Twitter: Why Do You Follow Strangers?

by Nick Brighton

Posted: 15 years ago 20 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hey all,

I've just joined Twitter (about bloody time!). I love it, the concept etc. I picked a few obvious folks to follow last night and this morning I've got a bunch of followers that I do not know.

My question is, whilst it's cool to have "followers", why would someone just follow you for the sake of it, particularly if they don't know you?

Doesn't it get hard to keep track? And what's the point?

I'm not bashing Twitter or anything, I love it already (and can see the potential from a social AND business standpoint)...but just find it weird right now, know what I mean?

#follow #strangers #twitter

JayXtreme 15 years ago

I sorta get what you mean..

But for me.. I love the ability to connect with people right across the world.... I drop in and out of Twitter throughout the day and find different tweeple to interact with at different times of the day... you soon start to gel with certain people....

Love it...

Peace

Jay
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- Steven Fullman 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by JayXtreme
  
  different tweeple...
  
  I prefer "twerps".
  
  Steve
  
  [ 1 ] Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  Not promoting right now
  
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Carl W Banned 15 years ago

[DELETED]

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- Jill Carpenter 15 years ago
  
  I did a blog post on this actually - basically you don't really know someone until you've followed them.
  
  You never know what someone might have to offer, and you never know who may be your next customer as well.
  
  If someone is annoying, you just unfollow them and you can block them as well.
  
  [ 1 ] Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  "May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"
  
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dsmpublishing 15 years ago

I like the idea of following a different selection of people but just tend to follow people that are related to what i do or my hobbies.

I too adore twitter and after 12 weeks im absolutely hooked by it, even though before i joined i didnt understand the big deal and the very first person that followed me was a stranger and i suppose i just liked the idea that someone had found ME.

Theres a good twitter free ebook in my sig if you want to know more about twitter!

oh and dont forget to follow me!!!
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Clyde Dennis 15 years ago

So they become less of a stranger.
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- Ram 15 years ago
  
  People use Twitter in different ways.
  
  Some connect and keep up with friends.
  
  For some, it's an ego thing - they want a big following so they follow big.
  
  For some, it's only about using it for marketing so they look at building a following like building a list. Some agree with this idea, some don't.
  
  Lots of different motives.
  
  Thanks
  
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Steven Fullman 15 years ago

Strangers are just friends you haven't made yet...

...Now pass me the sick bag

I do it just to read the funny little comments people make.

Steve

P.S. What's your nick, Nick?
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Not promoting right now
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Michelle Strait 15 years ago

I follow people who share my interests. Maybe we like the same tv shows, video games, music, etc... I also find out about a lot of cool resources and websites.
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MommyEnterprises 15 years ago

The strangers are probably hoping a follow back.
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Stefani
Mommy Enterprises
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Dave Alexander 15 years ago

TweetDeck: a simple and fast way to experience Twitter

Get it, Use it, love it
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- Peter Bestel 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Dave Alexander
  
  TweetDeck: a simple and fast way to experience Twitter
  
  Get it, Use it, love it
  
  This is a very important point and answers your question about how you keep track.
  
  If you follow people who follow you as a reciprocal gesture then it could get confusing. You'll probably have a smaller group of people that you want to keep an eye on but you're likely to miss their tweets.
  
  If you simply use the web browser there's no way of filtering out the folk you're following but aren't 'that' interested in. With Tweetdeck you can set up groups with a select few so it's easier to manage.
  
  The search facility, whilst a little flawed can be fantastically useful too.
  
  Peter
  
  Thanks
  
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Dave Everett 15 years ago

Most people will follow strangers because they know that the majority will follow them back. This then builds a type of list so that when they promote something it is seen by the maximum amount of people.

