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I see bloggers frequently get frustrated and say "no one comments! why do I do this?" Lack of comments and interaction do not imply lack of audience. Commenting, or replying, takes effort and commitment. Reading and absorbing information is far more passive and safe.
mentioned) rejection or being ignored. I'm a tech trainer and while I can show how to use the
tools, I can't make someone join a conversation.
There are 3 types of Twitters:
1) Exhibitionists, Voyeurs, Gossips
2) News feeds
3) Topic Specific
(a 4th would be Spammers/Friend collectors but you should unfollow those quickly)
The type of information or seek or produce (1,2 or 3 above) will determine how many followers you can effectively have. Twitter is far different when following 40 people than it is following 250 than it is following 7000. If you are following a low number you can be intimate with your followers and really stay abreast of each other. If you are following something in the hundreds then you are getting a wealth of information but you will miss messages that allow you to build intimate bonds with the people you are following. If you are following thousands then you likely are using Twitter as a means of driving traffic to your website or as a means of pushing information out to an already loyal audience that really wants your info (or you are a friend collector).
Link from above (incase comments don't allow links): http://realityme.net/2007/10/26/put-redcross-in...
don't feel this pointless guilt and buy the scam. these twitter squatters never tweet worthwhile anyway.
Post links to interesting things, like pictures, blog posts, videos, cartoons, news stories, jokes etc...
Bookmark TinyUrl.com. You might need it to shorten long Urls.
If you want to address someone directly add an '@' symbol before their name. e.g. "@marksmith Enjoy your apple crumble". When they check their replies your post will show up.
When you get your first follower, say hi to them by using the @{username} syntax.
Make sure you have a link in your profile to your blog or website so people can find out a little more about you if they are curious.
Don't post too often, people will automatically filter you out. No one likes spam.
Get a good avatar. It matters.
When you start following a new person, let them (and others) know by saying something like "I'm now following @{username}".
Start out by following people whom you are interested in, maybe you read their blogs, maybe you watch their videos, maybe you like the photos they take.
Have a look who the people you are following are following. It's likely that you'll like some of those people too.
Check your replies every now and then, you be able to see if anyone has said something directed at you using the @{username} sytax.
Every now and then have a look through your followers and have a look at their page, check out their blog/webpage if they have one. Get to know who is interested in you, you might have things in common.
Try to meet the people you are following in person. This totally changes everything. If someone is organising a meetup, go along.
Try and be helpful, if someone asks a question, if you can add good info, answer them.
Make sure you set you mobile phone up so you can Twitter via sms, so you can tell everyone about the great idea you just had on the bus.
Get a twitterfeed account (twitterfeed.com) and set it up to check your blog feed or flickr feed or any other feeds you publish every 30 mins. It will automatically post links to your new items in these feeds.
If you want to send a private message to someone use the 'direct message' feature. Only they will see it.
If you have a Facebook account but can't be bothered to log in anymore to see your friends status', then create a new private Twitter account and use Twitterfeed to read your Facebook friends status rss feed and publish the latest items to this private Twitter account. Follow your new private Twitter account from your normal Twitter account. Good if you have lots of friends that are not on Twitter.