The secret to Twitter
I’ve been talking to lots of people about Twitter. Why is it so addictive? Why do new tools, shipped for it, like Quotably was tonight, get passed around so fast and talked about so much?
I’ve gone through stages with Twitter. At some point I thought it was important to get lots of followers. But lately I’ve been telling people that the secret to Twitter isn’t how many followers you have, but how many people you are following. Tonight Sheryl asked me to explain more: “why is the secret how many people you follow? Why is it important to follow so many people?”
Here’s why:
1. Getting followed just means you’re popular. Yes, that’s cool, but it hardly will make you interesting. Paris Hilton will have more Twitter members than I will, when she joins.
2. Getting followed a lot might mean you’re using it for a publishing system. If all you have is followers what makes that different from owning a newspaper, a radio station, a TV station, or, even, a Web site? Hint: nothing.
3. If you’re just trying to get followed you’re probably just needing attention or you might be Jason Calacanis.
But what does following a lot of people say?
1. You’re trying to learn more.
2. You’re trying to meet more people.
3. You’re trying to be a better listener.
4. You’re communicating to the world that you’d like to be listened to (golden rule: treat people how you’d like to be treated).
5. You’re trying to find out about more stuff. More events. More stories.
Now, who would you rather hang out with? A person who only talks and doesn’t listen? Or a person who listens to as many people as he can?
I know I’d rather hang out with someone who listens to more people.
Oh, yeah, and many of us on Twitter have been getting messages like what Mike Arrington got tonight. Now, I really don’t care about people who unfollow me anymore. Go ahead. Doesn’t make me feel bad. But the more people I follow, the smarter I get, the more connected I get, the better the experiences I have in life (see previous post).
So, that’s my new story. The secret to Twitter is how many people are you listening to, not how many people are listening to you.
Agree or disagree?
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:26 pm
I follow over 3,000 people because I am interested in what they are doing. It just up sets me when people to tell me what to tweet about…
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Sorry, meant to say over 400 people. 300 people follow me. http://www.twitter.com/dbrusilovsky
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Agree. I couldn’t bear for Twitter to be silent all day. I need the input. That said, I only follow about 200+ people; way too few, so I need to go make amends :)
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
My question is, of those that you follow, how many of them do you have the “notifications on” set for? I’m using GTalk for my notifications and it’s pretty sweet, but I could imagine that following hundreds with notification set to on would be just too much. Just interested in what you’ve found since you follow many more than I do now.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Completely agree, been saying the same for months. Thanks Robert, and I’m happy to be following you on Twitter. =)
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:30 pm
That’s right.
I don’t know why you are trying to dig Jason Calacanis. Have nothing against him, and have been following him for sometime, but maybe he is too obsessed to get 20 thousand followers that I would think his following you is almost no use since he only post, I think, but does not reply.
You’re right. If you want to follow or be followed, it is important that you listen.
Twitter is great because following people who post a dozen times a day for sometime gives you really an insight as to who the person is….
Twitter is for small messages on the fly. A blog is more deliberate. Just like a psychologist will know more about you by asking you to respond to a word immediately rather than after a few seconds of thought.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Fair point but how are we meant to get work done as those 5000 people alert you through the day?
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Totally agreed.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Scoble… I think you nailed this one. The quality of the people you follow is what determines Twitter’s usefulness.
It took me a while to figure that out, but now that I’ve started to build up a list of folks that I follow who write/ talk/ think about similar issues that I do, Twitter is immensely useful.
Who needs Yahoo Answers when you can have Twitter responses in seconds?
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Definitely Agree.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 pm
John: I get Twitter (all messages) in Google Talk. I don’t read them any other way except in Web page.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I agree 100%. I think the interaction is important as well. Granted, you can’t interact with everyone, and many times responses and interaction aren’t expected, but using Twitter as a two, three, or 4 way communication tool is ideal.
I think it is possible that major revolutionary (or evolutionary?) ideas will be initiated and incubated in a platform like Twitter.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
[...] From Scobelizer: http://robertscobleizer.com/2008/03/23/the-secret-to-twitter/ [...]
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I follow a lot more people that people follow me. I have a nice core of people that talk back to me, but for the most part, I people watch on Twitter because I live in the middle of the .us, and it’s really hard to be around tech-loving people here.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:36 pm
I use the web page and Twitterific….two great ways.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Cool. I think this is a great insight to share, cause I had been trying to manage my followers/followed to parity for some non-rational aesthetic reason.
I liked ReadWriteWeb Alex Iskold’s 5 ways to have fun with Twitter post:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/5_ways_to_have_fun_with_twitter.php\
One of them referenced “Twitter personalities”:
- Listener (many Followed)
- Talker (many Followers)
- Hub (many of both)
I thought this was great, cause I’ve seen people with each of these patterns. You are a Hub.
After reading this post I’m thinking its better to be a Listener than a Talker. But I think its best to be a Hub.
So how do you efficiently process massive streams of data across multiple systems both online and in-person, travel, and still get to see your kids? If this is a learned skill please help us all be more like you!! If it is a gift or talent, then help us recognize if we have it or we don’t!
