In just under three years, Twitter has joined the social networking elites. Though it is still far behind MySpace and Facebook in terms of overall users, the micro-blogging service has become the fastest-growing network online. After taking 14 months to reach its first million users, Twitter hit two million just 2 months after that.
Perhaps the reason Twitter is growing at such an unprecedented rate is because it offers users something unique – the ability for anyone to broadcast their thoughts to the masses. In under 140 characters, one can inform the world in real time of anything they think is important or relevant. Twitter is the definitive outlet of citizen journalism, and at times has more breaking news value than CNN.
For CEO’s, advertisers, entrepreneurs and bloggers, Twitter serves as a free advertising tool. Using tweets, retweets, links, hashtags and direct messages, they can use Twitter's simple networking capabilities to drive traffic to their personal domains.
But they, like the Iranian civilians who keep the world on edge with their tweets and twitpics of mass protests in Tehran, also need people to listen. These essential listeners are called followers and, without them, Twitter is nothing more than a personal diary of dead-end broadcasts.
For every start-up business, author or proud mom, these strategies have proven successful in gaining followers and ensuring every tweet is exposed to a significant following in the Twittershpere:
Follow everyone on this list
SocialNewsWatch.com has developed a list of 237 twitter users who are most likely to follow back. Not only will they follow back, they are also highly influential with a significant follower base. Having them retweet one's message instantly exposes it to thousands of new followers on your behalf. The list is organized based on how many followers these users have, ranging from over 10,000 to over 100,000.
Use the InRev TwitIn Tool
After entering one’s Twitter username and password, this mass-follow tool generates a list of 50 users who are most likely to follow back. With one click, the entire list can be selected and those 50 people will be followed. Hit refresh, and 50 more users will be summoned to the list. Now just relax and wait for them to follow back.
Follow back
When users looking for followers come across a profile, they will usually look at their ratio of followers to following when deciding if they want to follow them. The more even this ratio is, the more likely someone will be to follow. Having 1,000 followers and 1,000 following, for example, means this particular user is likely to follow back when they’re followed.
Provide Value
Followers will only remain followers if they see that someone is providing interesting tweets. One should provide links, photos and other original findings to ensure that their followers aren't losing interest. Personal reflections are fine, as long as they are in moderation and combined with useful content. Updates should also be limited to a few per hour, so one's tweets don't litter their followers' home feeds.
With Twitter, one doesn't need friends, tags, top8's or even a profile. Having a good amount of engaged followers is the only requirement for establishing popularity and outreach on this social network. These methods will attract followers, but one must keep them engaged with interesting tweets, links and, above all, occasional conversation.
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