BellaOnline Forums Computers Blogs & Social Networking Are twitter followers social currency?

I know that i like to keep my Follow numbers pretty low to filter out the noise. I like everyone in my 'bucket' to be an active twitter user, say interest things, and - hopefully - interact with me. I like the interacting part a great deal. So I weed out those I follow to keep it to those I like or find interesting.

Some people just want to acquire followers...and get there by following everyone, without discernment.

You see this often, where someone will have 10,987 people they follow - I frankly do not see the point of that for the average person. It leads to a lot of noise. For a celebrity or A-list blogger, sure, why not? Or for a business, yeah, okay.

But in the meantime, while people figure out what they want their follow/follower ratio to be, there is a group of hackers playfully working on a social experiment - Are Twitter Users Social Currency?

Read this and let us know what you think. Are followers like money, to be exchanged for good and services? Are people on twitter social currency? Would you play this game?

There was just an article on CNN about this same issue, in all the different social networks. They say for example that on Facebook the average person has about 100 friends. On Twitter they have about 100 followers. That is where you end up if you connect with real life friends you've made over your years, from work, school, and so on.

But some people cross into the number-boosting game and want a high number regardless of how they do it. So they start randomly accepting strangers, going out and bombarding strangers, all in a goal to have a high number. So to them having a high number - even if it involves dogs and cats - is of value.

I never understood this high-number quest. To me it's the same as in any other area of life and not restricted to social networking. Let's take newsletters for example. At BellaOnline we could have HUGE newsletter subscriber numbers if we bought names from internet marketing lists, if we automatically added into our newsletter every person who ever wrote us, if we trolled forums and grabbed email addresses and so on. Our newsletter numbers could be astronomical.

However, instead, the only way someone can be on the low carb newsletter is if THEY, themselves, go to the low carb site and type their email into the subscribe box. That is 100% the only way any name gets onto the list. It means our lists are small - and very dedicated. The people who get those newsletters 100% want and desire and read them. That is incredibly valuable.

So it comes down to a quality vs quantity issue that permeates our entire lives, and I imagine it's a decision that every one of us makes every day in countless decisions.

That being said, if I have 5,000 members of my low carb newsletter, and that's over the 100 average, I accept that sometimes that happens naturally. It's not that they're all my "friends" but that they all want to actively hear my message. So there is a different dynamic there.

I don't know that I'd "play a game" with my followers/friends. I have a higher than average Friend list at FB (369) but that's because I've done plenty of networking online. There is only a handful of those friends that I have not corresponded with personally at some point over the past 14 years. I'd guess that I've not met half of them face-to-face, but some of my homeschooling and writing friends are VERY dear to me nonetheless, and I know I can count on them for encouragement when I need it. I like to think my cyberfriends are "real" and not just something to play/bargain with. If I wouldn't introduce two people in person, I won't do it online either. With that said, I think I found Lisa on FB. ;-) However, I'm not sure if I've interacted with her enough to be considered her friend. What say you, Lisa? (I'll have to go look for Jilly now.) ~Kelly H.

Jilly,

Thanks for the Twitter post link. My first thought was what will they think of next. Obviously it is just a game to some. Why in the world would you "trade" Twitter followers - just pick up your own.

I have weeded out those I follow when they get to noisy - I do the same on Facebook. Preferably, the only people I follow are those who have something to say that I might be interest in. I don't do it to have a large number so others might be impressed.

Actually, I don't care how many follow me. They can get my "stuff", but I don't necessarily want other peoples tweets, except BellaOnline editors, of course.

I have a twitter account and I do weed out those that follow me that post nonsense updates or just links to nothing in particular. I also don't follow, for the sake of being followed in return. I follow those that I deem interesting. I do use twitter to get interesting links to new cool sites.