Size doesn’t matter on Twitter

It’s your community of followers and the value they bring that counts, according to the author.

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Of course, my circle isn’t set in stone. Sometimes I add to it, but I like to keep it at a low number. It keeps things personal and under control.

The number of people who follow me (around 370 as of this writing) grows fairly consistently, and I appreciate those who have deemed me worth following.

Yet without fail, I see that number grow and shrink on a weekly basis. I think I’ve zeroed in on the reason people and brands unfollow me; unfortunately, it has nothing to do with my tweets.

It’s because I don’t follow them back.

We all know them. They have 28,000 followers and are following 27,999. Their goal is to build a mountain taller and taller, and then—taller and taller and taller. Often, an app helps them follow en masse and unfollow the ones that don’t return the favor.

There’s no bigger pet peeve of mine in the social media world than people who are in it for the illusion of influence. If you have great insights, people will find you—I can almost guarantee you will build a following. But if your No. 1 goal is followers (as has seemingly been the case for many self-proclaimed “social media experts,” ironically enough) you’re missing the point.

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