Just like so many of you out there in the blog-o-sphere, and on all of those social networks, and on friends lists and in circles, I have far, far too many accounts on different social mediums. I have a twitter, a facebook, a Google+, a blog, a Goodreads account, and several others I either can’t think of at the moment or am too lazy to type. I try to keep them all updated, and often visiting my Klout.com account reminds me that I should be posting to them all.
I follow people for a couple of reasons, and unfollow for only one. Most of the people that I follow have caught my attention for one reason or another. Either an excellent blog post, or an article, or a piece of fiction I stumbled across or was directed to. I follow bloggers and authors, advice columnists and friends. You’re likely to catch my attention if you:
-are witty.
-post interesting links to websites, blogs, news, etc.
-have written something I’ve read and enjoyed.
-know me through a different channel.
It seems pretty self-explanatory. On twitter, I’m more likely to follow someone who twitters @ me, rather than someone who simply follows me. If you want me to pay attention to you, the best way is to talk to me.
I haven’t had to un-friend someone or un-follow someone for being offensive in… well, ever. I think by now most people have this whole internet thing figured out, and know how to go about their business without angering people to the point of “de-friending”… though I would if someone was completely offensive.
I will, on the other hand, un-follow people who post too often. If I’m away from my computer for an hour, and I come back to find 20 posts/tweets/etc. from the same person, I’m likely to un-follow. Most especially if the tweets are along the lines of “I hate the snow. gee, it’s snowing.” Or “I had a burrito for lunch and I’m STUFFED.”
I make the occasional personal post or two. I’d say a couple of my posts per day (for twitter) or per week (blog) are personal. But most of what I post (or try to post) are reviews, links to other blogs and articles, most of the time with commentary. Though, normally my commentary is brief.
I like to find people who have a similar mindset to what this whole ‘social networking’ thing is about. I suppose that’s what we’re all looking for, isn’t it?
