What determines your follower base on Twitter?

So for the past few days I’ve been mulling about what exactly determines your follower base on Twitter..

Is it predominantly the topis you tweet about? For e.g: Marketing, Leadership, Social Media

Is it your online brand image?

Is it your offline brand image?

is it your Profile description on Twitter?

Is it your Twitter profile photo ?

Is it the quality (read as relevant and valuable information) of your tweets?

Is it the quantify (read as frequency) of your Twitter activity?

Is it having some Twitter activity every single day?

Is it a complex equation with all of the variables above?

What’s your view? Leave a comment to let me know

Does Twitter have a memory?

“Does Twitter have a memory?” is something I have been mulling about… Going down memory lane to what I studied in High School Computer Science Basics..

Is it comparable to a RAM (Random Access Memory)? – Fast, Anytime Anywhere access, And somewhat random in user tweets, reactions and responses? (akin to human behaviors, which are many times random)

Is it comparable to a ROM (Read Only Memory)? – No option to “edit” a tweet, can only delete a tweet

Is it comparable to a PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory)? – Using Twitter tools, you can program your tweets so that you’re Twitter activity is continuous, and not really dependent on your “real presence”!

Is it comparable to an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory)? – Yes! You can erase tweets once they are published, and can take tweets away from memory. Even otherwise, with the continuous stream of tweets, I wonder how long people actually remember tweets (their own and others)

Is it comparable to a EEPROM (Extendable Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory)? – And you can extend your Twitter connection in Twitter, and beyond Twitter (to other social media platforms) or even to real life

Or is it really a little of all of the above?

Offline Status = Anti Social, Online Status = Super Social???

Human Behavior has always fascinated me a great deal – Both in the real world and in the “virtual” world. And ever since I’ve been active on Social Media for the past few years, I’ve noticed a few behavioral patterns in people I know.. Something which intrigued me, interested me and even puzzled me…

Broadly, I noticed the following categories of behaviors (primarily FaceBook and Twitter)

Category 1 : Offline Status = Super Social, Online Status = Anti Social
These are the kind of people who have a zillion friends in the real world. Everywhere they go, they know someone, or are well known within specific networks. They have an active social life, actively participate in one / many activities of interest to them. What I broadly call “Super Social” as far as the real world is concerned. As for as their online presence in social networks goes, it almost does not exist. In some cases they have a profile on FaceBook or Twitter, but hardly connect with any of their friends neither do they post updates about their active social life. I asked a few such people I personally know about why they were not so active on Social Media (given the whole world is headed there). Several valid responses, the Top ones were “Not interested in connecting virtually when I can do the real thing“, “No time as the real-world keeps me busy enough“, “Don’t still get how you can be social in the virtual world!“

Category 2 : Offline Status = Super Social, Online Status = Super Social
These are the kinds of people who are “Super Social ” in the real world – They have friends everywhere they go, They are well known and popular in the circles / groups / communities they’re a part of. And they carry this side of their personality to the online world as well. So they have a zillion connections on FaceBook, Several thousands of followers on Twitter (& also follow several thousands of people), etc etc. They are active on most of the Social networking sites and every day there are several updates from them. My only thoughts are “Just how do they manage to do it?” and “Don’t they ever sleep?” – However they do it, hats-off to them!

Category 3 : Offline Status = Anti Social, Online Status = Anti Social
This is the kind of people who keep pretty much to themselves : both in the real world and in the virtual world. They have very few social connections in the real world, and keep it this way even in the online world. Many of them don’t even have profiles on FaceBook, and while some of them do, they barely connect with anyone or update their status. Their favorite responses “Not interested” or “I really don’t know what to say ” or “Who’d be interested anyways!“. Hmm. Well as long as they are happy with their status, who can say / do anything?

Category 4 : Offline Status = Selectively Social, Online Status = Selectively Social
This is the category that most people I know usually fall into. They are selectively social in their associations and connections in the real world (Some past / history, common interests, hobbies, topics of conversation, etc. usually drive engagement), and exhibit similar behavior in the virtual world. They typically connect with people they know or want to know better for a specific reason, are restrictive about their privacy settings, and guarded about what they share on Social Media.

