Who do you follow on Twitter?
After you sign up on Twitter and customize your profile, one of the next things that you need to do is to start following other people who are already on Twitter. Growing a meaningful network on Twitter will make a difference when it comes to making the most out of your Twitter account.
When it comes to following people on Twitter, there are two things that you need to consider:
1. Your purpose for using Twitter – How do you intend to use Twitter? Will it be primarily for personal and professional use? Is it to follow celebrities and connect with potential clients? Knowing your purpose for using Twitter will give you an idea on who you should follow and connect with on Twitter.
2. Your growth plan for your Twitter network – Do you plan to grow your Twitter network more organically or strategically? Or will it be a combination of both? Will you be auto following everyone who follows you, or will you only be following a select few? Do you hope to get just a dozen connections on Twitter? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? Knowing how you hope to grow your network on Twitter will give you an idea on how you should be looking at your Twitter following plan.
How to Start Following People on Twitter
- Begin by following some friends and contacts who are already on Twitter. Follow them and tell them that you just joined Twitter. You might even consider asking questions, checking out their list of people that they follow, or request recommendations or introductions.
- Do a Twitter search. If you don’t know people’s Twitter usernames, you can use the built-in Twitter search engine to to look for friends, family, celebrities, colleagues, and other contacts that you may wish to connect with. You might also consider using one of the bigger search engines like Bing or Google and type in names of you wish to connect with and add the word “Twitter”. For example: ‘Joe Blogs Twitter’. If that doesn’t work, you can also add location so that the search will be more focussed.
- Apart from individuals and organizations, you can also do a search of interesting hashtags and keywords to see who’s participating in those topics. If you like their contributions to the topic, you might consider responding to them or retweeting them. You can also follow them through this process.
- Consider following Twitter’s suggestions of people to follow. If you’re using Twitter on the web interface, you will find a list of recommended people to follow. Also, if you allow Twitter to send you emails, they also send regular recommendations. Check out the recommended profiles and see if they may be of interest to you.
- Try using a Twitter directory or tool like WeFollow. Using such tools can help you to look for Twitter users by keyword or location. Using such tools, however, tend to highlight just popular Twitter users (ie, politicians, celebrities, etc). That’s why finding non-celebrities might be a challenge. But, it might still be a good place to start.
- Consider looking at the websites or blogs of your favorite bloggers, brands, and personalities. If they’re on Twitter, they would usually have a link to their Twitter accounts.
Additional Tips on Following Twitter Accounts
- Try to connect with the people that you follow by saying hello and introducing yourself. This way, they know that you’re a real person. This practice is not always possible, but always helpful, especially if you wish to communicate with people on a deeper level.
- Avoid using auto follow tools. This is especially true for tools that are designed to make it difficult for you to connect. TrueTwit, for example, has become a contentious tool for many people who use Twitter. However, tools like TweetAdder that offer suggested people to follow on Twitter can help you to find connections you may never find easily. So, it’s worth exploring those useful apps.
- Share your Twitter URL in your other social networks. If you have a Facebook account, you might consider asking your contacts and friends who might be on Twitter. Tell them you just joined too and invite them to connect.
- Consider networking with purpose. Twitter is designed to connect with an audience that can go beyond our immediate circles. Following experts and celebrities are common on Twitter. They don’t need to follow us or to give us permission to see their updates, unless they have put their accounts in private mode. So, think about who you wish to connect with. Many use Twitter as a way to grow their personal and professional contacts.
For more tips on Twitter, do follow @VervelyCom!
