Hello..is anyone out there in La-La-Land? Of course there is but is anyone reading anything others post on Twitter or Facebook?
You have seen the recent studies showing that a very small percentage of people are actually engaged on Twitter and even less are reading the stuff that is being posted. So the questions I , and several hundred behind me, have is..why post anything on Twitter? Better yet..if you are out to build a community of people to associate with socially and professionally, why are you on Twitter at all?
I asked myself this question recently after posting several test posts on Twitter to see if I could get any response from the people who Follow me. Of course I did not get any response. This brought to me to take a look in detail at who is Following me. What I found was rather shocking since so many of the experts in the social media arena feel having a large number of Followers is a good platform for marketing. I now dispute that and here is why.
I recently hit 2000 Followers which kinda excited me since I don’t just let anyone Follow me. However, over the past few months I have been less strenuous in the review of my Followers leading me to take time to review my list of Followers to see who they were and if I should Follow them.
What I found was over 800 of the things following me had not posted anything in the last six months with a large number of them have not posted anything since 2008. 500 of the 800 I deleted due to the person no longer being on Twitter but their account was. This left me with 1513 Followers who are active. Out of this 885 are the infamous Links Only people who are out for what they can get for themselves and do not respond to anyone. This left me with 628 of the 2013 Followers I had four days ago who possibly would see my posts on Twitter. Indications are that number is actually far, far less..could be less than 100. Yes, the question is then..Why Bother?
Does anyone have an answer to this that would persuade me to stay on Twitter for any reason? I am listening.
I find I regularly make useful connections via Twitter, however just about all of the connections I make on Twitter that are useful/viable I’ll normally take to email or or phone for anything beyond the initial introductory chat. That said I’ll certainly stay on Twitter as I do definitely meet people there. I never spent a huge amount of time there and the 15 minutes or so a day I do spend has proven to be worthwhile. I don’t particularly care who follows me however I do wish it was easier to eliminate en masse anyone I follow who hasn’t used the service in over a month… I don’t think there’s an efficient way to do that is there?
Patricia,
Yes, that is one of the downsides of getting so many Followers who abandon their accounts. It took me a few days to go through my lot to delete them. I think if you were to review your followers you will find what I found..a very small audience. I feel strongly the fall off of the volumes of people who were interactive with others on Twitter just a few months is ago is directly related to the failed economy. People just do not have the time to be on Twitter anymore unless it drives business to them. At least that is what the several dozen inactive Tweeters I have now contacted in my study have told me.
Scot — First of all, let me say: Wow! What a great site you have. I’m envious.
I try not to pay attention to the numbers on my followers list on Twitter, for the very reasons you cite. I stay on Twitter because, like Patricia, I’ve made some great connections and the active users in my following/follower circle are all quality people. — Oh, by the way, I am one of the people who does read articles and blogs off Twitter links and I’ve found fascinating stuff, very useful or informative. I try to pass that on. — Like Patricia, I take certain communication over to email or phone. I’ve met a few people in person. I consider Twitter part of writing for me — another form of communication. I like the humor and creativity I find on Twitter. I find that because I use Twitter actively, I’m more aware of what people across the US and Europe are thinking, or even news that broke on Twitter before going to other media. Twitter has troughs and peaks, I’ve found. There are days when I wonder why I’m on it, there are days when I miss some of my “regulars” and wonder what they’re doing (in golf, it’s about the season — I can tell when certain ones are out on the course), there are days when I have lots of response and engagement.
But have I grown financially better off from using it? Ehhhh… nothing that would ring big bells. It’s just become part of most of my days (I usually take off weekends.) Does it add to my enjoyment of my work life. Absolutely.
Marci- Thanks and yes, I too have made a number of connections on Twitter..this conversation with you would not be taking place without us meeting on Twitter. However, the issue at hand is that out of the 2000 followers I collected I could barely fill a booth a Denny’s with the number of people who actually support each other socially as well as professionally. Everyone else is only out for themselves or really do not know how they are impacting Twitter since they broadcast nonsense from outside the community. At heart of the matter is the many many people selling Twitter as the place to market a business when it fact a business would get more productive viewers with a sign posted on Hwy 66 right outside of Tulsa, OK. Socially, I have gotten in one month more response from this blog than I have from post I made on twitter in 6 months. I think I will just hang out on the tee box and see who I meet there. Ya want to join me?