Category 5 : Offline Status = Anti Social, Online Status = Super Social
This last category of individuals intrigues me the post. They are “Anti Social” in the real world – No smile, No greeting, No Hello (even if they know you), barely have an active social network or social life in the real world. And when you see their online status (read FaceBook, Twitter, etc.) you will be pleasantly surprised (in some instances almost shocked) to see their activities, connections, how frequently they share content, how much they disclose about themselves.. They are completely “transformed” individuals – Almost like a “dual” or “split personality”.

I wonder often what triggers such a drastic change.
Is it because they don’t have a real world social life they try to compensate in the online world?
Is it because they can start afresh & build new connections with people across the world?
Is it because they enjoy the freedom & choices they can make in social media?
Is it because they are more comfortable to connect, engage and interact “virtually” – without Face-2-Face interactions

On one hand it’s good. As Aristotle said “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.” . So better to build social connections – even if it is in the “virtual world” than have none at all!

On the other hand, I wonder how one can have such contrasting sides to their personality?

NOTE: By pure logic, I am sure that several other combinations of status are possible. However, I have listed above the one’s I have pre-dominantly observed.

ADDENDUM – For ease of understanding, I have depicted this in a Matrix.. Refer below

What’s your view? What categories of behaviors have you seen? Leave a comment to let me know…

Social Media Etiquette 101 : The Basics

Over the past few weeks, Social Media (Blogs, FaceBook, Twitter) has been in the prime-time news. Some of it is good news, but several times its been not-so-good news. And primarily because someone tweeted something which upset / hurt / offended someone else, someone blogged an article without giving credit to whom it was due, a FaceBook update which did not go well with the general public opinion. And what followed was arguments, anger, negativity, criticism

As I reflect on some of these events, I honestly believe several of them could easily be avoided if basic Social Media Etiquette is followed. Probably basic life lessons you learned in KinderGarden, but somehow forgot along the journey to adulthood…

In this post, I am listing the Most Important Lessons of Social Media Etiquette – be it blogs, Twitter, FaceBook, etc.

Lesson 1: Be HONEST, Don’t LIE

Ever heard of “Honesty is the BEST POLICY“. Well it applies to Social Media as well. So be TRUE, Be HONEST and Don’t LIE. If you are not comfortable expressing your true opinion on a specific topic on Social Media, then Don’t Say anything. Be QUIET – which is OK. If you don’t know something, then its again OK to not say anything. But don’t LIE! The thing about lies is you get caught sometime somehow – Trust me on this!

Lesson 2: Give Credit where its DUE, Don’t STEAL

Again ever heard of “Don’t take things that don’t belong to you, and if you have to borrow then at least let the owner know!“. Well it applies to Social Media as well. So don’t STEAL others content on Social Media (blogs, Tweets, views, etc.) . If you do want to use / quote an article published by someone else, give a reference to the original content and acknowledge the author. (I’ve personally experienced cases of people publishing my blogs on their own blogs without any link or reference – And trust me! It feels awful. After all anyone who publishes content has put significant time, thought and effort into it. Just ask yourself how you would feel if someone walked into your house and walked out with your belongings – clothes, accessories, money, etc. Well its the same when you “STEAL” others content on Social Media). So make it a point to give credit where its DUE. Not only does it build your own credibility as someone who reads others content, but also acknowledges their efforts. And you also build your own social media networks by connecting to other authors – Trust me these relationships are worth more than stealing content and trying to pass it off as your own!

Lesson 3: Think before you WRITE

Anyone who wished you well always said “Think before you say or do anything.” Well it applies to Social Media as well. Before you write anything, think about the best way you can articulate your thoughts / views / opinions.  Most of the Social Media errors happen because people don’t think before they write. If you are stressed, emotionally low / high, drunk, angry, upset, depressed… suggest you don’t write on Social Media till you feel more in control of your thoughts / emotions OR just write for yourself and don’t publish. Impulsive writing can sometimes bring out the best creativity in people, but it has to be when your thoughts / emotions are stable and balanced.