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:36 pm
I follow a bunch of folks but have notifications on for much fewer when I am out and about with my cell phone.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:36 pm
I agree. But in return, people, more people will follow us. It’s a point of motives and intentions. Over all, a very good point.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Elliott: I type fast. :-)
Seriously, not sure how to scale this much further than I am. I feel like a surfer sometimes. Just looking over all the inbound looking for patterns and seeing where they take me.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Its not the quantity but rather the quality people you’d likely learn something from, and listen to and get listened at I’d add because if you keep on following say 3k+ which is irrelevant to your lifestyle or industry you’re likely end up being a myriad of sorts and unless one is in that flow of being with the people one ‘connects’ with, then following a random 3k would be futile.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Right there with you Robert.
I just went through a marathon add back session and it was interesting to look through the various profiles to see how they were actually using the tool.
So many interesting people to exchange thoughts & ideas with, but a lot of the friend / follower ratios kind of bugged me since I feel that building a network organically over a period of time reaps the best rewards.
I try to give the benefit of the doubt though. I know what I’m getting out of it. Who am I to tell someone else how to use it?
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
What a totally awesome attitude and such a healthy way to look at the whole Twit thing.
Actually I just saw this post because I follow you on Twitter. You’re soooooooo right about the learning aspect.
A few weeks ago I didn’t really see the point of Twitter but now I’m learning as much, some days even more than I do from blogs.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I get what you’re saying. I mean the basic premise is pretty cut and dried. One must pay attention to learn. Listening is a skill most of us suck at.
The problem? When you have 14000+ ‘friends’ who all want your ear, how do you pick and choose, and is it really possible to do justice to any one? I think, to me, it seems after a certain point what’s really happening is you’re focusing on a few and letting the masses sort of coast along. Maybe just doing damage control?
Just my thoughts. Thanks for the mention, though. ;o)
Sheryl Breuker
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I agree, following, and listening, are important.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I agree on this one Robert. I ended up on this post because of following you on twitter. Been following some influential people in the industry and I must say, I’ve learnt some tips already in a span of a few days.
By the way, glad you enjoyed yourself at the party last night.
How I wish some people here in Australia is using twitter more as well. I’ve been telling my friends about twitter and all I seem to get is blank faces. Pretty soon though (hopefully) - pretty soon.
cheers,
Armand
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I agree about following a large # of peeps, but I believe there is a balance between quantity and quality…I follow my friends and family because I want to know what they are up to and I follow people I don’t know to learn what’s going on in the world not necessarily to know they are about to go for coffee. I also believe in variety and diversity and am struggling to find people to follow that are not in technology…any pointers to non-tech peeps would be helpful. Thanks!
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Twitter is a new information hub. Used effectively, it’s like a BBS… RSS style. It’s SMS 2.0. It’s instant text broadcasting… and receiving.
Good stuff indeed. Excellent perception.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Couldn’t agree more!
I just wrote something like that few days ago, “Things I’ve learned from twitter” (original in Spanish).
http://marilink.blogspot.com/2008/03/algunas-cosas-que-aprend-en-twitter.html
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:47 pm
It’s a nice theory Robert, but I’ll argue it’s flawed. You and I have had this running conversation going back to 2004 to my knowledge. Back then it was about you reading 1500+ RSS feeds. I can’ find the 2004 post, but look st http://ipadventures.com/2005/03/16/making-the-blogroll-hurt-less/ in 2005 and it’s referenced there as well.
The reading more philosophy sounds nice, but I still argue nobody actually reads and digests that much information. Like a baleen whale, we wind up sucking down krill. It all tastes the same and nothing stands out. When there’s that much noise, the signal-to-noise ratio is skewed.
I won’t argue that you don’t see things in the noise that stand out. Of course you do. And yes, you’re visible enough that a mention can make a huge difference for a company or person. But it’s still noise. The value, the *listening* to the voices, and the real understanding come at a far deeper level. Following too many people reduces them all to noise. The mass falls toward the lowest common denominator. And while we can unfollow people on Twitter, and many of us do, as humans, there’s a limit to our social circles.
On the other hand, if you come out vocally saying Twitter isn’t social media for you, because you’ve taken the social relationship out by mass quantity, and you purely use it as a sieve to strain the krill/noise, then you could be right. I’m not sure that’s what the Twitter folks were hoping for, but they’ll take success where they find it (as will we all).
It’s a topic I’d love to see in a panel discussion with folks who don’t hold with your view alongside you.
Thanks for posting your thoughts.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Yes I want to learn but I am very hesitant to add people who just run self promotion and spam. I also like blocking said people often. That said I do in general agree
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
“The secret to Twitter is how many people are you listening to, not how many people are listening to you.”
you know, i think you’re absolutely right.
i’ve met lots of interesting people on twitter. you really do learn more about the world. it’s priceless.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:01 am
I think you all are a bunch of loons. Don’t you have better things to do with your time than exchanging mindless short messages all day? I’ve never touched this stuff, and probably never will, enough things eat at my concentration as it is.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:14 am
[...] though Robert has a post where he has apparently changed his tune about his friend and follower philosophy. Where it was [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 12:19 am
I have found that increasingly I am looking for people on twitter that have something of value to say… quality posts that open doors to what they are seeing is important, fun, interesting, of the moment - even among friends… and deleting stream of consciousness folks - I think there is real value in twitters who might share the fact that they are having a cigar watching the sunset in Valapariso … but stuck in traffic on 280? not so much.
So - the blogging > micro blogging analogy thing is valid… perhaps even more so.
