Do you need to follow in order to get followers?

It seems as though many "experts" tell us that in order to get followers on Twitter, you must follow others. The hope is that others will reciprocate and follow you...if you follow them. I've seen Twitter accounts that follow thousands of others. Do they really read the other posts? I doubt it.

My own experiments with Twitter have gone a little differently than the norm. I don't follow others unless they are really interesting. How has that affected my own "followers?" Well, the numbers speak for themselves. Although I don't follow anyone from my Tips for Speakers I do have 123 followers on that Twitter account. They all seem to have found me using the Twitter search function. If people are interested, they will find you. If they find you they probably will have a better chance of actually reading your messages...which is what Twitter is really about.

The Economy, Mesa, Arizona, and Twitter

The first post says it all, "Mesa's Office of Economic Development is now on twitter!" Even cities are finding ways to provide information...fast...via Twitter.

Twitter for Teachers

Schools have not be great integrators of technology. Few teachers have their own Web sites. Email is more feared than used in a school. However, Twitter may have the edge when it comes to integrating technology into education because it is free, very easy to use and can be used to do some very interesting things. Twitter for Teachers is a free ebook on how teachers can use Twitter effectively. It is a small PDF file that can be read on just about all computers.

What's wrong with Twitter?

Twitter was a good idea...almost. The original concept behind Twitter was to have a place where you could tell friends what you were up to was much too limited.

Twitter, can and probably will, be much more valuable as a place to provide more valuable information. For example, Tips for Writers and Tips for Speakers (two of my own Twitters) uses Twitter to give tidbits of useful information.

I'm sure that when Twitter is bought up by Google (which is probably inevitable) it will be expanded beyond the realm of a "social" service to a more "useful" service.