One of the things about using Twitter for business purposes is that you can add any one you want. Over the course of adding users to my Following list, I’ve discovered some traits of a good number of people who are trying to get new followers. While a majority of users are in the “Uncategorized” section – these are users who seem like normal everyday people with no agenda for gaining followers - I’ve also seen a lot of various traits that numerous Twitter users employ when trying to get new followers, and I have categorized some of them as the following:
Churners: These are people who follow you along with a multitude of others, and as soon as you follow them back, you will be unfollowed very shortly. The quickest amount of time I’ve been unfollowed by one of these users was 10 minutes, and I still remember who you are! The purpose of these users? They’re trying to grow their followers list as quickly as possible, but have very little interest in following others. One of the ways to determine who they are, although not necessarily the case (such as celebrities and prominent sports figures), is by viewing their profile. In many cases, you will notice a disproportionate count such as 1000 Following, 2000 Followers. While they’re not all like that, just be aware of them. I rarely ever follow these people, but I do use them as part of my following strategy.
Following 2000: As stated, these are users who have a disproportionate amount when it comes to how many they’re following, in comparison to how many are following them back, such as Following 2000, and 200 Followers. This is the reverse of the Churner in terms of disproportionate count. This type of user is trying to get as many followers as they can, but with the randomness of adding people, their returns are less than stellar, with an average of a 10%-20% return. When they hit their 2000 limit, they’ll start unfollowing some users and adding new ones to continue to grow their Followers count. Some of these users may even unfollow those that follow them back, which would signify that they will become a Churner! These are prime accounts I look for, as I use them as part of my following strategy. While the name applies to accounts that haven’t reached their 1800 followers, this definition can also apply to those that are in the tens of thousands range of Following/Followers.
TeamFollowBack: These are people who, in most cases, will follow you back regardless of who you are or what you do. The chances of you doing business with them is very unlikely, however they are still good for boosting your follower count. Why is this important? Twitter imposes limitations regarding how many people you can follow. Everyone, regardless of who you are, is limited to being able to follow 2000 people maximum until you get your Followers count up to 1800 people. After that, your limit increases to 10% of your Followers count, such as 3000 Followers = you can follow 3300 people maximum. As you grow your list, you will be able to follow more people in order to expose your business. These users are a good source for gaining followers, but not necessarily the highest of quality.
Spammers: These people do a very good job of gaining followers, but then they will fill your timeline with nothing but spam links in order for you to buy their services. While I’m not overly opposed to adding them to my list, there are simply way too many of them, and would be annoying to see the same message every 5 minutes (or less). Imagine if you followed 20 of these people who all use the exact same message every 5 minutes. Your tweet feed won’t look all that appealing. Examples of Spammers are “Buy Twitter/FB/Google Followers”, sex bots, and herbal health bots.
Eggheads: These are probably the most unpredictable of users, as they can be any one of the above types. The key is to look at how many users they’re following and being followed by, along with their profile, as well as their last 10 tweets. Watch for those links in their tweets, as that may be an indicator as a Spammer. Having said that, there is also the possibility that they’re still new to Twitter and have not set up their profile yet, and may still be learning the ropes of how Twitter works. By analyzing the info, this should tell you which type of user they are. I also typically avoid adding Eggheads that have yet to tweet.
TrueTwit Users: There is nothing wrong with the users of this group. They can be any of the above previously described profiles, however they have also decided on employing TrueTwit, which in my opinion is spam. The user wants to ensure you are a real person and not a robot, therefore they want you to confirm by visiting TrueTwit’s website and validating yourself through a code. Easy enough to do, but now it’s like you’ve had to follow them twice, and there’s a chance they still won’t follow you back. The worst thing about this? You now have a DM in your inbox that you have to clean out. You do all the dirty extra work, and they get to sit on their end to decide on whether they should follow you or not. Doesn’t seem reasonable, does it? It’s a process that I consider a complete waste of time.
Please note that some users can be a combination of any of the above, however I’ve been able to determine that these are the basic levels. Got a type of user profile you’d like to share? Send it to me, and if I deem it worthy and can relate, I will add it to this list!
Tell me what type of a user you are. I feel I’m a combination of the Following 2000 and TeamFollowBack.
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I learned a number of things that I didn’t know about Twitter from reading this article. Very useful information.
Just terrific stuff. Thanks! KJ