Lesson 4: Review before you PUBLISH

When you were in school, your parents and teachers always said “Check you answer sheet once before you turn it in“. Well it applies for Social Media as well. Before you publish anything (on Blog, Twitter, FaceBook, etc.) review it once with a calm mind. The reason being that many times we write things which we don’t really mean, we write things which can be (mis)interpreted in many different ways; and more importantly we are human and hence can possibly make errors. So do a self-review before you publish any content on Social Media.

Lesson 5: Be “GOOD” 

The last point is “Be GOOD” on Social Media – To those you know, to those you don’t know.. To those with whom you agree, to those with whom you don’t agree. The fact is that the real world has its share of “Good and Bad” – Both as a part of our everyday lives, and as a part of the world in general. And there is also more negativity than positivity all around – Death, Terror, Loss, Lies, Infidelity, Anxiety, Fear, Uncertainty, Stress – They are all integral to our lives.

And so for many of us, Social Media is a welcome escape, a mini-dream-land. To connect with people who think like us, To connect with people we know, To connect with people we want to know, To connect with people who inspire us.

And the fact is that we all like to feel “GOOD”, especially on Social Media. And how do you feel GOOD? By reading GOOD stuff – Content which makes you smile, laugh, gives you hope, inspires you, motivates you, helps you learn, makes you happy, helps you grow.. And Do you think that you can achieve any of the above if you read / come across all “negative content” – which is demotivating, depressing, melancholy, continuous criticism, unwarranted judgment, etc. – Absolutely NOT! Again you can share a point of view which is radical / contrary to the popular belief, but you should know how to articulate it so that people appreciate your point-of-view; and it leaves them with food for thought, as opposed to anger or resentment or disbelief which sparks negativity.

And the best way you can share positivity is to be GOOD – in what you write… Be positive in what you write and share, Express Gratitude for the support you receive, and ignore what is better ignoring (It’s easier to ignore on social media)

And Goodness breeds Goodness… And before you know

Goodness is all around.. Thanks to you!

What is the most IMPORTANT QUESTION?

We’ve all learnt way back in primary school that asking the right questions is important to elicit holistic understanding on any subject.. The key questions one typically asks are:
• What?
• How?
• When?
• Where?
• By Whom?
• Why?

I’ve often wondered which is the most important question? And honestly, my response has varied over the years..
Initially, I thought the most important question is WHAT? – “Discovering what something is?” was exciting and it helped me understand the world around me better..

Then, I thought the most important question is HOW? – “Discovering how anything works?” was like solving a mystery and when you figure the answers you feel thrilled about your learning

And then I thought the most important question is BY WHOM? – “Discovering who makes decisions, does things.. makes the world go round”.. and it again helped me understand the importance of people in the little day-to-day things of life, and of course in the larger aspects of the universe..

As I grow older and wiser, I now think the most important question is the BIG WHY? “Why do people behave the way they do?”, “Why are we born?”, “Why does the sun rise everyday?”, “Why does a baby feel happy to cuddle with her / his mother?”, “Why has FaceBoook become such a phenomenon?”, “Why does one lose track of time of Twitter?”, “Why do people love to play Angry Birds?”, “Why do the most serious people cry at the movies?”, “Why do people fall in love?”, “Why do we love to go to mummy’s home always?”, “Why is mummy’s food always the very BEST?”, “Why does time seem to stand still when you want something real quick?”.. – These are the questions which keep me awake at night..
And hence today, I believe the most important question is WHY?
And that many change 5 years from now.. But for now.. this is what it is!

In your view, what is the most important QUESTION? Leave a comment to let me know..

6 Ways Twitter can TRANSFORM YOUR Organization

One of the key challenges for start-ups, small and medium enterprises (SME) is to ensure a continuous focus on the “organizational aspects” of the enterprise. While the focus tends to be predominantly on new business wins (contribution to “top-line” growth) or enriching the product / service portfolio (possible contribution to the “top-line” / “bottom-line”), several times “softer organizational aspects” like employee motivation, building team spirit, etc. are de-prioritized.

