Finding People To Follow On Twitter
Rather than dive right into the process of posting to Twitter, I’ve decided that it’s much more important that we learn how to listen. As school officials or business owners, I know it’s easy to get in the habit of always being the person at the top, giving commands, ordering people about, and processing information down the chain of command.
But social media is a different animal and the idea that content should flow from the top to the bottom is not how ideas are exchanged in the digital world. That’s why this week’s Twitter module is all about listening and learning from current Twitter users.
In the video below I walk you though the process of following your first few Twitter users.
Download .mov Video – Download .mp3 Audio
You can 1) find new people to follow by manually typing in the usernames of people you know who are currently using Twitter; 2) use the “Find People” link at the top of your Twitter profile to search the ever-expanding list of recommended Twitter users; or 3) you can use Twitter Search to find people in your local community who are talking about your business, school, community events, education or other topics that may be relevant to you and your organization.
In my opinion, the best way to find people to follow is 1) by recommendations from others Twitter users or 2) by using Twitter Search to find people discussing subjects that are relevant to your school/business and your community.
This week, I recommend you find between 12 and 24 people to follow with your new Twitter account. Of these 12-24 people try and find at least 2 Twitter users that fit into each of the categories below:
- Parents
- Teachers
- Students
- Community Members
- Other Schools/Businesses
- Customers
- Community Organizations/Businesses
As you select people to follow, keep in mind that anyone you choose to follow will show up on your Twitter profile as someone you are following. So while it may be fun to follow Ashton Kushner and see what he and Demi Moore are doing, they probably aren’t the best people to be following with your official Twitter account.
Instead, follow people in your community. Follow parents. Follow students. Follow people who have something to say about you, your business/school or your community. Follow people in the world of (ENTER YOUR FIELD HERE)!
And remember, if you choose to follow someone and then later decide that the messages they are sending out are no longer relevant to you, then you can unfollow them at any time. Just because you choose to follow someone does not mean that you can not unfollow them. In much the same way that your community has the choice of following or unfollowing you and your business/school, you have the choice of following or unfollowing as many people as you please.
This week, by following 12-24 people, you will quickly learn what Tweets stand out, which ones pass you by, which ones come across as annoying or pushy, which icons are most impressive, which Twitter backgrounds make the best impression, and a host of other important data that you can use as we move forward with the use of Twitter.
The main goal this week is to see what other Twitter users are doing with their accounts so that once we start pushing content out to your followers, we know that the information we are delivering is the type of information they will appreciate.
That said, the goal this week is to 1) find 12-24 people to follow and then to 2) see how these people/organizations are using their Twitter accounts to connect with the people who have chosen to follow them.
After you’ve found a few people to follow, check your Twitter account at least two times per day. When you log into your account, see what these people are saying. Are they spitting out useless junk? Are they linking to their website? Are they sharing YouTube videos? Are they interacting with other Twitter users? How exactly are they using their account and which Tweets stand out the most?
As you check your account each day, don’t worry about trying to read each and every Tweet that flows into your stream. It is not imperative that you read every Tweet. Just check in a couple times each day, take note of what people are saying, sharing and discussing, and then log out. As you follow more and more people, it will become even more difficult to follow every Tweet produced. Don’t worry about this. And realize that not everyone following you is going to read every single one of your tweets either. This is simply a part of using Twitter… and it’s simply a part of life! Some messages get through. Others do not.
We’ll learn more about how to get your messages read in a future module, but this week, your main goal is to listen AND learn!
Once you’ve followed some people, here are some ways to start listening and learning from these individuals:
- Take this week and just watch the stream go by. Notice people. Who catches your eye? Who and what do you seem to pay attention to?
- Watch how other Twitter users engage. If someone re-tweets a message from another use, it probably means they’re paying attention to that person and respect them enough to re-tweet their message.
- Check out chats and discussions about your school/industry and subjects you care about using Twitter Search
- Acknowledge people and have fun. If someone says they are grabbing coffee, ask for one too.
- If you do decide to interact this week, use open-ended questions. How, what, why?
- Don’t pre-judge. Follow someone for a while and see what you can learn from them. Then, after you’ve been receiving their messages for a while, you can decide whether they are someone you want to follow in the future.
- Don’t instantly “unfollow” people if they are not like you.
- It’s better to follow a lot of people and then slowly filter them out one by one.
- Notice when people are absent. Pay attention to who is being quiet and try and figure out why they aren’t saying anything. Have they simply forgotten about their Twitter account? Or do they simply have nothing important to say?
- Finally, if you’re brave enough, ask a question and wait to see if you get a response.
Click here to go to the next Twitter Module.