A great talk on this very topic I re-listened to this eve was the excellent on on ambient intimacy from @leisa at future of web apps last fall:
http://moourl.com/amintimacy
In summary, it’s nice to have people acknowledge your thought stream by subscribing… but they know what they are getting into when they do - and can easily opt out. I agree the real gold is who you listen to - and adding as many valuable voices as you have time to mine… kind of unbelievable actually. I’m bullish on twitter at the moment, strongly bullish.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:20 am
You are right, but… (there is always a but :)) overload. I suffer from information overload, I’m drowning here. Between e-mails, RSS, twitter and friendfeed Who has time to do anything else???
March 24th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Also depends on *who* you follow also. Be selective and know who you can learn from.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:27 am
thunk: I can see what you are saying, it does seem like that from the outside, but once you get to using the tool, it is great. I have learnt so much from following the people that I do.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I just started following you on twitter (trying hard not to sound like a stalker), after reading naked conversations, which I loved! After I realized I could, I’ve now found a number of other really amazing thinkers, that share their online streams of consciousness as they’re happening.
That’s what I reckon is so juicy about twitter, you get a feed of the world that’s been filtered through an amazing mind, @silkcharm being real different from @garyvee.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Like others, I agree: being followed is fine, but following more is better. Certainly for the likes of you and me (although I feel strangely humbled by the self-comparison, sorry!) I’ve recently started hitting my 250 tweet SMS limit - attending [dev/it pro] events and reading what folks are saying about that event is important to me and helps shape my event experience. That said, I do find myself checking over the “older” stream when I first fire up Twitter - just to learn what the rest of the world (outside of my timezone) has been up to - it can be enlightening, as you well know!
@thunk - it’s somewhat therapeutic to have a face-2-face conversation, this same happens with Twitter. I know a lot of folks think Twitter is a time-wasting device - used properly, it’s not! Getting a circle of friends and individuals to follow is the key: once you’re “in conversation” with them, ideas flow, conversations that you would not normally have start to open your mind to the possibilities of Twitter (other micro-blogging tools are available).
So it’s a combination of the right people to follow, and the right “things” (in my case events).
March 24th, 2008 at 12:34 am
I agree Robert. I like to think of myself as an active listener. Following is more relevant than Followers if you want to discover. The problem I had just now, was deciding where I should post a response to your post. This blog, Twitter, FF, other? Settled on the blog until we find something that follows the conversation around where ever it may be found.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:35 am
I’m a convert (Twittered a couple days ago): http://twitter.com/techguy/statuses/775284905
What do you think of the concept of twitter “groups”? Essentially a way to filter your twitter friends in to groups of people from certain topic areas/relationships/etc.
Close friends I want to read all their twitters. Tech people and VC people may be another group that I read regularly as needed. Sure I could create two accounts, but that’s no fun to manage.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:42 am
just finished writing a post on twitter :)
to me, the conversation is important. i feel most comfortable having a good balance of followers and follwing-ers (followees?)
a few people seem to follow me for reasons that are utterly unclear to me or suspiciously look like spam. not interested in adding their spam or silence to my day; that’s why i have a few more followers than followees.
overall it works well: every day i marvel and smile at my twitter circle.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:43 am
to Lionel Menchaca: It’s not only important to follow people who think alike. In order for learning to be successful, it’s also important to often follow people with whom you do not share interests or similar htoughts. There should be enough of a difference that your thoughts are stimulated to go in different directions than they would typically do.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Twitter is the new serious phenomenon.All-sufficient one.Informational epicentre.Following & followers are both useful.A single whole.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:50 am
it has been interesting to learn a lot of stuff using twitter so I have to agree it is fun to follow a lot of people.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:53 am
twitter would not be the same without twitterfox. someone said the other day that friendfeed is the new twitter. i say twitterfox is the new twitter. this is an app that’s actually better than the tool it’s built for.
March 24th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Hi, nice seeing you at Gary’s.
I have a question : how can you decently manage to read 15k buddy tweets ? I approximated 1 tweet every 5s If you happen to read my comment, you must have missed nearly 2…
if you answer to it, you’ll miss another 10.
New idea for Oakley : to design twitter roll for sunglasses, and hire U as a beta-tester ;-)
March 24th, 2008 at 1:20 am
I think you’re spot-on with your post here. I’ve only signed up to a handful of people who I feel add to any debate. (You for one). There are a couple of exceptions for pure novelty value.
I check everyone who follows me, but hardly ever follow in return unless they meet the criteria I’ve set. I don’t check to se who ‘unfollows’ as a result, but as my figures stay pretty constant that’s OK.
I’m a lazy ‘Twitterer’. I tend to soak up all the info like a sponge, but post seldom. My first contact ages ago was Brad Fallon, he posts not too often, but always has great content. the same with Joel Comm. we can all learn great stuff by being choosy about who we follow, otherwise we just get deluged with nonsense.
Always good to read ’some’ of the ‘Schobie-posts’.
Pete.
March 24th, 2008 at 1:20 am
You got it Robert…. here are a couple of my tweets on it way back in 10/07… Talk versus Listen
http://twitter.com/mrinal_desai/statuses/341319172
and then an exchange with Guy Kawasaki on that:
http://twitter.com/mrinal_desai/statuses/565641042
Its all about whether you are the type who is spending time being interested or being interesting
Folks like Seth Godin use it for publishing only through twitterfeed:
http://twitter.com/sethgodin
March 24th, 2008 at 1:36 am
[...] seems to think that the secret to Twitter is to follow as many people as you can. Jason Calacanis is doing it the other way round; he’s currently trying to get to the number [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 1:38 am
I’ve definitely reached a limit with my following numbers, it currently varies between 350-400. I use it more to listen to people I know with new voices being tried and they stay depending on what they say. I just can’t cope with more as I miss too much.