One possible and effective ways to address these issues would be to leverage the power of Social Media platforms. Not only is social media cost effective, easy to learn and adopt; but also given that many employees anyway spend a part of their time regularly on Social media platforms – the probability of success is amplified!

Among all the available social media platforms, Twitter in particular can be effectively leveraged for several key aspects within an organization. Trends suggest that Twitter is already being adopted internally within many organizations. However, the intent and objective varies drastically – in some cases, it may be just a “follow-the-herd” mentality and in some it may be because someone in “power” within the organization suggested it and in some it may be with a compelling well-thought out strategy.
However, the real success can be realized only if there is a well-defined objective for usage of Twitter, a time frame and a specific measurement criterion aligned to the objective.

In this blog, I will list 6 very specific ways Twitter can be used within YOUR organization:
(1) For Generating Ideas
Twitter can be used as a great platform for idea generation. The reason being that ideas can occur any time of the day and when you are in the middle of any task. And all that is required to capture an idea is a place to log it. Twitter can easily be used for this objective – as you can enter your ideas / thoughts when they occur and in a very brief manner (140 chars) – All you need is probably your laptop / mobile, internet connectivity (which is usually available 24 hours a day) and discipline in logging your ideas. Usage of a specific Twitter hashtag to capture ideas aligned with a specific objective can prove to be enormously helpful here. Of course, idea qualification and evaluation has to be handled separately.

(2) For Knowledge Sharing
Twitter can be a very effective platform for knowledge sharing. In today’s day and age, it is imperative for most professionals to keep up-to-date with several aspects of their job. The other reality is that we are all pressed for time. Twitter can prove to be very effective to achieve this. So let’s say a team of 3 people need to update their knowledge on Project Management, Technology and Domain trends. Every day, one person reads on the topic assigned to him / her for 15 minutes and shares the key information / data / links on Twitter (again possibly with a predefined hashtag). So in a span of about 30 minutes, all 3 will have access to the required knowledge and have the opportunity to continuously update themselves on all 3 dimensions critical to their work performance. What is key is to ensure the you are clear on the areas that you need to build knowledge on, there’s an equal distribution of work in the team and of course, self-discipline to read and share with the team. Again, this may take some time to institutionalize, but definitely worth it in the long run!

(3) For Employee Communication
Twitter as a social media platform has a one to many reach. All that is required is to ensure that you have the right people following the Twitter handle through which the communication is made. And of course, the right person is empowered to share relevant updates as tweets on a regular basis. Especially in a small organization, it is critical that important updates are relayed in a continuous manner within the teams. Given the fact that many start-ups / SME’s comprise of geographically distributed teams, Twitter proves to be very effective.

(4) For Building Team Spirit
Twitter can prove to be a very powerful channel to build team spirit within an organization. And the beauty is that Twitter can be effectively adopted irrespective of the team size, irrespective of the functions of the team and irrespective of the geographic location of the team! Of course, “building team spirit” is a very soft and important organizational issue. Twitter can be a great platform to share personal details so that others in the team can know you better (of course! To the extent you want to be known) at a “personal level”

(5) For Employee Motivation
Don’t we all need a daily dose of motivation? It could be a simple quote or an inspirational blog or simply an article to bring a smile and kick-start your day on a positive note. Twitter can be very effective to achieve this. All you need to do is ensure that one person tweets every morning / at periodic intervals 1/few inspirational tweet for the team. And this is all the more key for a start-up or SME because individuals and teams need to be fuelled by passion and motivation on a daily basis to keep them going through the many highs and lows in their journey.

(6) For Precise Business Communication
One of the reasons why I love Twitter is that it enforces brevity in written communication. And especially in business communication, brevity is the key to success – especially with customers, partners and investors. In today’s age, who is not pressed for time? And hence, who would not appreciate if you can communicate in a clear and concise fashion? The point is to be brief, you first need to be clear in your mind about the message you need to convey. And this comes with awareness, experience and practice – It is both a skill and art! Let me illustrate with an example – A VC (Venture Captial) I know mentioned that the BIGGEST challenge he has to fund a venture is because the individual / teams were unable to ARTICULATE in the first 2-3 minutes of conversation the answers to the following 2 questions: a)What are the problem(s) you are trying to address?
b)How do you plan to address these problems?, i.e. – What is your solution?

