Now, I know that everyone has their own opinions on how Twitter ‘should’ be used and I agree with the thought that it’s really best when each specific user is using it in a way that makes them more comfortable and effective.  I also know that there’s certainly not a shortage of ‘articles’ written out there about the different ‘styles’ of Tweeting.  This is not going to be another one of those posts.  This is more of an observation over the last couple days and I thought I’d share.

As most of you know I’ve been working with Billy Currington for the past few months.  Now this hasn’t been a SkörInc thing necessarily, but more of a ‘consulting / online presence management’ type of thing.  You know starting him off on Twitter, making strategic web moves, gathering content, that kind of thing.  Well, when I first sat down with Billy, he had 94 Twitter followers.  It was a few radio stations and some fans that were paying attention.  Not that big of a deal though, because he had just signed up and hadn’t even started using it.  At that point we decided that we’d take the “follow everyone that follows” approach.  You know, to boost the numbers.  Well, we’ve been using that method for over 15,000 followers now and yesterday we decided to change that.  See, Billy has figured out his Twitter experience and it doesn’t involve managing 15,000 different feeds.  Makes sense right?

So yesterday, literally all day long, Billy and I were clicking the ‘unfollow’ button.  Not because he doesn’t like people, but because he wants to follow the people he wants to follow.  You know, like Twitter was made for.  Now, one thing I did notice in the fifteen hours of ‘unfollowing’ was how much spam there was out there.  I can not believe how many real estate companies, money making schemes, and porn Twitter accounts are following Billy, and in turn he was following back.  Not exactly something you want on your list of “Following” right?   So, in this ‘unfollowing’ process Billy has lost about 70 followers and my guess is that he will lose about 100 more.  But that’s okay right?  I mean who cares if @EarnMoneyFast stops following you, right?

So here’s my thought.  Billy’s ‘Followers” number is dropping the more people we stop following from his account.  Now, that’s less impressive when I go to the label and show them what we are doing.  They see the end result.  The final number, and over the last two days that number has dropped.  They aren’t going to like that.  But I see a number that is free from porn and spam and a more cohesive list of “Followers” wanting to connect with Billy.

So here’s my question to all you “Follow Everyone That Follows” people.  How do you deal with the porn sites, the money making schemes and the businesses just looking for a massive number?  Do you deal with it?  Or are you just another one of those same things?

***And here’s the other thing I realized throughout this whole process.  How can I confidently and morally advise a band like MercyMe to “follow everyone that’s following them”, when I know that anyone with Twitter can check out their list of “Following” and be subject to an array of adult content?  Is it ministry or numbers?

Here’s what I’d advise you to do.  Take a second and go browse a few of your favorite “Tweeters” Following list.  Check out who they are endorsing.  Who they are publicly proclaiming that it’s “okay to follow”.  Who they are okay with “Following” themselves.  Let me know what you come up with.***

Twitter Observations is a post from: Brody Harper

There’s two theories out there when it comes to who you follow on Twitter and I think there’s value in both.  Though I think it’s important to have a plan when implementing either, especially when it comes to artists.  

Theory One.  Follow everyone that follows you.  This grows your followers list quick, gets your name out there faster, and ultimately increases your Twitter ‘popularity’ and maybe even your Twitter Grade.  And if that’s what your going for, great.  The downside?  Everyone you are following now has the ability to ‘Direct Message’ you, which (for an artist) forces you to have your phone off to all updates.  Relinquishing the point of having Twitter hooked to your phone in the first place.  Mark Lee made a great case for this theory on this (now put to sleep) blog and dealt with some of these questions and issues and is one of the best artist, follow those that follow you, Twitter-er out there.

Now, here’s where I see this theory working in favor of the artist or band that is running it.  If it’s a Twitter for a band as a whole, and it’s looked at as more of a news feed or for giving updates from the band, great.  Follow everyone that’s following you and grow that followers list as fast and as big as you can.  That will ultimately get the news out to more people looking for that sort of Tweet from you.

Theory Two.  Follow the folks that you would if you were a normal person on Twitter.  Most people on Twitter aren’t ‘marketing’ something.  They don’t have an end goal of selling you a record, or getting you at their shows, or really anything.  They see Twitter as a way to connect with their friends and some new people they find interesting.  Sounds simple doesn’t it?  Connect with people?

If the end goal is to be authentic and real on your Twitter does it then become a numbers game of following everyone that’s following you just to get the word out about something?  Does that defeat the purpose of Twitter in the first place?

Me personally, I don’t follow everyone that follows me, but I do follow a lot of people.  I like seeing what people have to say and if I start to lose interest, I don’t follow anymore.  After all it’s called ‘Following’ for a reason.  But, the SkörInc Twitter account does follow everyone that is following it and then some.  It does that to gain followers and get the word out about things related to what we do.  

So which is it?  Which are you?  Any other thoughts on following?

Do You Follow? is a post from: Brody Harper

So check this out.  I noticed today that I have crossed the ‘four hundred followers’ mark on my Twitter.  Now, I realize that several of these are companies following me in order to get me to follow them and buy Viagra or something, but four hundred is a pretty substantial number I think.

Now here’s the thing.  I feel like I suck at Twitter, but I’m about to change that.  I follow several folks that are really good at using Twitter and I aspire to be one of them.  I think the thing that weirds me out about it is that I know that if I decide to Twitter something there is the chance that several people will be getting a text message from me…. saying something stupid… or pointless.  That’s intimidating to me.

But no more.  I’ve decided to try to get better at Twitter and not care about who might be sitting in a movie or in church or something like that.  I’m going to type what I think and forget that I just might be interrupting your ‘alone time’ with your husband or wife with a stupid text message about something I saw on the way to Target.  Sound good?

I imagine a lot of you are on Twitter already, but for those that aren’t, why not?  What keeps you from it?  And for those that are already on Twitter, are you following me?

Four Hundred Plus is a post from: Brody Harper