As for notifications, it’s normally restricted to those in the same place as me, those I directly interact with. If notifications are going to the phone, then it gets cut more, with the limits on texts here.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Communication has long been a two way thing, anything less suggests those that are speaking are actually preaching. I’d go to Church if I wanted that.
Followers v. Following is awkward with Twitter because Twitter is essentially broadcast to all. My experience of social networking is that I belong to several groups and while I would like to use twitter to converse more, conversation in one group is not the same as conversation in another.
I would like to see Twitter develop so as it’s possible to have several groups on the one account. I think this would enable conversation.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:08 am
While I agree with this in theory, I have a hard enough time keeping up with the people I already follow. If I followed anywhere near the amount of people you or Calacanis follow, there is no way I could even attempt to read everyone’s tweets, much less try and respond to them.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:34 am
[...] Scoble writes about the secret or Twitter, what makes is addictive and why it draws so much attention. He says that you should be intrested [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 3:13 am
I have a different hypothesis for why twitter works, and that’s because people have been in a multiuser communications blackout for ages. Article here:
http://www.retina.net/tech/why-twitter-works.html
March 24th, 2008 at 3:14 am
[...] O şansă în plus pentru o a doua viaţă în timp ce prima este încă în desfăşurare. Scobleizer spune că Twitter e bun pentru că te învaţă să asculţi. Mai spune că e important să urmăreşti [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 3:29 am
It is possible to spam twitter… but it is not down to numbers, it is down to approach. If you follow people for no better reason that to follow anyone then you spam when you tweet. If you accept followers for no better reason than to have followers then you spam when you tweet. There has to be a reason why you follow someone, and why you allow someone to follow you. Both instances require conscious thought.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:36 am
Its all about balance - keeping followers and followed in roughly equal balance IMHO. To many followers means you are into micro fame, guru mode.
For me twittering is reinforcing my contact with a , dispersed, family and circle of friends.
What destroys twitter is when one person seeks to monopolise my attention stream by being to profligate.
This is why I canceled my subscription to yours and Loic’s stream but retained my sub to Fred Wilson. Next to go are Gaping Void and Calacanis
March 24th, 2008 at 4:23 am
I just discovered the “track” feature and I think a mix between that and following people could be good. I tracked the earthquake in England a few days ago and it was really fascinating because so many people were talking about the same topic. Following people I like is another way to increase the signal vs noise ratio, but people don’t talk 100% about a certain topic, sometimes they just have to mention their cat. At the same time, if I track a keyword and somebody doesn’t use that exact keyword I miss it..
Having followers is cool because you can start an instant active conversation on a topic, but following is cool because you discover stuff passively.
I’m a MAYBE for now, but hopefully I figure it out.
March 24th, 2008 at 4:25 am
two things: I really enjoy following people. I have nothing of importance to say and others are so much more informative and interesting them I.
Secondly, a previous poster mentioned the lack of need for Yahoo when you have the twitter network. Yahoo? People still turn to that for information? What is this 1998?
March 24th, 2008 at 4:25 am
The real secret of Twitter is that you can play the game any way you like it.
If Scoble gets value out of following thousands of people, that’s hunky dory. If others find diminishing returns when they follow more than 50 or 300, that’s just as valid. If some want to treat it as an endless audition and actively manage and prune their list, more power to them.
I’m coming up on 400, and for me, it’s getting a bit much.
March 24th, 2008 at 4:32 am
I would agree but at no point do I want to be following 3,000 people. That sort of figure is a lie, you are not following them at all… you are catching the occasional bounce, the odd snippet and the lightest whisper of the presence in the obscene data flow that is your twitter. Does lucky attention focus make you a good listener? I doubt it, it just means you chose to listen at a good time… you may have missed a hundred tweets of equal or superior value to you.
If there was a way to level out your following it could work. You could ‘follow’ 3,000 or more and have an ear to the ground with a second (layered)stage of following to those you truly keep an eye out for by ‘focusing’ on them. So you can follow, then focus.
Am I alone in thinking this makes a certain sense?
March 24th, 2008 at 4:36 am
totally agree. the whole reason i still use twitter is to hear what the hell is going on.
March 24th, 2008 at 5:08 am
[...] The Secret to Twitter (Robert Scoble) [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 5:23 am
You know, I’d really like to see you writing about must-read people on Twitter. I know there are great bloggers, so there must be great twitterers too, people that add a lot of value to the community.
March 24th, 2008 at 5:32 am
Well said. However, often I find myself going back through pages to see what have I missed while I was away from Twitter and with too many people this can be a while back, plus Twitter only keeps last 10 pages of history anyway. I do this as I find interesting to see what people wrote about, what they said and of course what they are doing. :)
March 24th, 2008 at 5:41 am
[...] If Your A Twitterer. Posted on March 24, 2008 by crazynetechstuff Just saw this via Scobleizer. Quotably lets you follow your twitter conversation threads very [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Agree with your thoughts on listening. How often does Calacanis have something useful to say? Occasionally he does and he can be insightful, but most of it is shameless self-promotion and eventually we will just get bored or hook onto the next interesting fad/personality.
In terms of the Arrington spam issue - Arrington is right, just tune out, its your choice, you dont have to tune in. However, and this might have been the persons issue with Mike, some people just tweet too much and they clutter the really useful things they have to say. Again, in the end you will tune out.
