Twitter Followers - Does Quantity Matter?

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Does the number of Twitter Followers really matter?

I just wrote a post about the importance of the number of LinkedIn Connections.

See: LinkedIn Connections - Is Quantity Important?

I started using Twitter more recently, and I am noticing some things.

At first, I tried to get as many followers as I could...not really knowing how or why.  I just did, just like a dumb little kid.

Then I noticed that I couldn't make any sense of my Twitter stream.  It was painful to try reading all of that...NOISE.  There wasn't any order.  So I trimmed a lot of people, except for the people who posts I might want to read.  Essentially, I made it into my own little reader.

So...Does the number of Twitter Followers really matter?

Answer: It depends...We need more info before REALLY answering that.

Isn't that helpful?  In this case, this answer sort of IS helpful...surprisingly.

However, that means I need to explain more; otherwise, my answer WILL NOT BE HELPFUL.

If my goal is to use Twitter like a News Source or an Educational Tool...

Answer #1: If my goal is to use Twitter like a news source or an educational tool, it makes sense for me to limit the number of people I am following.  In THIS case, the number of Twitter Followers does NOT matter.  I am only interested in reading; I don't care if other people read my Tweets, in this case.

If my goal is to use it as a Market Broadcasting Tool...

Answer #2: If my goal is to use it as a market broadcasting tool, then the number of Twitter Followers is better when it is higher, but I should only care about the number of TARGETED Twitter Followers.  In other words, if I have a lot of Twitter Followers that will never listen to me, I'm not really communicating.

If I am looking to Brand Myself or My Company...

Answer #3: If I am looking to brand myself or my company, then I would want to use Twitter as a Classified Ad service--not really caring whether people clicked on my links.  I would just want them to see my name and my face...as often as possible.  Plus, the more people who saw it, the better for me in this case.  The number of Twitter Followers DOES matter here.  (It's still better if you have a list of people who have some chance of caring about you...or what you offer.)

There might be other situations, but I think this covers things well enough.

So...Does the number of Twitter Followers really matter?

Final Answer: It depends.

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