And the point he said is this, “If someone is unable to express the REAL PROBLEM and SOLUTION in the first 2-3 minutes of conversation, then something is WRONG! Either they are not clear themselves about their value proposition OR They don’t believe in it OR They need to improve on their communication – which is critical to their success especially if you are a start-up or SME. ”
So over a period of time if you use Twitter, you will observe that brevity in written and oral communication improves significantly. And that’s a definite BONUS for a start-up / SME.

Ending Pearls of Wisdom:
• Twitter is a powerful social media platform which can be leveraged effectively if you have a specific OBJECTIVE
• The real success will be realized only if there is a champion tasked with each of these objectives and there is some mechanism to monitor the usage and adoption

How do you think your organization can use Twitter internally? Leave a comment to let me know…

Originally published at the Nasscom Emerge blog

Why I don’t have even 100 followers on Twitter even after 3 years?

I created my first Twitter handle in March 2009. Of course, it was private. Along the way, I also created several additional Twitter handles for myself  – each with a specific personal objective – Like one was a personal log of my life, One was to capture my incessant thoughts, One was a repository of interesting data / links I came across, One was for all the quotes I read,etc.  Over time, I could not keep up with regularly tweeting on all of these. And hence, some became defunct along the way.

In 2010, I decided that I would focus on only one of my Twitter handles. At about the same time, I also began to understand the power and reach of Twitter and hence I converted it to a public profile. Along the way, I tweeted, followed several interesting handles and began to understand how to really use Twitter. Not only did these interactions teach me about Twitter, they also enriched my understanding on human behaviors!!

And the reality today is that I YET DO NOT have even 100 followers on Twitter!  (Got pretty close once, but not yet managed the MAGIC 100 L). Over the past few days, I have done a critical analysis to understand WHY this is the case when every second person I know seems to have 1000+ followers on Twitter… Do I not get it? Am I doing something wrong here?

After some analysis, observation and introspection, I figured WHY?

In this blog, I have listed the key reasons based on my analysis. The reason I am sharing is so that YOU LEARN from my experiences and probably reach the 100 or 1000 or a million mark much sooner that I do!

1) My personal objectives from Twitter changed frequently
To be honest, when I started using Twitter I did not have any specific objective. I started using it out of curiosity and because everywhere I went people spoke of Twitter! Along the way, the objective has changed from being a learning platform, to being a knowledge sharing platform, to being a personal log, to being a platform to market and promote my blogs and writings, etc. etc. And there’s nothing wrong with these changing objectives.. But just that to see tangible results in anything in life or business – you need to have a specific objective and focus on it for some time duration to see visible results!

The key take-away is this: You need to have specific objective(s) for your Twitter usage. In fact if you have SMART (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic and Time Bound) objectives, your Twitter usage will be more effective.  And the objective can be anything that it important to you – But you should be aware of it and make it explicit to yourself – Simply because you will eventually follow people and tweet based on your personal objectives. And your followers are usually a function of who you follow and what you tweet. And of course, there will / can be deviations here – But the point is at least 80% of your Twitter behavior has to be governed by your objectives!

2) I had a set of Twitter guidelines on whom I would follow
Twitter is a social media platform. And the focus is really on “Social” here. And while there are so many tips, suggestions and guidelines on whom you should follow.. I had my own guidelines which were:
i) The tweets should be “relevant” in my personal context and aligned to my objectives
ii) I will not follow a handle because they follow me – No “Follow Back” policy, unless again it is “personally relevant”
iii) I will be able to devote at most 30 minutes a day on Twitter. And my focus was always on how I could maximize my personal Return on Time Invested in line with my objectives – Trust me! 30 minutes is also a stretch for a working mother!
These guidelines did come at a price. But I was willing to pay this price!