March 24th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Listening is a key life skill in general so it makes sense to apply this to twittering. However, listening to too many people can become background noise, especially if they aren’t saying anything or what they are saying is foolish (I sound like Dvorak)…listen intently to a wise few. http://tinyurl.com/2yjzep
March 24th, 2008 at 6:14 am
I like what you’ve said about twitter, it validates my use of it. I like to see what my friends, colleges, and sometimes random people are doing/saying/thinking. Its gives me a different view into someone’s mind and I learn from it.
Only follow the people you’re interested in.
March 24th, 2008 at 6:15 am
I’ve pruned the list of folks I’m following a couple of times, and I’ve had to be careful about the number of people I follow. Some people seem to simply be out to collect as many “friends” as they can, and the signal-to-noise ratio gets way out of whack. At least that’s my experience. There’s a fine line between being interesting and producing a stream of self-serving twaddle. I follow people (including you, Robert) because they’re interesting.
March 24th, 2008 at 6:34 am
@scobleizer - I’ve loved the idea of following a tidal wave of people to see the ebb and flow of trends and Internet thought processes. The problem thus far, and reason for keeping a maintainable list, is that I want to receive tweets on the iPhone.
I’m going to be adding a ton of people to my main account soon and splitting off a second account with SMS notifications for the iPhone. 200+ people on Twitter all sending SMS was a bit nuts.
March 24th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Excellent points made. I am only a recent sign up/convert, only because I really kept avoiding Twitter like the plague. I totally misunderstood this tool and definitely misunderstand the power. I follow only a few select people, but I did it to learn. You get access to sites, information, etc. faster than any other medium. Now I only wish I had signed up last year when I learned about it.
Anyone have any advice on how to find more interesting people to follow? Stumbling into them is great, and word of mouth, but are there any other ways to find those who tweet what you are interested in?
Keep up the great work Scoble.
March 24th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Well said, Robert. Becoming a better listener is one of my constant goals. I’d never thought of that concept on Twitter. ‘Noise reduction’ is important, but new and interesting Twitters are always on my radar. I guess ‘A listers’ as Leo calls them, are not really required for a full Twitter experience.
Cheers, a
March 24th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Scoble you are the man!
It is very true that being interested in others makes you more interesting and hopefully more compassionate, tolerant and dare I say more intelligent. We all have a short blip on this planet and even if one is a Albert Einstein, you will only absorb a small percentage of all the knowledge the world has to offer. Communication is about sharing knowledge, relationships are about growth. It hard to grow efficiently when one isn’t engaging with people and the world at large.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Spot on with the post. Personally, I’ve risen and peaked quickly on my impression of Twitter. Perhaps I have social networking ADD. Vehemently opposed it days leading to SXSWi – joined b/c of SXSWi – active for about one week – now, enjoying it as an observer and reader. As a newbie, twitter-addiction is a fine line to tread.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:04 am
You should check out tffratio.com. It’s having fun with what you are talking about: the TFF Ratio.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Well, I am Twitter Newbie…so my opinion may not count for much. That being said, over the past 72 hours I have read some REALLY great articles suggested by Twits, tried to find a sitter to go to Web 2.0 & Wine and have successfully peeked into the minds of industry leaders in my field.
Definitely worth be a follower!!!
March 24th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Great post Robert - I like listening to you, your insight is great.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:33 am
I think it is difficult to follow more than 100+ people on Twitter. There are currently no good ways to organize the incoming flow of information.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Dan: it’s not hard to listen to 15,000. Just get Google Talk and watch the posts roll over your screen. Now, keep in mind, I only do that for a couple of hours a day. I use the “replies” tab to see people who talked to me. I use various Twitter search engines to follow people who are talking about something specific. I use FriendFeed to see a smattering of other things that happen throughout the day (best posts get commented on, which brings them to the top).
March 24th, 2008 at 7:43 am
I’m still a little dazed and confused by Twitter, but recognized how revolutionary it is and am still trying to understand how I can use it.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:58 am
absolutely agree! there’s new connections to be made through just a few clicks and a follow here and there along with a few @s - i’ve learned about people in the last few weeks through twitter than i would in months any other causual communication tool - sometimes i wish, however, that we could group/cluster those we follow.. and flag and highlight and cross group.. so we can follow with different focuses if we’d like.
but then i think the spontaneity of it all would be diluted - which is part of the beauty of twitter.
I love twitter!
March 24th, 2008 at 8:01 am
I so agree! I feel snubbed when the WebCelebs of Twitterverse ask us all to follow them, but then don’t return the favor. WTF? It’s like saying that what I have to say doesn’t matter to you and that I’m not important enough for you to return the connection, but I am important enough for you to ask me to follow you so your numbers get big. I may be just a number to the gov’t but I am a person, and what flows from my lips may just surprise you!
March 24th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Scoble,
Do you honestly think that listening to lots of twitter streams makes you smarter? Really?
I am so sick of this stuff that it makes my blood boil. Why is it that the whole social media thing is designed around what’s happening NOW when what I really want to know is what MATTERS.
Following friends doesn’t make you smarter. I claim it makes you dumber as you spend less time understanding what matters, and more time understanding who is tying their laces!!
March 24th, 2008 at 8:27 am
From this post:
“At some point I thought it was important to get lots of followers. But lately I’ve been telling people that the secret to Twitter isn’t how many followers you have, but how many people you are following.”
