Why do you follow someone on Twitter?

by Dmitry

Posted: 15 years ago 31 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

The the ones I can think of are you either:

find someone's information useful
you're curious about their lives
you want to stay on top of things in your industry
or you just plain simple do it to get people to follow you back

...more reasons suggested by folks in this thread:

out of courtesy to someone who has followed you first
to expand your social network and get to know more people
to keep in touch with people you already know
you simply enjoy someone's tweets
because it's a quick and convenient way to read what's interesting to you
to reach more potential customers
to meet new people
to get traffic

Care to share any more reasons?

#follow #twitter

Liam Hamer 15 years ago

All of the above. I like to have a good mix of regular people and IM people too
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[887077].message }}
Liam Hamer 15 years ago

Originally Posted by younghamir

yeah. all of the above plus one more thing, some are the ones whom follow me first, just following back.:-)

Yeah, that too. Unless they are the 'Britney bot' or anything else of that nature, I follow back new followers out of courtesy
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[887088].message }}
Andyhenry 15 years ago

One of the reasons I follow people is because it connects you to all the people they interact with and you find lots of other really interesting people which you may not have otherwise.
- Thanks
- 1 reply
Signature

nothing to see here.
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[887105].message }}
- Kevin Riley 15 years ago
  
  I follow people who I know online, many from here. I also follow people who make interesting posts, like Stephen Fry. For me, Twitter is a quick moment of reading (140 characters fits my short attention span) and a quick interaction with others.
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  Kevin Riley, long-time Warrior living in Osaka, Japan
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[887159].message }}
Dmitry 15 years ago

Didn't think of these guys although they are petty obvious in the first place - will add them to the list.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[887436].message }}
ken_p 15 years ago

all of the above, and generally to expand my network.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[887475].message }}
CDarklock 15 years ago

I follow people either to get them to follow me, or to follow them back.

I'm pretty ruthless about unfollowing. I check my feed frequently, and I have three simple rules about when to unfollow people:

1. If they don't seem to send any human-originated updates at all.
2. If they send five or more tweets at the same time.
3. If they send more URLs than just plain updates.

Needless to say, I also have a very firm policy against doing any of the above.
- Thanks
Signature

"The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[887487].message }}
TeddyP 15 years ago

All of the above - plus when using something like tweetdeck I have some searches set up and if someone is regularily posting one of my search terms I will follow them.
- Thanks
Signature
Success | The Man The Myth The Legend
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[887498].message }}
warpri 15 years ago

I followed people on twitter for getting traffic into my sites. But Twitter didn't work for me. So, Now I'm following people on twitter as a hobby.
- Thanks
- 1 reply
Signature
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[888007].message }}
- Dmitry 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by warpri
  
  I followed people on twitter for getting traffic into my sites. But Twitter didn't work for me. So, Now I'm following people on twitter as a hobby.
  
  Interesting hobby
  
  Thanks
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[888024].message }}
Lisa Gergets 15 years ago

Because behind every Twitterer, there's a potential customer and possible friend!
- Thanks
Signature
Sign up to be notified when Success on Demand goes live, and receive a FREE mindmap that you can follow to create and launch your OWN IM PRODUCTS!
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[888043].message }}

Devon Brown

15 years ago

I follow everyone that follows me, but to make it into my special friend groups column (I use Tweetdeck) it's either people I know or people who tweet great links and content. If I have some downtime, or while I'm eating lunch then I go into the every tweets column and flip through it to see if anything is interesting.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Click Here To Make $2.63 - $5.93 Per Click As A JV/Affiliate!!
Follow Me On Twitter, Facebook [/B],Visit My Blog

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[888128].message }}

Liam Hamer

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Renegade Success

I use Tweetdeck too - how do you organise people into columns? That's a fantastic feature and would make my Twittering much more enjoyable

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[888295].message }}

ezimedia 15 years ago

Originally Posted by Crubalo

I use Tweetdeck too - how do you organise people into columns? That's a fantastic feature and would make my Twittering much more enjoyable

Good quest... I would also like to know how to do that in tweet deck..

But I follow people so they follow me back... and I only really follow people that fit my topic..

Thx
Tom
- Thanks
- 2 replies
Signature
Follow Me On Twitter
Best Free Seo Tools - Join Now Free
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[891691].message }}
- ebizman87 15 years ago
  
  There's a Customer Born Every Tweet Post: Social Networking Secrets to Business Success
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  Is this for real?
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[892041].message }}
- Liam Hamer 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by ezimedia
  
  Good quest... I would also like to know how to do that in tweet deck..
  
  I figured out how to do it - you click on 'group' at the top, give it a name and then it'll bring up a list of all your followers. You just click a little box next to the ones you want to add to the group. You can then move your group column to wherever you like on your screen, I put mine to the far left
  
  Edit: You can also click on the person you want to add to the group(s) and click 'add to group'. I went with this approach because the amount of people I'm following made going through the list very slow, it slowed down Tweetdeck.
  
  Thanks
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[892719].message }}

cganz 15 years ago

I use Twitter to find a targeted audience for both my own personal interests as well as for business networking and marketing. There are several tools, i.e. Twellow, that you can use to follow people with specific interests and then hopefully they will follow you back setting up relationships that can lead to friendships or possibly new business.
- Thanks
Signature
Cary Ganz
Creator of The Newbie Phenomenon
http://www.newbierewards.com
The One Place to Find All of the Tools, Tricks, Software, eBooks and Web Services You Need To Start Your New Online Business!
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[888179].message }}
Dmitry 15 years ago

OK - added these as well although they're similar with the previous ones, but still let's have them specific.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[888273].message }}
rapidscc 15 years ago

Dmitry,

I'm sorry but I want to be honest here...

