Posted by Sundi Hayes in 
If you like this Twitter bird you can get it at Nyi Nyi Myanmar.
How do you choose who to follow on Twitter?
Do you auto-follow people?
Do you follow people with the generic avatar?
Answers to questions like these fascinate me. I love it when a person goes into a deep involved explanation about their follow theories. Our theories may be deep and complicated to explain but when faced with a new profile we apply them immediately – followers be damned!
We spent a lot of time talking about tools developed around and general rules of Twitter at Chicks Who Click – but not so much about what rules we use to decide to follow. Sometimes I think the tools make the decision easier – sometimes just a lot harder.
Here is a rundown of my “follow back” qualifications:
1) If you are new, you can’t be following more people than you have updates! Like following 500+ with 2 updates.
2) I’m less likely to follow back if you have over 2K+ followers.
3) I’ll definitely follow you back if you:
(a) are in my niche, duh, isn’t that what Twitter is all about!
(b) are a fellow Virtual Assistant, because we’re down like that.
(c) are a member of a group I’m in, like the Powerful Women’s Networking Group in KC.
(d) are from my geographical area, exact city or metro area.
(e) attended an event with me, even if we didn’t actually meet.
(f) talk about chocolate, soccer or cats. (All work and no play…)
4) I couldn’t think of a fourth one but one of my 7-year-olds likes even numbers. Ok, the real reason is transparency. I like to be able to see people’s moods, sudden tiny details of their lives or just plain “give me some personality people!”
I don’t think any of these qualifications seem too difficult and some are down right quirky, I know. I bet your list has some quirks in it too, right?
Nibbling away -
Sundi
Sundi – great questions! My criteria is very similar to yours. If I believe there is some connection – either personal or professional, I’ll follow. If someone is new to Twitter, but I can see from their profile we have some connection – location, professions, or a love of chocolate or cats, I’ll probably follow.
My biggest quirk is probably the mood I am in – if I am feeling overwhelmed, I may not follow back because I don’t think I can possibly keep up with one more person! On a different day, I may follow back for the heck of it. I do try to check through my list of followers occasionally to see who I am not following and check out their profile again.
I never thought about my mood before Gladys! I’m going to pay attention next time a get a stream of followers in a short period of time. Also, I wonder if the likelihood of following is greater if a peron is at the front of the group for that day or near the end? It adds an interesting twist.