Exactly! Not enough people understand this. Scoble is a very bright individual.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Doesn’t matter how many people you listen to if you have nothing interesting to say.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Re:
“Dan: it’s not hard to listen to 15,000. Just get Google Talk and watch the posts roll over your screen. Now, keep in mind, I only do that for a couple of hours a day. I use the “replies” tab to see people who talked to me. I use various Twitter search engines to follow people who are talking about something specific. I use FriendFeed to see a smattering of other things that happen throughout the day (best posts get commented on, which brings them to the top).
Comment by Robert Scoble — March 24, 2008 @ 7:37 am”
Robert, if you offered a class in regard to maximizing the use of Twitter and other social networks, think about how many people would love to take that? (anyone that wants to get ahead and learn from the best). This blog, Scobleizer) is an informal class (dialogue I know) anyway.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Robert,
I can’t disagree with you more. Why not “follow everyone” then? I don’t think you following that many people is “authentic.” You don’t read their tweets… how can you even claim to be following them.
It’s a giant river of chatter… you look for the big fish (like Calacanis to borrow your example) and ignore the little fish. I don’t follow you because although I’ve met you in person and think you are quality guy, the relationship with you on Twitter is a waste of attention because your attention is too distracted.
P.S. I don’t think you even believe this position you’re taking and are only doing it to get more comments to your blog.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:47 am
[...] no me crean a mí. Hay un gringo que lo explica muy bien aquí. Y el artículo se llama, muy atinadamente, ‘The secret to Twitter’. Have a [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Let’s just hope that Twitter will not kill our language. I am sorry to say it, but that is the worst written post of you in a long time. I bet you hardly spent any time on it, as the wording of the post reminds me of pre-high school-kind of argumentation. Is Twitter affecting our language?
March 24th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Missing something here Robert - *most* people’s jobs do not give them the time in the day to spend two hours watching a feed of anything. This, in my opinion, is what will forever limit the potential of Twitter. Most of us are barely keeping up with email (hence Arrington’s post today) and the news feeds we already read, the notion of trying to track yet another ‘conversation’ is just out of reach for too many people.
And by the way, I’m not saying you aren’t a busy guy - I know you are.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:53 am
marc you are totally wrong. If you watch my twitter stream you will see that most of my replies are to non-celebrity Twitterers.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Hey Robert - not sure if you’ll read all the way down here, but it’s down to comment 88, and i don’t see many really disagreeing with your main points. That ends here. :-p
You speak of proper usage of Twitter like there’s a right way and a wrong way to use it. You subscribe to ten times the newsfeeds I do, Robert. That means you *must* have seen all the same quality news posts I’ve seen describing twenty or thirty ways to use Twitter in an effort to increase productivity, knowlege or communication.
That said, how can you say that there’s only one way to use twitter to make you smarter? This isn’t a continuum.
Listen, I’m a guy who loves absolute truth and a guy who hates moral relativism, so it pains me to say this, but there aren’t very many *wrong* ways to use Twitter.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I use as an outlet for my thoughts. To teach me to regularly record what I am doing and thinking.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:57 am
More is not better, enough is. Follow enough to assure that you are not trapped in group think. Follow enough to challenge your perceptions. Follow others who adhere to this precept and your ‘following’ will be magnified. Follow few enough that you have some time to have a life.
Live long, live well.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Twitter is for the Web 2.0 narcissist club. I don’t think most people need or want it.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I think you are spot on with this one. The only reason I even got on twitter was to follow a few of my friends. I think that following is much more important as opposed to being followed. Knowledge is power so more knowledge = good.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I don’t get it. I’m sure there are studies that prove that people capture less after a certain threshold of both quantity and time. And I’m sure that Twitter is only relevant to a subset of people, e.g. journalists like yourself or marketeers like Calicanis, who I guess have the 2-hours/day to dedicate to this. So why are you trying to convince us that Twitter is good for everyone? Where is the science behind it, the objectivity?
Where is the study that proves that it is better for me to follow 10,000 people, when I already lose track after 30? And who am *I* supposed to be? John Smith from down the street, or some kind of *specific* professional whose work revolves around Twitter? And if it’s meant to be someone specific, then qualify that.
I find it much more interesting to hear about interviews with Russian entrepreneurs or other visionaries, then a glamourised chat-program. But that’s probably because I’m me.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Well, at least the self-absorbed tweeters are busy talking to each other, leaving the Valley streets free of the usual daily sociopath fare.
Good for something after all.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:54 am
[...] Internet in general. A few are some recognized names in the world of blogging like Darren Rowse and Robert Scoble. It’s a lot of information and quite frankly hard to process it all. But with each day, or [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Robert, I read this early in the morning and didn’t have enough time to comment then. This is the best post I have ever read. It’s all about community.
Who follows the most people on twitter?
March 24th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
It’s hard to explain how much your perspective of Twitter changes when you go from being followed by 80 people to 8,000. The most fascinating thing about Twitter is that in both cases, there is great value in it as a communication platform. I have met dozens of interesting people around the country solely because I follow a lot of people on Twitter. Of course, that’s because I use Twitter to connect with new people, rather than as a method of grasping for cyber attention.
March 24th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
@Scobleizer - I love your message! To that end, I try and follow 3-5 new people today. In fact just the other day, I asked Twitter “whom should I be following that I’m not already?” The funniest response I got back was to follow @tweetjeebus.