The key take-away is this: Irrespective of all the tips, tricks, suggestions, advice available galore in Twitter-verse, take a minute to reflect on what your own guidelines are with respect to your SMART objectives. That is the key to your personal success on Twitter!

3) Most of my real world friends are NOT on Twitter
Again, something which surprised me – But it’s TRUE! Most of my real world friends (both personal and professional) are NOT on Twitter! And though some are, they barely use it. And the reason is that Twitter is really not an integral element for their personal commitments or professional responsibilities. And hence, the chances that I get some followers from my real life connections are abysmally small. So, I need to start building new networks and relationships in the online world. And this takes time!

The key take-away is this: It’s a BIG BIG PLUS if your real-world (personal and professional) friends are on Twitter. They usually become your initial set of followers and your network has the potential to grow from here!

4) I have not been regular in the usage of Twitter
To be honest, I have “courted”  Twitter in brief spells from 2009 to the start of 2012. So there will be a day in which I post 30+ tweets (I love Twitter) and then probably 30 days with no Twitter activity (I forget Twitter) and then probably 3 days when I don’t want to see Twitter (I don’t like Twitter) and then days when I don’t have time for Twitter (Twitter is way down in my priority list).

And though I know that the quality of content that I tweet is good and will have a global audience, the point is that if I exhibit “random tweeting patterns”, chances are that others will also “randomly read my tweets”. And hence, I have lost several followers along the way. It was only this year (2012) that I have become more disciplined and focused on the usage of Twitter. So hopefully over a period of time, I will re-build a follower base!

The key take-away is this: A consistent usage pattern on Twitter helps in building and retaining a follower base on! You can use tools for this – But ensure some degree of consistency. It can be 3 tweets a day or 3 tweets a week. But over a 3 month period, figure a pattern that works for you – again aligned to your SMART objectives. And stick to it!

5) I am NOT YET an online / off-line celebrity
Real but TRUE! I am NOT YET an online / off-line celebrity (Though I hope to get there some day J). I am probably just like you in a quest to find my TRUE identity in the real and virtual world! Yes! I am a working mother, an active blogger  and blog for several sites of global repute .

And yes! I’ve had my moments of online and offline glory! For e.g.: My blog 12 Most Wonderful Moments in the First Year of Motherhood  was tweeted / Re-tweeted by celebrities like Alyssa Milano (Yes! The Hollywood actress and former singer) & Jure Klepic (who was represented in Forbes’ Top 10 Influencers in Social Media) and it went viral after that.

Does that make me a mini-celebrity with moments of celebrity status? Probably, Yes in select circles.

But does that make me a celebrity enough that thousands of people will follow on Twitter? Probably, NO! And hence I probably may never get as many followers as Lady Gaga or Amitabh Bachchan or Katy Perry or Shakira or Shah Rukh Khan or Rihana or Oprah Winfrey or Guy Kawasaki or Deepak Chopra. And hence, I need to work hard to build my follower base; and even harder to retain them with high quality tweets on a consistent basis!

The key take-away is this: It helps if you are an online / off-line celebrity to get your initial follower base and retain these followers. However over a period of time, you need to tweet regularly to increase your follower base and retain existing followers.

6) Twitter was not integral to my overall Strategy
Again a great personal revelation! For a long time, there was no need for me to use Twitter as I did not have a SMART objective and hence, no real motivation to use Twitter. Consequently, I did NOT spend time to use it nor did I make a conscious effort to read and understand about the Twitter developments, the new features, extensions, add-ons, tools, etc.

But once, my objectives were well defined, Twitter became an integral element to my overall strategy – And hence today I use Twitter for specific objectives.

The key take-away is this: Twitter needs to be an element in your overall strategy. And the strategy has to be aligned to your SMART objectives to achieve Twitter Success.

