Curious whether you’re popular online? Want to increase your network?
Well, nowadays the ways to go are Twitter & Facebook, so your first step would be creating a account & profile on both.
(I’ve done this ages ago. My account on Facebook I created when a friend invited me. I do not recall who got me to create my account on Twitter though…).
Now we’re several years later, and currently I have… lemme check… 55 followers on Twitter, while I follow 79 people.
‘Hold on…’, you might say, ‘you are followed by less people than you follow yourself!’. That is 100% correct. Some of the people I follow will probably never, ever follow me, simply because they do not know me at all and can impossibly follow all the people who follow them.
Examples of these (in my case) would be The Dutch Royal House, Richard Dean Anderson, and John Cleese.
(It’s not the point of Twitter anyway. The idea is that you follow people who have (in your opinion) interesting things to say, not simply because they are your friends. That you do on Facebook.)
Twitter and Facebook are also a bit different in who and how you can add. On Twitter you can follow anyone you like, whereas on Facebook you don’t get ‘linked’ until both sides have agreed on it.
So what is a good indication of gaining popularity/momentum on Twitter? Well, in my opinion that would be when people start following you who are total strangers to you to whom you are a total stranger. And then preferably not ones like Darren Williger, who follows a staggering 198,000 people! (Granted, for some reason he does in turn get followed by even more people…)
The followed by/following ratio is crucial. Good ones would be Levar Burton or the White House, both of which have more than 1,500,000 followers while they only follow 100 – 200 other people.
(I doubt either of those will ever follow me though…) 😉
How am I doing in all this, you may ask? Well, you must have noticed the Facebook-box on the right of this article by now. It shows people who are on Facebook, and who either clicked on the like-button in the box, or who have indicated so on Facebook.
Until recently this box only contained some friends of mine, but a few days ago I began to notice some faces there of people who I do not know at all. A big step in the right direction, in my opinion!
A similar trend I noticed in my followers list on Twitter. There are now several people there who I do not know at all.
What more could I hope for? Well… How about a few celebs, liking this site and/or following me on Twitter…? 😎
[When I use the word like in connection with Facebook, it’s just the term they use]
Hmm, perhaps I should reconsider following you, Mr. Williger… 😎
Actually, I just did (the reconsidering), and am now your newest disciple! 😉
I agree with your multi-profile perspective, especially considering the impact on personal branding (not to mention the risk of identity impersonation) by not securing your identities on multiple platforms (LinkedIN included). I’m signed up on hundreds of social networks and have been for years, though obviously not active on all, by leveraging email notifications, etc. it allows me to maintain brand and reachability across multiple platforms (where people may be most comfortable) yet I engage most often on ones I prefer. Just like a phone or any communications tool, it’s how we maximize them.
The thing I most enjoy about Twitter is the opportunity to form new relationships. I’ve often said “facebook for old relationships and Twitter for new” – a bit of hyperbole of course, but in reality, although I enjoy seeing how 33 fraternity brothers are doing 20 years later – we don’t meet IRL – it’s almost like looking through a nostalgic interactive photo album through time – Twitter (again, this is for me and how I use these mediums) allows such a broad group of people across different life tapestries, backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and goals – through all of these we often connect and find out more about ourselves as we connect with others. I’m endlessly fascinated with how many people I’ve initially connected with over basic passions like food that grew into actual professional relationships too – it’s fun and a business forum too IMO … Google how to win friends and twinfluence tweeple for more on this if interested.
We all use networks differently, many people are LION’s (LinkedIN Over-Networkers) where I choose to keep that as people I’ve actually done business with – facebook mostly for people I’ve met face to face, and Twitter – it’s the best cocktail party in the world – total brain candy to experience so many awesomely different perspectives around the globe – in real time. It’s addictive, sometimes I enjoy just reading people’s tweets and learning; feeds knowledge and relationship appetites.
Definitely watch out for that Darren Williger – he seems crazy!