Hello. Welcome to my Twitter stream.
I assume you've decided to Follow me based on a recommendation or you saw some @ reply to me that captured your interest or you just thought I had the most wicked avatar ever or perhaps most importantly to me you thought my writing was enlightening, entertaining and compelling.
Will I automatically Follow you back?
While that is a common expectation and practice by some--I think I expected unconditional reciprocity early on in the game--it's impractical and frankly not how it works for me.
We're all channels now. I simply can't monitor thousands of people. The Twitter noise level is getting unbearable. You may not realize it now but carefully selecting your content via the people you Follow will become even more critical as the user base expands exponentially.
Reasons why I won't Follow you:
•If you are excessively chatty that is to say that you hold conversations publicly that really are more suited to a Direct Message.
•You post using 2 and 4 instead of to and for, u instead of you, ur instead of your and/or you use excessive capitalization as in HUGS, LOL and anything else that makes your posts look like it's a cellphone text message written by a 12 year old girl.
•You are an incessant reTweeter. You have nothing to say but love to re-post what others have created or found especially users like Mashable or Robert Scoble whose links don't need to be rebroadcast. Or worse you reTweet someone else's reTweet etc. RT @follower RT@user RT @Twitterer #fail
•I love Follow Friday and it's intention for endorsement to those we revere. If you post multiple names in a Tweet however ie. more than one then it's eye clutter. I won't click on anyone and ultimately it is of no value to me and your referral is lost.
•If you refer to it as a Follow. It's not a noun. It's a verb. And it reminds me of that despicable MySpace vernacular the 'add'. Knock it off.
•If you Follow me and then quickly unFollow me because I haven't done the same it tells me that you value your Follower numbers more than my content. And that is so distasteful to me. As if sales and marketing doesn't taint my life enough.
*You like to enter far away one in a million chance online cotnests that you to reTweet asking me to reTweet. Do you really want part of your online presence to resemble a GoogleAd?
*You like to enter far away one in a million chance online cotnests that you to reTweet asking me to reTweet. Do you really want part of your online presence to resemble a GoogleAd?
Reasons why I will Follow:
•You write well. Twitter is ultimately a medium of words. If you know how to put words together creatively then I'm good to go.
•You're funny and/or insightful. I am enlightened by what you say. Your particular point of view gets me to see the world in a new way.
•You're revealing. Although we're millions of people online we're still all alone. When you share something that temporarily relieves that sense of oneness with a confession or admission, no matter how small, I'm hooked.
*You know stuff I don't. So I should be following everyone then. But seriously, if you're an expert in something and write about that why wouldn't I want to learn?
•You Twittercast live events that you are at like movies, concerts, a date. I love that stuff.
•The content you share is something I wouldn't have seen on Mashable, Scoble or Guy Kawasaki. Show me something I've never seen. A photo, a video, a story.
•Take me somewhere I've never been or could never have access to wither in the real world or inside your soul.
•You post an average of 25 times a day or less. No one likes a blabbermouth(ignore the length of this post).
Remember it's not about the numbers. It's about the value you give and the value you get.
And as Robert Scoble so brilliantly stated, probably on Twitter, it's not about who Follows you, it's all about whom you Follow.
Gregg Scott
