading my articles on Search Engine Land and clicking through to learn more about me. (This article and this one have both been pretty popular.)
Whatever it is, it’s crazy. Would be cooler if some Tri-Cities residents were part of the mix, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
October 13, 2008 at 5:00 pm
First this…
Then this…
Then this…
I think that’s terrific. You don’t even have to follow @APNews. (But you should, because they post a lot of headlines and you stay smarter by knowing what’s going in the world.)
May 11, 2008 at 4:48 pm
How’s this for irony? I’ve been on Twitter for almost two weeks now, and Google … finally … recognizes that I am (was?) the LAST PERSON ON TWITTER:
Better late than never, I suppose, although it would be nice if I could find another 168 people to follow me … and quick! The first-person-to-500-followers contest is still going on, and I have about 75 more followers at the moment than Jeff Quipp.
What’s sad is that not even a mention on the LA Times’ Internet blog added any followers to my account! Crazy stuff.
So, the takeaway here is easy: if you’re not doing so already, please follow me on Twitter!
April 26, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Last week in Houston, when every speaker (except me and Stoney D.) at the Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference said the word “twitter” at least 25 times, I made a simple promise to everyone telling me to sign up: as soon as I rank #1 in Google for [last person on twitter], I’ll sign up.
Easy enough, right? Anyone that thinks I should sign up just needs to link to that older post with the exact anchor text as above, and in a matter of days, I should be number one.
I keep checking every day, but I’m not there yet. I keep bouncing between #3 and #4. Right now, I’m No. 4:
I’m quite content not having a Twitter account. I use FriendFeed and still get to see everything my contacts are sharing, so that’s cool. But really, if you’ve been bugging me to sign up, follow through and point a link with the correct anchor text to that old post that’s currently No. 4 for “last person on Twitter.” It’ll probably only take five links to push that post to the top….
April 3, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Since I’m still stuck in Web 1.5, I’ll have to use a blog post to answer this “tweet” from James Helms, whom I don’t think I’ve met. (Sorry if I did, Jim.)
Why I’m Not on Twitter
1.) Because, in the beginning, I was one of the millions who found the concept to be incredibly stupid. I’ve since come to recognize there might be some value there.
2.) Because my day job keeps me very busy, and I don’t have the time or inclination to have to worry about who’s-doing-what in the middle of the day.
3.) Because, yes, I am resistant to peer pressure, to the point of often disliking anything “the crowd” likes simply because the crowd likes it.
4.) Because Jeff Quipp isn’t on Twitter yet, either, and I’m trying to be the last person on Twitter.
(I’m also trying to rank #1 for [last person on Twitter], and as soon as I join, I can’t write about that, use that anchor text in my links, or anything.)
Any other questions? Better leave a comment, since I’m not on Twitter…..
March 28, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Alright, this is getting ridiculous. How on earth am I supposed to be the last person on Twitter when I’m now getting bombarded with e-mails from friends and contacts wanting me to join?
Stop it!!!!!!! You’re supposed to be my friends, so start acting like it, fer cryin’ out loud…..
March 4, 2008 at 12:48 am
I’m not positive, but I think now that Loren Baker and Kim Krause-Berg have signed up for Twitter, I’m the Last Internet Marketer/Social Media User not playing in that sandbox.
I feel like I should win some kind of prize. But I also feel like I should sign up. Hmmmm…choices.
