As of the time of writing, @wearegloo follows 155 people, businesses, shows, publications and fictional beings on Twitter.
Even acknowledging the fact that we can’t read everything that those 155 people post, that’s quite a firehose of content to monitor, and of social connections to maintain (ever read about the monkeysphere? We’re at our limit).
So, we like to think that when we follow someone it’s a mark of respect—that we intend to devote some of our precious time listening to their ideas. When someone follows us, we’re proud that they’ve made the same commitment to us.
And, naturally, when we find someone who follows over a thousand people, we wonder how on earth they can have a meaningful connection with that big a network.
There are three options as we see it:
- The addicts: They spend all day on Twitter reading everything. In which case, kudos—but even if they’re a social media “guru”, how do they earn a living?
- The auto-reciprocators: They immediately follow back anyone who follows them, just as a misplaced mark of politeness, and ignore most of their stream.
- The braggers: They are more concerned with looking popular and having a big network than with making real connections.
None of those sends a great message, do they?
When it comes to social networks, quality trumps quantity any day.
Posted by John on 26 May 2011