Sad, but true. Not at all in keeping with the spirit of the thing.
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- Lisa aka LJ 15 years ago
  
  I think it's a numbers thing. You want to get a large number of followers so that if you happen to post something that happens to be of interest to a total stranger (like you're looking for a JV partner, for example), then you make a valuable connection that you might not make if you just talk to people you actually know.
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  
  Lisa J. Lehr
  Just Right Copy
  www.justrightcopy.com
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Matt Guerrero

Banned 15 years ago

[DELETED]

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Nick Brighton

15 years ago

Originally Posted by avenuegirl

I did a blog post on this actually - basically you don't really know someone until you've followed them.

You never know what someone might have to offer, and you never know who may be your next customer as well.

If someone is annoying, you just unfollow them and you can block them as well.

Hey, you're following me I think. Hope you don't unfollow me and think I'm a twurp or a twit.

Originally Posted by JayXtreme

I sorta get what you mean..

But for me.. I love the ability to connect with people right across the world.... I drop in and out of Twitter throughout the day and find different tweeple to interact with at different times of the day... you soon start to gel with certain people....

Love it...

Peace

Jay

Follow me Jay, I'll follow you. I'm Nick_Brighton > you can get to know what I eat for breakfast and laugh at how late I get up each day

Originally Posted by Steven Fullman

Strangers are just friends you haven't made yet...

...Now pass me the sick bag

I do it just to read the funny little comments people make.

Steve

P.S. What's your nick, Nick?

Hey Steve, I'm Nick_Brighton I'll follow u too!

Originally Posted by dalepubs

Most people will follow strangers because they know that the majority will follow them back. This then builds a type of list so that when they promote something it is seen by the maximum amount of people.

Sad, but true. Not at all in keeping with the spirit of the thing.

This is kinda what I was thinking and worried about - Is Twitter going to end up like Myspace, where nobody is your friend, but everybody is selling or self promoting?

I think it has a different vibe and the control of it will mean that you can shut those people out anyway, so it's all good...as people have already pointed out!

Now, I'm off to Follow Jonathan Ross & and that Gervais fella. My two fave entertainers in the UK right now.

Thanks

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matthewd 15 years ago

I have had a chance to connect with a lot of new people over Twitter, so my vote goes for that reason.
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Chris Lockwood

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Nick Brighton

My question is, whilst it's cool to have "followers", why would someone just follow you for the sake of it, particularly if they don't know you?

Doesn't it get hard to keep track? And what's the point?

Do you read forum posts from people you don't know?

To me it seems like an odd question. But if you only want to follow people you personally know, go for it.

Thanks
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Nathan Hangen 15 years ago

The key to using Twitter is turning strangers into friends...sure it takes time and most of the relationships are just proxies, but some might turn into more.

I try to RT or @ a few new people every day to get to know them better.

And yes, Tweet Deck is awesome...I could spend a day teaching people how to turn it into a powerhouse I love it so much...maybe I should.
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- Justin Jordan 15 years ago
  
  Twitter is a pretty pain free way to meet new people. I have no problem following people I don't know, and vice versa. I am somewhat particular about who I follow - I always look at someone's tweets before I follow them back. If all it consists of is links to offers and promotions, I'm not interested.
  
  I'm not against somebody selling their wares on Twitter, no problem there, but there needs to be some substance there. And from a purely cynical marketing kind of view, those people who only use twitter as their own personal advertising service aren't going to read your stuff anyway.
  
  Following a huge bunch of people I follow isn't a problem for me - I like being able to get a random sampling of what a large group of people are talking about. Marketers should take note of this - it's a good way to get a feel for what net savvy people (you know, the people who will buy your stuff) are talking about at any given time. This is valuable intelligence.
  
  Thanks
  
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  John Hocking 15 years ago
  
  There are lots of people on Twitter that love to share links to great information. I have found tons of sites that I would never have even looked for in Google.
  
  My advice is choose a topic you like and want to talk about. Then go to Twitter Search and type it in.
  
  Look for people that are actively envolved in the topic and sharing good information and follow them. If you can start interacting with them, their followers and people that follow the topic will start to follow you as well.
  
  Building your followers around topics you are interested in will help keep them following and will draw you into the community of subject matter experts.
  
  Thanks
  
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Twitter: Why Do You Follow Strangers?

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