Low Barriers Of Friendship on Twitter
You don’t use twitter? You silly luddite! Okay actually I just started using it yesterday, I’ve had an account for a while but I never really understood what I was supposed to do with it. The idea that other people care what I’m doing at the moment seemed like a joke, however I’ve realized that there’s more to it than that.
Reciprocal Friendships
You have two basic relationships on twitter, following and follower. If I find you and like you for whatever reason I can choose to follow you, I am not your follower. On the other hand, people might find you and decide that you’re interesting and want to follow you. So after a few clicks you’re suddenly “friends”.
I find it hard to not to follow someone who has decided to follow me. It feels wrong not reciprocating the love and saying “oh you? Uh sure, I’ll be interested in what you’re saying too, sounds great!”. I have 1 person that I’m following on twitter that I’ve actually met in person (we’ve known each other for a while) the rest of them are unknown entities recognizable only by their 48×48 pixel avatar.
Twitter as a Networking Tool
Since I’m not really interesting in trying to form a bunch of online relationships with various people, I’m trying to approach twitter as a method to get in touch with people in my area who are interested in the same things I’m interested in. So far I’ve found a number of local industry experts, bigwigs and people I’d like to meet and have issued that first bit of contact. I’m now on their radar, fantastic. I’ve also found out about an awesome local gathering that I’m excited to attend.
It may be simple to follow and be followed on twitter, but if I remember “quality over quantity” it’s possible that I will create some very useful online and offline relationships that can benefit both parties. So what are you waiting for? Follow me on twitter.