I follow people because I know that about 50% of them would follow me back. In some cases it's lower, in some it's about 75%.

I don't even know a lot of the people I follow. The intention I have in following them is just to have venue or channel for my marketing efforts.

This is my honest intention in following people. But I also do get a lot of benefits by following.

I'm able to read inspirational quotes from people. Most of the time it boost my morale.
I learn about new products and technologies by reading tweets.
I learn about techniques and business models to follow.
I get freebies (ebooks and promotional items)
I learn about what's going on around the world.

I even enjoyed a tweet from an astronaut explaining why they haven't landed yet..This is the coolest ever!

There's so much value I get by following people..But my real intention in following them is to get them to follow me back and to be able to open a sales channel.

I'm so sorry this isn't a clean answer but It's an honest one..

oMar
- Thanks
- 1 reply
Signature
Medical Billing and Coding
Petition Against RA 10175
http://www.change.org/petitions/junk...prevention-law
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[892104].message }}
- scorpio7 15 years ago
  
  I see all the news about the power of Twitter. IMO it's a waste of time. I'm not putting it down but I accumulated thousands of followers and it darned on me that it's a waste of my precious time. Like mass followed spam. So, again, this is my opinion. Honestly, I don't give a dang about what ppl are up to, who cares.
  
  Thanks
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[892118].message }}
Steven Carl Kelly 15 years ago

To offer a differing viewpoint, I don't follow anyone at all on Twitter.
- Thanks
- 1 reply
Signature

Read this SURPRISING REPORT Before You Buy ANY WSO! Click Here
FREE REPORT: Split Test Your Landing Pages the Easy Way
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[892764].message }}
- Steven Carl Kelly 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly
  
  To offer a differing viewpoint, I don't follow anyone at all on Twitter.
  
  I thought I'd pop back in to this thread and say: I'm now on Twitter and I'm now following folks on Twitter, including some Warriors.
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  Read this SURPRISING REPORT Before You Buy ANY WSO! Click Here
  FREE REPORT: Split Test Your Landing Pages the Easy Way
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[942109].message }}
InternetM39482 15 years ago

I follow people whom -

... I know.
... find interesting.
... related to my business.

No particular order. Lately, I've ignored Twitter but I might get back on board there soon.
- Thanks
- 1 reply
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[892774].message }}
- imnewtomarketing 15 years ago
  
  TO use as a lead system to find new potential buyers of my products and services
  
  Thanks
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[892884].message }}
backdoor23 15 years ago

I only follow when 1. I know them and they are a friend 2. They are sharing info that can help me in my daily life 3. They are very entertaining
- Thanks
- 1 reply
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[894598].message }}
- Marty S 15 years ago
  
  I don't really follow too many people. I only joined twitter so other poker players who were in my lists, forums etc could see what tournaments I was playing at the moment. So I have more followers (including some high profile poker players like Chris Moneymaker) than the amount that I follow.
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  How to make offline videos for clients
  How to add a custom thumbnail image to your Youtube video
  How to CUT THE FAT in your YOUTUBE videos
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[894614].message }}
Alessandro Zamboni 15 years ago

I like to follow as many people I can.
But I keep them only id they follow me back, otherwise I kick them out.

The first reason for using Twitter is for Marketing.

Thanks and Goodbye
- Thanks
Signature

Get Different Streams Of Income
Visit my Blog - Visit my Review Blog
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[894625].message }}
Andy1750 15 years ago

Always to learn from them. Never for the hope that they will follow me back.

Andy
- Thanks
Signature

Not trying to sell you anything :-)
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[942127].message }}
frankr Banned 15 years ago

[DELETED]

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[942128].message }}
- JohnB23 15 years ago
  
  To offer a different viewpoint, I think it can be a gigantic waste of time. It goes against this concept of "highest and best use" touted by different authors and gurus.
  
  -What's the highest and best use of your time and opportunity in building your business? How does Twitter fit into that?
  
  Also, what are the 3 highest (or 5 highest) functions that your business is paying you to do?
  
  A lot of authors cover these kinds of points.
  
  Thanks
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[942145].message }}
dsmpublishing 15 years ago

I follow people on twitter because they are interesting and because they have followed me - but i dont follow everyone back that has followed me as otherwise i would have an account that was full of spammers and porn stars and that doesnt look good for business. I also dont follow those that have a red cross instead of a pic as it shows that they dont go to much effort or banner ads as i feel its advertising a step too far.

sam
X
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[943477].message }}
txr7 15 years ago

I haven't followed anyone yet because I honestly haven't cared to do so yet. What surprised me is that when I started twittering, people started following me even though I have not started twittering.
I am noticing that most of those following me have no followers. Making me wonder their value.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[943537].message }}

Why do you follow someone on Twitter?

Trending Topics

Infographic: How B2B marketers on LinkedIn can maximise their efforts for better audience reach

Any thoughts on golf's latest phenom...Scottie Scheffler??

What's the Best IM-Related Skill to Learn Today That Can Help in the Future?

Some interesting stats about brand comms

best high quality crypto traffic.