Ending Pearls of WISDOM:

• Have SMART Objectives for your Twitter usage
• Define your own guidelines for Twitter usage in line with your objectives
• Review your success against your objectives periodically
• Re-define your Objectives, as appropriate

Lastly, Have fun along the way! Learn! Grow! Evolve! Make new Twitter friends and connections!
And leave a legacy on Twitter that you and your grandchildren will be proud of!
On that note, Happy Tweeting!

Women on Twitter

As I did my research for the Women’s Day Series, I was surprised to find the number of lists on Women on Twitter… I am yet to create my own list and it will take some time since I have just become active on Twitter. Nevertheless, I have compiled all the useful and interesting links I found about Women on Twitter…

Hope you find this compilation useful!

The Nifty Top 50 Women on Twitter @ http://webbiquity.com/social-media-marketing/the-nifty-50-top-women-of-twitter-for-2011/

Twitters Top 75 Badass Women @ http://www.bitrebels.com/social/twitter%E2%80%99s-top-75-badass-women/ Top

Business Women to Follow on Twitter @ http://www.mba-online-program.com/top-women-to-follow-on-twitter 8/

 Extraordinary Women to Follow on Twitter @ http://www.8womendream.com/27075/more-8-women-dreamers-on-twitter/ 

18 Funny Women you should be following on Twitter @ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/18-funny-women-on-twitter_n_1224751.html &  http://holykaw.alltop.com/18-funny-women-to-follow-on-twitter  

20 Inspiring Young Female Founders to Follow on Twitter @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/02/10/20-inspiring-young-female-founders-to-follow-on-twitter/

 8 Women to Follow on Twitter @ http://businessontwitter.co.uk/twitter/2011/03/international-womens-day-8-women-to-follow-on-twitter/

Top 20 Business Women to Follow on Twitter @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2010/10/06/womanzworld-top-20-business-women-to-follow-on-twitter/

 ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

People you should follow on Twitter @ http://www.cosmopolitan.com/advice/people-you-should-follow-on-twitter

 The Listorious 140 Twitterers : The Most Listed People on Twitter @ http://listorious.com/top/listed

The Most Powerful Twitter Users @ http://tweet.grader.com/top/users

The First 99 People to Follow on Twitter @ http://technmarketing.com/2010/08/the-first-99-people-to-follow-on-twitter/

9 Specific Ways YOU can use Twitter…

Twitter is increasingly becoming one of the most popular Social Networking platforms. While there are many reasons for the explosive growth of Twitter across the globe; if I had to list down the top 5 reasons on why Twitter has gained in popularity, they are below:

1) The introduction of the Tweet of 140 characters
 a) You can tweet from the web or mobile
 b) The 3S Factor – It’s Short, Specific and Simple!!!

2) It gives you the option to choose who you would like to Follow based on your interest – It is your personal choice ONLY! Subsequently you can Follow / Unfollow at will

3)  Easy to use interface for typing a Tweet. Of course, it takes time to understand other features but just typing a Tweet is simple and can be done easily

4)  Option to choose the level of privacy – You can control who reads your tweets

5)  No limit to the number of followers for a Twitter handle – Everyone loves the concept of abundance, infinite and limitless

While many individuals use Twitter for many reasons, in this blog I have listed the 9 Most Specific Ways YOU can use Twitter – The list below has been compiled based on my observations of Twitter usage over the last 3 years, my own personal usage of Twitter and by surveying others in the world of Twitter.

1) A personal log of your activities, thoughts and emotions
Many of us like to have a personal log of our daily activities, events, achievements, thoughts and emotions. Twitter can help you do just that – Provided you are disciplined about tweeting. If this is your key focus, using your mobile would be the preferred input device for tweeting.