It is nice to get followed back so you can actually have a conversation with folks but you’re right, at the end of the day you can learn a TON from just listening.
Best @astrout
March 24th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Scoble - What if most of the Twitters you are following are just one-sided attempts at self-broadcasting one’s own coolness to the world? Is that really learning a lot about someone and their passions, intellectual curiosity and discoveries? Following so many: “i’m at the coolest party ev-er!” and “look at what i’m doing! look how cool it is!!” tweets?
I am experimenting with Twitter and I wonder if there is real value in the communications exchanged. Maybe what you write is true in the case of following tweets that are deeper than the shallow kinds I just described, but if so I cannot find them. Or else, it’s a steep curve to get to meaningful content for a n00b.
March 24th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
[...] is an aside titled ‘Scoble wants to be your friend’ dated 3/24/08 Scoble argues that the “secret to Twitter isn’t how many followers you have, but how many people you [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Nice post, Mr. Scoble — a very street savvy perspective and one that likely benefits you - my simple math on 10 friends I just tweeted - 4 have the excat same followers/followed (reciprocity at play?), 4 have more followers and 2 follow more —not too sure if everybody is on your page, but it would appear like about half subscribe to your spray gun policy. cheers
March 24th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
links for 2008-03-25
Tag Cloud - The Daily Mo
(tags: icommented media budgets)
Basic Thinking Blog | Data Portability: Was ist mit Interconnectivity?
(tags: data portability social networks weblogs trackbacks)
What is Data Portability? — mrtopf.de
…
March 24th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I don’t mean to disappoint anyone, but I’m not such a big fan of Twiteter. I am a good listner, but it’s hard for me to follow it, dunno why.
However, I found a funny use for it: a month ago, I started useing it to write short stories. It is quite challenging to write with 140 characters, and since then I’ve been using it a lot more.
It’s in Portuguese (I’m considering creating one in English), but if you wanna check out http://www.twitter.com/silentinsanity .
March 24th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I think it’s natural to have more followers than people you follow because I find that what happens is that every day, a half dozen or so people might follow me, but 4 or 5 of them will have just started and put NOTHING in their tweets, or they have a totally boring page. I wish there was a way to just keep them “pending” in a holding pen (other than email) to see if they get more interesting. So many people on these things just want to gawk while others entertain them, so they have nothing to say or are even silent. Why follow them, then?
I think ZiggyFigaro’s Ninja Twitter tip: don’t follow people until you have some sayings on your own Twitter — is a key to getting more people to follow you.
I’d love to follow more interesting people, but where are they? I’d have to sit online and watch the public firehose and that takes time. So I find people by mining Scoble’s friends periodically, and also using tweetscan.com to see the people who mentioned my name whom I didn’t even know.
March 24th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
no comment. I’m just listening.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Excellent post, I learned something!
March 24th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
[...] The secret to Twitter « Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger Great take on Twitter here. Why is it so adored among those who adore it? (tags: Twitter microblogging) [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
[...] completely dig Scoble’s method of using Twitter. I’ve been wanting to consume mass tweets and watch information [...]
March 24th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I follow you and I’ve even answered your tweets and you’ve never answered. :(
March 24th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Great post…Listening is a hard skill, I’ve been doing alot of it lately.
I’m not a heavy Twitter follower nor followee - I’m half and half. Does this make me balanced?
http://twitter.com/dalka
March 24th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Chuck: sometimes I can’t get back to everyone. Sorry.
March 25th, 2008 at 12:23 am
The Real Secret to Twitter
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23414957-2,00.html
As more people leave the office computer, only to log on as soon as they get home, the American Journal of Psychiatry has found addiction to text messaging and emailing could be another form of mental illness.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:30 am
[...] Robert Scoble: The Secret to Twitter - “At some point I thought it was important to get lots of followers. But lately I’ve been telling people that the secret to Twitter isn’t how many followers you have, but how many people you are following.“ [...]
March 25th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Right on Robert. When I was about 10 years old, my grandmother told me “you learn a lot more from listening than you do from talking.” It’s stuck with me and definitely applies to Twitter. Nice post!
Yankee wisdom never goes out of style.
March 25th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Right on Robert. When I was about 10 years old, my grandmother told me “you learn a lot more from listening than you do from talking.” It’s stuck with me and definitely applies to Twitter. Nice post!
Yankee wisdom never goes out of style.
@jstorerj on Twitter
March 25th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I think this is halfway right. It is important to follow lots of people, but it’s not the only thing that matters. I have been followed by many accounts that are following 6000+ people, but are clearly just doing it to gain volume. I think that the number of people you are having real conversations with is what matters. Following people via a script that follows as many IDs as it can follow isn’t really participating in anything.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:20 am
[...] Speaking of Robert Scoble, he wrote a really good post, himself on “The secret to Twitter”. [...]
March 25th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Agree 100%. And thanks for the homily. I’m putting extra emphasis on following others rather than the other way around.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Questions for the tweets - what do you do if/when you go “off twitter” and come back on? do you read past tweets? do you click on your favorite follow/er? do you begin at that moment? what percentage of the tweets you follow actively twitter?
March 25th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Agreed.. I need to follow more people
March 25th, 2008 at 11:32 am
“The secret to Twitter is how many people are you listening to, not how many people are listening to you.”
This comment is 100% correct. The amount of things you can learn on Twitter is endless if you pay attention.
March 25th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Twitter is an amazing tool. I do not get to read as much as I would like however with my busy days.
