When the numbers lie.

How do you decide whom to follow or like on Social Media?

When I look at Twitter accounts, I look at how many people are connected to the person I’m thinking about following. How many followers does this person have and how many people are they following? There are three things I look at when I am deciding about connecting with people on Twitter.

#1. How many followers do they have? If someone has a very large number of followers compared to how many people they are following, that’s a negative in my book. I’ll take a look at their tweets. Are the profound enough to warrant a huge numbers of followers? Is the person some kind of celebrity? Usually these are people who aren’t interested in listening – only sharing their message.

#2. What are the odds that this person will follow me back? If the person shows a following that is close to the number of people he is following, then odd are they’ll follow me too.

#3. Who do I really want (or need) to connect with? This has been a quandary for more than just me, I’m sure. I have three different twitter accounts, just so I don’t cross lines. Is this too much? I’m not sure yet, I’ll let you know. The reason I did it? To keep the things that I do that are separate from each other, with the intention of keeping them “Pure.” For example, on @PageReaders I want to share information Indie Authors and Industry professionals would find interesting or time worthy enough to check out. I don’t necessarily want to share every little thing I tweet about on my personal @NanciArvizu profile. I mean, they’re welcome to follow me at both accounts but I feel this gives the follower the option of what messages they see from me.

Not that all of my followers are going to see all of my messages. But that’s the numbers game. If you’re connected with someone who has 5,000 + followers, do you really think they’re going to see your message in their news feed? The odds are – seriously, think about it.

To get their attention you’ll have to @ and # them all day long. Some will hopefully get right back to you, because that’s what Social Media is really all about – the quick response. But others may not respond and you then have two choices, to keep trying or move on to someone else. (Just why are you trying to get their attention?)

Something else – look at the tweets the person is sharing. Are they real, up to the minute items or something coming from their Social Oomph account? (What do you want filling up your newsfeed?)

So many people buy their followers, 1,000 for a couple of bucks. But those numbers don’t mean sales or success.

I find it even funnier (or sadder) when, after buying 1,000 followers or likes, that the buyer then asks – why aren’t my followers buying?

Because those numbers are not people who are interested in what you’re selling. You didn’t gain them as a follower through your words or wisdom. You gained them through your wallet.

There is no short path to success or wealth. It takes time to meet the people along your path who will keep you going in the right direction. Those people are not on fivver.

If you’re going to be in the Social Media game, you have to actually be in the game. This is no time to fake it. And if you decide to fake it anyway, don’t be surprised when your results are fake too.

Here’s an interesting article I read about The Social Trust Factor. And where did I find this?

On twitter.

Be sure to share the love both here and on the other site, if you decide to click over and read it. By sharing the love, I mean share it on Facebook, Twitter, tumbler… You know, be in the game!