2) A log of all that you read
Many of us tend to be content consumers in our life. We read from many different sources and like to have a consolidated repository for our own future reference. Twitter can enable you to consolidate all that you read and believe is worthy of storing, consolidating and archiving

3) To Share
Many of us like to share all that we know, all that we read, all that we learn, all that we believe can be of value to someone at some point in time – Twitter helps you to share with a known and unknown face anywhere across the globe

4) To Connect with others
Inherent to the human nature is the need to connect, to bond. And many of us like to connect with like-minded people, connect to people we admire, connect with the wise, connect with the successful, connect with celebrities – Just to listen to their voices, to know them better, to get a slice of their life, to unravel their thoughts, to know what keeps them going, to hear their views, opinions and to get the latest news

5) To Learn
Twitter can be a great learning platform – on any subject. If you are clear about what you want to learn, the time horizon you have in mind and the time you are willing to invest – you can adopt different strategies on how you can accomplish this. But at a high level, this translates to identifying the Twitter handles that are considered knowledgeable in the specific area(s) under question, and then follow their tweets. Over a period of time, you would have learnt way beyond your own expectation and imagination

6) To Create a Personal Brand
Many of us like to have a personal brand of our own – It can be as a technology expert, a great chef, a spiritual guru, a great parent, a benevolent advisor, the encyclopedia for answers on one / many subjects. And Twitter helps you to create this brand – Provided you focus, think, plan and tweet accordingly.

7) To garner support for a specific cause
One of the most powerful usages of Twitter is to amass support for a specific cause – it could be to donate blood for a medical emergency or to gather votes for a reality contest or a larger global issue of policy, governance, etc. which you strongly believe in. And Twitter can be very effectively used for creating awareness to a large base of global audience in real-time

8) To get a dose of motivation, inspiration and humor
This was a bit of a surprise! But a lot of people said that the primary reason for them to use Twitter was to get a dose of motivation, inspiration and humor – It could be for a specific low time in your day, to a blue moment in life, or just that one tweet to kick-start your day on a positive note, or that daily health tip which will give you the fuel to stick to your diet and exercise regime…

9) Just Like That!
I hear this a lot. A lot of people use Twitter with no specific intent, no specific objective and no specific agenda. They use it because it exists, because everyone around them is using it, because they have time..

In reality, majority of us use Twitter for one / many of the objectives listed above. Your primary objective on Twitter Usage will determine the quality and quantity of your tweets, your behavior and tweeting patterns. However, in the long run (say 10, 20 or 30 years from now) you will end-up with a huge volume of your own tweets covering a range of topics and tweeted with different intents. While traversing this growing volume of tweets will become a challenge to individuals like you and me, it will also provide ample opportunities for businesses on tweet segmentation, grouping, consolidation and aggregation.

While it is the start of the New Year 2012, it is good to review and re-think your usage of Twitter & if you need to review your own personal tweeting strategy.

On that Note.. Happy New Year 2012! And Happy Tweeting!!!

How many people do you follow on Twitter?

There’s a lot of observation, interest and comments around the number of people you follow on Twitter… Almost as if it is you’re a part of your identity…

On the one side, the people you follow on Twitter is a reflection of many things – People you know, People you are interested in knowing, Topics that you are interested in.  In reality, you can choose what and whom you wish to follow – whatever may be the reason.

I wonder how anyone can actually follow Thousands of Twitter handles? The underlying dissonance comes from the fact that is it humanly possible to actually read, understand and reflect on all the tweets from everyone you follow even if you are on Twitter for most of your time every day.

Simply because all tweets typically fall into 2 categories

1)      A text tweet

2)      A link tweet – To a blog, article, etc.

 So let’s put some data here to bring things into perspective:

Categories	Average time it takes to read, understand and internalize for a human with average intelligence [Mins]
A text tweet	1
A link tweet –  To a blog, article, etc.	10

Assuming a scenario with an probable distribution of each of these categories, in 1 hour you can probably humanly read, understand and internalize about 4 link tweets (40 minutes) and 20 text tweets (20 minutes).

And so in 5 hours, this translates to 20 link tweets and 200 text tweets….[ And I am discounting many things – like all the theories and research on how alert you are at different times of the day, How much you can possibly read at one stretch, what other things you do on a daily basis, etc, etc.] .

And so if you follow 1000 people, I wonder how and what you are really doing? Guess it all boils down to why you are on Twitter? [Refer my earlier post A Perspective on Twitter]

Would be interested in hearing and learning on your tips, tricks, learning’s, observations and insights…

If you want to share, do leave a comment…