March 25th, 2008 at 11:36 am
“The secret to Twitter is how many people are you listening to, not how many people are listening to you.”
This comment is 100% correct. The amount of things you can learn on Twitter is endless if you pay attention.
March 25th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
iThink you should race Paris, coin it a twitteroff! Go Go Scoble!
March 25th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Im new to twitter and i have three followers and to be honest i couldnt care less if i have any more.
March 25th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Like most of the people here, I totally agree.
March 25th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I manage the San Francisco Surfrider Twitter account, which has been incredibly helpful for us, and has a ton of followers (around 130) and we’re not following anyone since we’re using it mainly as a broadcasting medium.
I encourage other orgs to do the same-it’s a great way to get news like beach cleans, and even oil spills, out to a large group of people instantly. Early detection, early response.
@SFSurfrider
March 25th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
[...] Scoble’s recent post The secret to Twitter has raised a flurry of comments from readers on the benefits of “listening” vs. [...]
March 25th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Consequence:
(1) If listening to a lot of birds in the Twitter cage shows your ability to learn more, meet more and find out more stuff this “more” aspect also diverts your attention.
(2) If we replace “more” with “focus” we arrive at the Golden Rule update 1.0, your number-hunt is over now,
breath out and feel free again.
(3) Realize that THIS is how you want to be treated.
Enjoy!
March 25th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
[...] couple days ago, after months of thinking about how to consume more information, I was inspired by Scoble’s post to switch off of a standard HTTP Twitter API polling application (Twitterific) and move to a Jabber [...]
March 25th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
[...] think Scoble puts it best: You’re communicating to the world that you’d like to be listened to (golden rule: treat people [...]
March 25th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Robert, you rock. thanks so much for just being around. heheheee. still can’t decide what time of day to call. =D
jen
March 25th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I love this school of thought. I use Twitter as an educational and conversational tool. I’m glad you spoke out against those who primarily use Twitter as a popularity contest. That’s not what it’s all about.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Can you believe it’s been a year since we recorded that video about “what is Twitter” in San Jose? Crazy how it’s still evolving and our experience with it is changing.
What will a year bring?
March 25th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
[...] by Scobleizer articles, yesterday I’m starting to follow several people on Twitter (I’m became a [...]
March 25th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Robert, I’ve been moving to this approach and am loving it. It’s definitely not for everyone. I’ve been covering it in my blog and describing the transition from personal Twittering (tools to use, effects, etc) at http://solyoung.com.
So far, two days of being in the ‘flow’.
Thanks for the inspiration.
March 25th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Thats a great point of view. I joined twitter and couple of weeks ago and yep, do look at how many people follow me. Now shall look at it the other way round, how many people i follow and the new things i learn about
cheers,
ashish
twitter.com/ashish_mumbai
March 26th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Great post… Thanks for sharing
March 26th, 2008 at 3:48 am
[...] blogger, heeft bijvoorbeeld zowat 15000 volgelingen en mensen in zijn twitterlijst zitten. Zijn verklaring: What does following a lot of people say? 1. You’re trying to learn more. 2. You’re trying to [...]
March 26th, 2008 at 5:39 am
[...] Richard Scoble has just written a post to the effect of ‘it isn’t really about how many people follow you, it’s how many you follow’. Something about expanding the mind (I think that might be important because chicks really dig that stuff) - apparently because: [...]
March 26th, 2008 at 6:22 am
balance = more able to have conversations, which is the true power of this medium.
March 26th, 2008 at 9:27 am
I followed a few hundred people in my new city, and learned more in a week about my city’s attitudes and hotspots and culture than I had learned in the previous year of living there.
March 26th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Quality over quantity-like RSS feeds.
March 26th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
[...] et que personne n’est encore tout à fait d’accord sur les raisons du succès (The secret to Twitter et The secret to Twitter, part II), la preuve que le concept n’a pas encore dévoilé tout [...]
March 26th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
[...] Posted by shannonclark on March 26, 2008 Robert Scoble says the secret to Twitter success is who you follow. [...]
March 27th, 2008 at 4:16 am
I talked a little about how I use Twitter here: http://shaidorsai.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/twitter-what-it-is-and-how-i-use-it/
Like many others, I use Twitter to learn. @scobleizer and @gapingvoid can tweet enough to drown the updates from other folk I follow.
Should you whinge about it? No, twitter’s lovely for that. First, cut off the notifications; still too much? Unfollow them. I don’t lose Hugh or Robert’s thoughts, I read them through RSS via a High Volume Tweets page I set up in netvibes.
I follow some thought leaders, some friends & colleagues, some folk nearby geographically. (Some fall into more than one category :) )
If I’m not getting much out of it, I unfollow. I’m certain others do the same. I check with http://dossy.org/twitter/karma/ occasionally to see if anyone’s started following me. I’ll always follow back - initially to learn more about who’s interested in me.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
[...] Scoble’s take [...]
March 27th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
[...] do I get followers? The true secret to twitter is not to try and get followers. Followers will find you if you are helpful and post meaningful [...]
March 27th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
[...] Scoble wrote a post a few days ago saying that the secret to Twitter is following a lot of people: I’ve gone through stages with Twitter. At some point I thought [...]
March 27th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
[...] Fleet wrote a response to a recent post by Robert Scoble about the ’secret’ of Twitter. He said that Scoble is "dead wrong" about his theory that following more is better than [...]
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