Twitter - the follow back theory

I, for one, am a supporter of following people back on Twitter. I tell people all of the time that "unless you are famous like Shaq or Britney Spears, you will probably want to follow back and reciprocate with your followers unless they are ridiculous porn or spam." When you follow back, you may have an idea of where you want this relationship to go... or maybe you do not... but there is that percentage of possibility!

If you do not consistently check your followers and follow the applicable (meaning people in your community, niche, or anyone that is a potential) back, you are limiting your networking capability. Of course you have people that ask "how can I keep up with everything that goes across my home feed?" The answer is that once you are following 300, 500, 1000 people or more; you do not monitor your home page. You evolve to your mentions (@replies) and the niche that you and/or your business is focusing on. You can also follow by Twitter lists where you can group a bunch of people and watch them a little closer, interact, etc. For example: I set my clients up on Hootsuite where they can monitor what is going out of their account, when they are being mentioned, their direct messages, and also streams of tweets about their local community and their business niche. This allows them to be on top of their game when it comes to getting in on the tweet action.

It is funny sometimes when I hear of people complaining about followers following them, and then they complain when they get unfollowed too... and it many times because they did not complete the relationship connection by following back. Maybe they think they are better than the folks following them? Maybe they think that their product or voice is superior? Some people just don't know? It doesn't matter. The same result is still there.

Oh, you may also be hindering other people and businesses from growing their account by not following them back. A person can only follow so many on Twitter (around 2000) before you are subject to the 10% rule where you can only follow 10% more people than you have following you.

Part of your weekly Twitter maintenance is checking the people and businesses that are following you and follow them back to make the bond. It take two!

Escaping Spam and or Porn on Twitter

Note: Keep in mind that spam and or porn may be desired by some users. I am in no way condoning it, but in all business sense, the supply would not be there without the demand. If people were not clicking on these links, it would be a dead end for them and unprofitable to continue.

Let me say that totally escaping spam, porn, and solicitations will probably never happen. Of course I know people who make it their mission to find, block, remove, and expose such, but this is a obsession with little fruit. Yes, you may have finally had them flagged, but you have lost hours of time you could have spent promoting your visions and building your business. I have clients that will not consistently tweet, but they will hunt spammers down and call me at midnight to say they found some porn account within the thousands of people they follow on Twitter. I simply say "delete it". One account is deleted and another appears. We will never completely be rid of it, so kinda learn to deal with this situation.

At anytime, a Twitter account that seems perfectly normal could change what it is promoting, change their heading name, and even change the url. You WILL still be following them and may not know for a long time. For some people this is a disaster, while it is amusing to others. If you follow all back, what are you supposed to do? Spend 10 minutes researching each new follower, checking every link and tweet to make sure they are not promoting porn or ridiculous spam? I don't think so.

One of the things businesses understand is that every account has a person or people behind it, and they are a potential client or connection at least. Are you telling me that if a "Spammer" or "XXX Star" came into your business and wanted to make a purchase or pay for a service of yours, you would deny it? If "Sexy Sara" or "Millionaire in 30 Days" (both examples) wanted to buy 1000 stocks in your company or purchase a vehicle from your dealership, they would be blocked? I don't think so either. I would not do a social media package for a porn company, but I am simply saying to be honest and real about business. Yes, people are involved in things that you and I do not agree with, and would never participate in; but it is not our mission to terminate them.

Why does it mean if you follow spam and or porn on Twitter?
Unless you are packed out with them primarily, it does not mean anything. Many people are not headhunting and simply "follow back" as a courtesy. If I notice that someone is following a porn site publicly, I automatically assume it is a mistake and move on. Sometimes you may notice some undesired tweets or something else that alerts you on your home page. Delete them if so. Also, Twitter regularly blocks and closes accounts so their time is limited if they spam too much or have inappropriate content.

What does it mean if spam and or porn is following you?
Nothing. You cannot stop anyone from initially following you. If you go through your list of followers and scan their photo and the last tweet listed; sometimes you will snag a few. Some look at the photos, and if they seem too provocative or their name seems innappropriate, you assume it is porn spam. In this instance, now Twitter users need to beware of the photo they put up (does it seem too sexy, lol), does my last name (example: Ho) stop people from connecting with me, or do I have an "X" in my title that will make people jump to conclusions? Of course you can click on each individual profile and check it in detail, but time again is the factor.

I know some who follow all back - whoever they are, some who only follow back after they check the people out, and others who just follow back the few that they want to follow. Unless you are a celebrity (worldwide or in your own world), following back is sort of the "rule" if you are establishing a mass network of sorts. Did you hear me? If you are looking for an audience / network of any significant numbers, you need to start following and following back. If Twitter is just quick simple connecting with your Fave 5 and a small clique, then of course... do not reach out and follow back. If you or I come across something in our faces that we do not want, we keep it simple and just delete and or block it. No big deal!

People have different views, but I dare not judge someone because a spam or porn account is following them, or that I see that they are following the same, whether on purpose or by mistake. I connect, look for good things and people to network with, learn a lot, and acquire inspiration. I look at what that individual is twittering and tweeting about, their website link, and make my decision to pay attention or not. Easy... For me.

Whatever decision you make as far as following, following back & Twitter hunting; I hope you have fun, build connections, and grow your business and life in this Twittering Tweeting universe. Please contribute positively to the Twitter World. Thank you!