I stumbled across a blog post by Guy Kawasaki yesterday: Looking for Mr. Goodtweet: How to Pick Up Followers on Twitter. Kawasaki is an old Apple employee that now invests in other companies, and starts a few web startups of his own. He is a self-promoter.
It’s possible that Kawasaki’s post is tongue in cheek, but having read a bunch of his stuff over the years, I’m guessing he is mostly serious. But I think his thoughts are incredibly flawed, and here is why: Twitter, and other social media, does not work if people are selfish.
Kawaski’s key point is: get as many followers as you can on Twitter, because they can serve you well.
That’s hellishly simplistic and wrong, and the only reason someone like Kawasaki can get away with it is because he has plenty of fanbois and girls. Otherwise people would would largely ignore most of the tactics he says he uses to get followers, because it’s exactly like spamming people.
Don’t get me wrong, some of the tips are great. Like creating a simple photo of your face for your avatar, establishing yourself as a subject expert (if that’s what you want to use Twitter for), and use the right tools.
However, the basis for the post and also tips like following “social media whores” (smores), sending @ messages to them, and following everyone that follows you are essentially stupid.
Personally I don’t follow “smores.” I find them useless. As he says, if you message them, they “probably won’t answer you.” This suggests they’re not that social after all, making them just whores, and without a two-way conversation I may as well talk to myself.
The reason why Twitter is so valuable to everyone is that it can be very relevant. And this is the key. Following everyone, and having a mass following does not make it relevant. Stressful, and a waste of time: yes.
People complain about email, because you have limited control over what email you receive when your email address is public. Twitter was hailed as its replacement, because there is much more control on who can send you messages. That theory falls apart when you follow everyone, and hope they all follow you.
Now “relevancy” is a personal matter. People might use Twitter to be social, while others use it for business. Each of us have a reason or two to use Twitter, and this determines who we should follow, and who should follow us back.
Here are the reasons I use Twitter:
- to keep up to date with my friends,
- occasional social banter,
- network with Australian and Chinese technology folk,
- occasional research or questions.
I’m sure I get a few other benefits here and there, but essentially that’s what I use Twitter for.
So, given that’s my aims, I have a good sense of who to follow, and who should follow me. Now I’ve narrowed my list down to something a lot more manageable, and if anyone messages or DMs me, I can easily get back to them. Hopefully this adds value to those who I follow, as well as the value that I gain.
Following Kawaskai’s suggestion will turn Twitter in to a mass chat room. I can go back to IRC for that.
Speaking of which, I wonder when Darcy is gonna release Kookaburra.
