Twitter: When to Follow Back
(The meaning of follow, by dhammza on Flickr)
When people follow you on Twitter how do you decide whether to follow them back?
Here are criteria I use:
- Your last three tweets made me laugh or think.
- I already know you, and/or read your blog.
- The link in your bio points somewhere interesting – not to a place I have to login to see
- I like your wallpaper, photo or your icon.
- You have sent me an @ reply with something interesting
- Following / follower ratio (no spammers thank you)
- Your bio is appealing
- Because I suddenly feel like it and will decide later if there’s a fit
I asked a few friends on Twitter the same question:
@bmanley: For me, if they seem “techy” and don’t look “spamy”, I’ll follow.
@msjen: I read their tweets if I don’t know them. If they are a good writer, funny & not shilling a product or service then I follow
@thehotiron: I usually go ahead and follow, then see what I am following!
@JayNeely: @quiverandquill 1) Do I know them? 2) Do their tweets show we share interests? 3) Are they over-following? 4) Are they tweeting too much?
@BryanPerson: Check out that person’s profile/tweets and look for points in common: living area, tweet topics, profession, industry, etc.
How do you decide?
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[...] I have found that people who uses these keywords are often people I enjoy following. And when I am wrong, I simply unfollow them. When in doubt, I follow first and unsubscribe later. That method works well for me. Other methods I use are described here. [...]
Pingback by Quiver & Quill » Following a Conversation — December 3, 2008 @ 6:34 pm