How not to get Twitter followers: Our top tips
Over the past few weeks, I've quietly researched what works and what doesn't when you're trying to get more people to follow you on Twitter. There are some surefire ways to add followers--promote your Twitter stream to friends, colleagues, or family; say something that's retweeted by thousands of Twitter users; have notoriety; or have your username crop up on sites like CNET that Twitter users frequent.
But for all those successes, I've found many more ways to utterly fail at adding Twitter followers. From begging to stories to gimmicks, there are a variety of ways to make yourself look foolish on Twitter without getting one more person to follow you.
Asking: Laugh, then ignore
Will you please be my follower on Twitter? My username is "DonReisinger" and hey, I'll even throw in a link!
Didn't work, did it?
Last week, I tested this out a few times on my followers by asking them to tell all their followers to follow me, and all I got back was a few snide remarks from followers saying things like, "Nice try, Don" or "Um, no." Unperturbed, I decided to try again later in the day, since I figured a different group of Twitter followers were using the service now and I might have better luck.
Nope.
Asking for Twitter followers is a major faux pas in the world of micro-blogging. First off, most of your followers will probably laugh at your willingness to show how desperate you are for more. Secondly, all your Twitter followers simply don't see that kind of request to their own followers so you can reap all the rewards. What do they get out of their tweet? You guessed it: nothing.
Fake stories: Anger and betrayal
Realizing that asking my followers for help wasn't going to work, I next tried telling them that I had entered into a bet with a close friend to see who would reach a certain follower count quicker. But to make it believable, I had to create an elaborate trail of logic: "A close friend and I have $50 on who can reach 2,500 followers first. Whoever does so, wins the cash. Will you help a friend out and find me some followers?"
Unfortunately, my followers had a few unhappy thoughts to share with me and my obvious ploy to add more. Suffice it to say that family friendliness wasn't a concern in their replies.
But as a researching journalist, I trudged on, trying to find creative ways to add more followers, as more salvos from angry users made their way through my blatant subterfuge and pelted me with tweets outlining distaste for such a tactic.
The Great Retweet: size matters
Retweeting, the act of copying a tweet by another user and sending it through your own username, has taken Twitter by storm. But that doesn't mean it helps you add followers.
I tried retweeting what others wrote to see if it offered value to my own followers, who would then retweet my message and expose me to all their followers, but it didn't work. In fact, more often than not, followers decided to retweet what I did instead of using my username--a practice that probably makes the most sense, since the original person should receive attribution.
Realizing that, I decided to find out if I could get my own followers to start retweeting what I said. At first, I asked them to retweet and once again, that was a mistake. They generally ignored my request, but every now and then, a few followers would retweet my message. It didn't matter: I wasn't able to add any new followers. I think that only happens if the message is retweeted by hundreds or thousands of users. At least, that's what I hear.
More tweets: Lose 'em!
Realizing the direct route didn't work, I tried offering up a slew of updates to see if more Twitter followers would filter in. Once again, I was thwarted in my efforts.
Believe it or not, updating Twitter as often as possible doesn't provide any real value if you're only looking to add more followers. In fact, when I updated my account more than 50 times in one day, I found that fewer people decided to follow me on those days than when I had just a handful of really interesting tweets.
Realizing that, I quickly came to the conclusion that quantity is no substitute for quality. In fact, based on my research over the past couple weeks, I've found that followers respond more to thoughtful tweets than quick snippets about life or the dinner you'll be having tonight. In other words, ditch the quantity idea. It doesn't work.
Performing research on what doesn't work: They never believe you
Realizing all my tactics for attempting to add followers on Twitter was becoming an annoyance, I explained to my followers that some of the updates over the past few weeks were for research on a column I wanted to write. I thought they would understand and realize that, because of what I do for a living, that excuse is quite plausible.
Quite the contrary, I was inundated with responses like "uh huh" and "yeah, sure, Don." And in the process, that didn't help me add any more followers either.
Now, will you please follow me on Twitter? I have this bet with my friend and if you retweet this, that would be really great too. It's fine if you don't; it's all for research, so it's no big deal. But, uh, please follow me, OK? I'll follow you!
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
"Hi, i am Don Reisinger."
that should do the trick.
To Remo_Williams, you're missing out on a great opt-in e-marketing tool and a source of the hottest news and blog articles!
Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz
http://twitter.com/wecandobiz
Its only a matter of time before it becomes something old-hat and forgotten, and all of your "friends" jump ship, leaving you with yet another dead account full of nothing but spambots and people too stubborn to move on.
Anyone here remember LiveJournal? Thought not. Myspace? When's the last time you've heard about them? Only from news articles about yet ANOTHER sex offender being caught luring more children.
And you'll go on, moving from site to site, earing maybe 1 - 2 "real friends" that might stick around and actually engage in real conversations. But you're proabably never going to really hear from them in a phone call (more like a Skype call, am I right?). And seeing them face to face? Only if you already know them in real life...and then what's the use of using a social networking site?
These websites are only further breaking down what little communication exists between people today.
If you are in SEM, Web Analytics, Online Advertising and Social Media Marketing then you can check out my twitter profile at @anilbatra
Nice try
@ WeCanDoBIZ's "you're missing out on a great opt-in e-marketing tool and a source of the hottest news and blog articles!" - oh dear oh dear oh dear.
@ Remo_Williams: firstly, this might explain it a bit better: http://pistachioconsulting.com/twitter-is-my-village-revisited/
Seconly, I love the reference to Fred Ward's character in Unarmed and Dangerous! Fantastic :-) (Unless that's actually your real name, in which case: congratulations!!)
I regard CNET.com just as highly as New York Times, but I guess to get the good articles cnet needs to shell out some $$$. This webware blog is blah.
If you followed Don as a result of this article and didn't get the #follow up, let me know.
http://www.twitter.com/Faryna
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