What is Your Follow Strategy?

Did you know that former President Barack Obama is following more than 631,000 people, according to his Twitter Account? If you don't believe me, here is a direct link to his Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/BarackObama. I'm sure that he is not actively keeping up with that many tweets, but I thought it was ironic that he is following such a large number of Twitter members. Currently, Barack Obama holds the #3 spot on Twitter for most followers (number of people following him) and position #354 for most following (number of people he is following), according to Twitter Counter. Considering that such an influential person is following so many on Twitter, it makes me wonder what value he has derived from following a such a large number of people on social media. Could following so many people on Twitter have somehow impacted the Presidential Elections of 2008 and 2012 in his favor? After all, who wouldn't vote for a Presidential Candidate that is following them on Twitter!

“If you follow me, I’ll follow you back!”

According to Lauren Dugan's Article "The Benefits Of Creating A Follow Strategy On Twitter", a follow strategy is used by individuals and businesses to determine the value of following particular accounts on Twitter. Lauren describes a number of follow strategies in her article, including those who follow everyone, those who follow no one and everyone in-between. Although I am fairly new to Twitter, I can certainly understand and appreciate the need for individuals and businesses to have a follow strategy. If I had to categorize myself, using Lauren's strategy types, I would consider in the "follow accounts you have something in common with" bucket.

My personal follow strategy entails following everyone I encounter in the Learning & Development field, including instructional designers, content developers, learning strategists, Chief Learning Officers and other L&D professionals. This strategy provides me with access to an array of different articles, posts, updates and personal perspectives from the very people that make up the booming global learning industry, which is immensely valuable in my line of work. Following certain individuals has lead me to some very insightful conversations, as well as new networking and business opportunities. This is the primary reason that most professionals are using networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and others in the first place.

While Twitter provides the ability to follow people that you may find interesting, LinkedIn provides you with two different options for interacting with other members. Many LinkedIn users are not entirely familiar with the differences between "connecting" and "following" other members. Hannah Morgan does a nice job of summing up the differences in her article, "The Difference Between Following and Connecting on LinkedIn". Also, here is an excerpt from from my article, #LockedOut of LinkedIn, which outlines the primary differences between following and connecting with others:

"Connecting with another member allows you to see the contact information that they have included in their user profile (e-mail address, phone number, etc.), but it also allows you to freely chat with them on LinkedIn without additional cost, endorse their skills and recommend their work. Essentially, connecting with someone provides a two-way communication between members, whereas following someone is a one-way communication or broadcast. By following someone, you will be notified of their updates, posts and other interactions on LinkedIn, but you will not have the interpersonal communication provided by being connected with them."

Up until the point that I was #LockedOut of LinkedIn, after reaching 30,000 connections last year, I was happy to connect with anyone and everyone that wanted to join my network. After losing more than 9,200 connections and battling with LinkedIn for several months over this highly controversial policy, I decided to develop a strategic plan to continue growing my network, whilst not relying so heavily on one platform to do so. Even though I was nearly 10 years late to the game, I began building my Twitter Network and creating a follow strategy by following a number of influencers in L&D across the globe. I also applied this follow strategy to my LinkedIn Network, however just when I hit my stride, the "follow" button stopped working! After contacting LinkedIn Support to find out why my "follow" button was out of order, I was informed that there is a limit of 5,000 members that you can follow, so I was once again #LockedOut of LinkedIn.

Since hitting yet another brick wall on the platform that I have so tirelessly advocated for over the years, I've had to rethink my follow strategy and focus more energy on building my Twitter Network, even though I prefer using LinkedIn. What I can't understand is why LinkedIn chooses to restrict members from networking with other professionals on their platform, especially those who pay for a Premium Membership like myself. Many others share my unhappiness with these limitations and have voiced their opinions and feedback upstream to LinkedIn, with no avail. Conversely, there are also members that agree with limiting the breadth of networking capabilities on LinkedIn and have scoffed at and ridiculed members that spend time actively growing their networks and connecting with people they may not already know.

"Do you not talk to strangers out in public because they've not told you first why you should?"

I began writing this article several months ago, but it stayed in my drafts folder until yesterday. Given the controversy surrounding #LockedOut of LinkedIn, I wanted to be sure that I was not releasing another controversial article that would stir up a hornet's nest. After reading a post yesterday from a well-known and highly respected connection of mine in L&D, who I have met and interacted with at various conferences over the years, I decided it was time to finish this article that has been sitting on ice for the past few months. If you have not seen Jaime's post, click here to see it. Many thanks to Jamie Good for inspiring me to finish this article!

Whether you choose to follow no one, everyone or somewhere in-between, creating a follow strategy can certainly have a drastic impact your personal and professional growth. By connecting, following and learning from others, we gain knowledge and insight that may not be available in textbooks, eLearning modules or manuals. Other than familial relationships, we are all initially strangers to one another. By networking with "strangers" we can build professional relationships, friendships and in some cases intimate relationships. I agree with Jamie when he says, "Connect with whomever the hell you want to & be ready for the unexpected benefits a wider network can bring!". Connect, follow, learn and grow your network!

Now it's your turn to voice your opinion:

What is your follow strategy?

How do you feel about connecting and/or following "strangers"?

Do you agree or disagree with limitations on how many people you can follow?

Your feedback is valuable, so please leave a comment for others that read this article and feel free to like and/or share this post with anyone you feel may be interested.

Cheers!

Lance

Lance C. Healy | Senior International Account Manager

Trivantis Corporation

Direct Phone and Fax: 863-858-8605

[email protected] | Trivantis.com

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