I’m sorry not to auto-follow back on Twitter. On Twitter goals.

Auto-Follow on Twitter

You probably noticed it: your Twitter follower counter goes nuts on a daily basis. It’s quite remarkable how this number fluctuates massively. I guess we should all be pretty glad that stock exchanges are more stable. But why is it then that this number is so damn fickle?

Twitter: getting followers

I know, you want followers. And that’s quite logic since it doesn’t make any sense to spread messages through-out the real-time web without any human being (nor animal I believe) ever noticing your efforts. I don’t want to provide tips or guidelines to get followers here. But I do want to break down at least one strategy.

Auto-follow people who follow you

I noticed some people just assume that you follow back when they follow you. I have some issues with this approach.
Yes, it’s friendly. Yes, it’s social. But does it add any value?

Alternatives to your Auto-Follow strategy

If you want to be followed I recommend deploying other strategies, like sharing and spreading compelling content. Use hashtags to broaden your range. Some people look for new Twitter accounts via keywords / hashtags. If you pop up there, you might get a chance of being noticed … and followed as a consequence.

Another approach could be to not just ask for “follow me back” but to surprise the account by mentioning him/her in a creative, funny or clever way. Tickle me through an @-mention and the odds of getting followed rise dramatically!

Why I don’t auto-follow back? My Twitter Goal

I look at Twitter as an infosphere that I put together myself. Twitter is as my home-cooked first-class private teacher in Business and Marketing. I put a lot of effort in finding the right people to educate me, to follow. What’s more, it took me about a year to create a satisfying infostream. Yes, Twitter is full of crap. Finding the right people isn’t easy.

Without being rude, just adding people as a friendly gesture because they follow me, would just break down all my previous efforts.

Am I just a bastard? Checking who follows you takes time

I might sound like a bastard to you now. You might think I don’t appreciate your following. But of course I do! And I don’t want to be a bastard. Sincerely, I’m not. I just have a Twitter goal.

From time to time, I go through my follower base and look for people to connect with. Speaks for itself that those people do make a chance to become an essential part of my “virtual MBA Professor”. However, this takes some time. So if you’re waiting for a follow-back, please note that this can take up to 2 or 3 months as from the day you connected with me.

Follow on Twitter

It’s completely legal to disagree on the above thoughts. But that’s just the way I use Twitter. If you want to label me as a selfish bastard for using Twitter in this manner, please do so. And if you want to hit the “unfollow button”, do as you please, that’s legal as well. What’s more, I once was the “King of follow and unfollowing”. After all, I had to cook that teacher I was envisioning.

So, that’s about it. Don’t hesitate to “Follow or UnFollow” me on Twitter.
But what would be more of my interest: What’s your Twitter goal?