After six years or more of Twitter being an important part of the Social Media mix, it is a surprise to still see new Tweeters joining Twitter. Surprising is that so few Twitter newbies understand the medium, and many have a slim chance of attracting new Twitter followers when they follow one.

We occasionally check our Twitter Follower list, to see if any of our new Followers are worth following back, initially thought to be the right thing to do.  But increasingly we note that fewer and fewer new Followers are worth following back, the most interesting Tweeters probably having joined Twitter some years ago.

We present some guidelines for Twitter newbies, to help them enhance their Follower numbers, based on some of our latest Followers:

1.  An egg image shouts that the Tweeter is a newbie, not even having taken the trouble to post a profile picture, a Follower turn-off!

2.  Locked account Tweeters following others, who have to request permission to see Tweets, have a zero chance of gaining Followers!

3.   A new Twitter Follower with a minimal number of Followers shouts ‘newbie’, and is relatively uninteresting, unless it is a Twitter account for a new business.

4.  Airy-fairy profile descriptions that try to provoke or play mind games give no information to make one follow that person back.  Having no profile description is even worse, forcing one to check the Timeline, possibly creating alienation, in wasting time.  Spelling errors in the profile do not enhance one’s Twitter following (e.g. @CraftFairSA)

5.   Not specifying the city or town one is from reduces one’s chances of being followed back, or being from another country, more likely to be spam.

6.  Latest Tweets in the Timeline are a further indication of whether it is worth following the Tweeter.  If they are about topics not related to the Twitter account (e.g. commentary about rugby by a restaurant chef) could make one switch off potential Followers.

7.   Following, and unfollowing, and then following again, like Sonia Cabano likes to do with her @LusciousCT, does not win the Tweeter any brownie points nor Followers!

8.  Not having Tweeted at all when following other Tweeters must be the lowpoint of Twitter, and may signal a spam account.

9.   Choosing a vague or non-descriptive name for the Twitter account does not enhance one’s Follower numbers.

10.   Tweeting in languages mostly unknown to the Twitter followers one wants to attract back as Followers is not likely to attract them.

11.   Hard-core business Twitter accounts could be off-putting if one fears receiving regular sales messages (e.g. Michael Olivier @manmetdiepan peddling his podcasts).

12.  An imbalance in Tweets sent (i.e. huge numbers) compared to the number of Followers (much smaller numbers) signals bad news, in that the Tweeter could be a compulsive sharer of mostly insignificant information and feels it necessary to join in or create any conversation about any topic (e.g. @Konfytbekkie). Such Tweeters appear to have no life outside of Twitter!

13.   Expressing one’s religion in the Twitter profile may also be an instant switch-off.

14.   Accounts offering Twitter Followers for sale are an absolute no-no, and should receive no Follower support.

15.   Creating Twitter accounts to retweet other writers’ disparaging Tweets and links to disparaging blogposts, or sexist anti-female Tweets (e.g. Michael Olivier’s Die Vine Intervention partner John Fraser on his Twitter account @ClasFras1), are unlikely to gain or retain Followers!

16.   Posting Twitter posts simultaneously to Facebook, or to post an incomplete comment with a link to Facebook is off-putting, as it forces one to become a Facebook friend, even if one does not know the Facebooker.

Twitter appears to be losing its appeal, and to have become more boring.  Whilst being an interesting real-time (as opposed to Facebook’s random timeline) medley of ground-breaking news and opinion, its problem is the vast volume of information, a product of course of the number of Tweeters one follows.  The more followers, the greater the volume of Tweets.  Most Tweeters have too many Followers already, and therefore very carefully evaluate accepting new Followers.  Few of us Tweeters make time to Unfollow Tweeters who no longer meaningly contribute to our information base, which  means that there is little ‘space’ avaiable for new Followers knocking on the Twitter door!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Tel (021) 433-2100, Twitter:@WhaleCottage  Facebook:  click here