The Real Value of Followers in Social Media
Jul 27th, 2009 by David Svet
Do you get the same requests to follow people on Twitter that I do? I’m talking about the ones where they promise the secret to gaining thousands of followers in minutes. Do you find yourself gathering followers competitively, as if you were gathering up money that flew out the back of a Brinks truck? Is this really what Twitter is all about? Is this the true value of social media?
I’m not here to dismiss affiliate marketing. I understand it, but it isn’t why most professionals are involved with social media. We have businesses and use social media as a channel for networking. So, in light of that, do numbers of followers matter? Yes and no.
Everyone with something to sell needs a base of prospects. So, in that sense, yes, numbers of followers matter. But, in social media there is very little selling going on because it is SOCIAL media. Everyone is there to network and add value to the conversation. This makes the real value lie in the number and kind of connections between people rather than purely the number of followers. This is true because for each person that you add to your network the opportunity for connections increases exponentially. So the real power is in the connections.
Why are the connections more powerful than the individuals? The connections enable like minded individuals to form small groups and act collectively to influence others — the power of a team vs. a random group of individuals. So while it is great that you can add another follower who is interested in your thoughts, it is far better to introduce that individual to your friends and empower them to go forth on your behalf.
So, each time you add a follower to your network, consider why you are adding them and how you will enable them to meet your friends and fulfill your mission. You’ll probably find that you have fewer followers, but a very powerful network. That’s the real value of followers in social media.
David,
Great words. Each time I see a request to follow someone I have to think a minute. Is this person just collecting names or will there be value in our relationship for both of us in the future. As you say its all about a quality network not a quantity network. Leave that for the celebrities.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Michael
while this point may be intuitive to seasoned social media practitioners and explorers, it benefits the networking collective to be occasionally reminded of the intrinsic value proposition. moreover, those experiencing their first foray into SM could very well benefit from this ‘SPURspective’
Thanks for the affirmation guys. I’m amazed at times how a lot of SM starts to sound like carnival barkers — all talk, but no conversations. Everyone seems to be yelling and selling, trying to pick up more followers, as if that is their end goal.
We finally have a Many-to-Many communications channel that works really well. It makes me sad when I see it wasted or clogged. Fortunately, most people are figuring it out and it is amazing!
Just thought I’d add a couple thoughts that came up as I was reading this post:
1) I think people underestimate the kind of work it takes to BUILD a network, not to mention to maintain it. So, while it’s nice to have others follow you and see that there is interest in what you do - you have to take the time to build your own network in the same way. Just as it takes others time and work to find you (if they’re a good follower), it should take you time and work to find important connections.
2) I think there is a sense of legitimacy attached to those who have a large following. While that is mostly a good sign (and this is by no means to diminish the value of what they say), I think there is also a lot of sincerity and trust that surrounds smaller networks. I see the same conversations making the rounds because they were started by an influencer, but many times it’s more rewarding to engage in a smaller exchange of ideas where the active players are truly involved.
Thanks for sharing yours, David!
That’s a great point Luise. It is a LOT of work to build an powerful network. Big networks are great, especially when they are built with genuinely involved followers. I think it’s the big networks that are built by bots collecting the names of the unknowing that are pretty useless.
Thank you so much for contributing!
David
Well with a large network you never really know who is actually listening and when you need them. Sometimes your network works in different ways.
I would rather have people who care to learn what I have to offer instead of some followers or friends who do not want the same things. I guess it is a weeding out process which we can learn from and thrive with.
Thank you so much for this post. I have been feeling behind, because my nonprofit doesn’t have as many followers as others. But I have just intuitively felt like we should let our followers grow organically, so we are communicating with people that want to engage with us, not just follow us. Your post reaffirmed that. Thanks.
Nice post Dave, and timely four our business in regards to social media. I’ve been somewhat concerned, as we’ve jumped into Twitter over the last several weeks, about who to follow, how many followers should we have, etc. Your post puts things in nice perspective. A good reminder that it is about connections. (Although Luise makes a good point about amount of followers and legitimacy as well.) We’re still trying to find our voice and balance overall-it’s certainly been interesting.