When your notification arrives that you are now following me, the question for me is 'will I return the follow?'
The answer to that depends upon a number of factors. The factors are initially in no particular order, more stream of consciousness. With more time to think them through, I may revise the order. With your feedback, some aspects of this may change too. I'll let you know either way.
So what will I look for?
If you have a real picture as an avatar, that is a plus - no picture or something bordering on ridiculous looses points.
If you have only tweeted a dozen or so times, and you have in excess of a thousand followers, sorry, you lost me here. I am likely to block you to avoid spammers.
If you have tweeted a number of times, and your follower and following ratio is closer to one, then I'll look to your description. If you sound like a real person, that is a plus. Heavy on the sell side and you're likely to loose me.
If you have provided your location, good. If you are located in New England, that is a plus. I'll more likely bump into you at an event in person. If outside NE, I'll move along to other factors. No location, likely to lose me and risk getting blocked.
If you have provided a link, I'll follow to see what you're about. Tweeting/writing about something we have in common is a plus. Here is where those outside NE still can be followed, we have something in common other than location. No link, less likely to follow. If what you're about is not anything close to what I do, I'll hesitate.
And then look into your recent tweets. If there is conversation with real people, that is a plus. If not, you lost me.
Bottom line, if we meet somewhere, we have something in common and I'll follow you. If you can add value, you're in.
If you fail on the numbers game, the numbers reflect a point in time. Come back later with better numbers and the review process might tip in your favor.
So why layout my thought process on this topic? I run the risk of angering someone. I would rather see if this logic makes sense to folks, see where they would change and get that conversation going.
What do you think?
