Criteria Based Following On Twitter

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I have to tell you, finding people to follow on Twitter who share my interests is about driving me nuts! (smile).  There are lots of ways to do this, and we will discuss a few of them, but all seem to fall short from my perceived perfect solution. Of course, there are only like a gazillion Twitter apps out there that are designed to help you find people to follow so this means that either that there is one out there that I have not yet found or one will be developed soon enough.

I do have specific criteria. I want to:

1. Find people easily and comprehensively that share my interests
2. Be able to follow them quickly and easily

Today, I tried three methods and my search variables combine the words “networking” and “groups”:

TweetDeck: It is very easy to set up a search column on TweetDeck and have it search Tweets, not users, for these two words. And, it will go out and find Tweets that meet this criteria. What’s good about this is that I know that these people are talking about something that is of interest to me. What’s also good is that I can hover over their avatar and choose to follow them right then and there. EZ BRZY (smile). What is not good is that this may be the only Tweet that person has ever sent out where they talked about this specific subject. Still, I did follow probably about 20 folks and will evaluate their Tweets from there.

Twitter Search: You can do a Twitter People Search using either or both of those words but keep in mind that it is looking for accounts that have one or two of those words in their actual user name. “Networking groups” yielded no results. “Networking” yielded multiple pages and, you can roll down the list clicking “follow” “follow”. This is good. In a Twitter Word Search you can look for Tweets that incorporate one of these words. In Twitter Advanced Search you can use multiple words or other advanced options. Now, please remember that I am pulling up Tweets vs. Tweeple and there is no easy way to follow. You will need to go to that person’s profile page and choose to follow from there. Bummer.

Twitter #Hash Tags vs TweetDeck Searches

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Disclaimer: I am just starting to explore hash tags on Twitter so this is my way of gathering my thoughts. And, in so doing, I am going to pose a number of questions and would certainly invite any of your comments. Thanks!

Like a lot of folks not really well versed in Twitter, hash tags “#” are something that I see regularly but have never really understood. The most common one you will see shows up on Fridays in the form of  #FollowFriday which suggests folks that you may want to follow on Twitter. Hell, I did not even know that you could click on one in a Tweet and it will take you to a real time search on Twitter for the tag (smile). And, it will find Tweets that include that word and those words don’t necessarily even include the “#” symbol. So, what purpose to they serve? I am still not sure and the answer may lie in Twitter apps outside of Twitter itself.

This all started based on my desire to keep abreast of Tweets that have been sent out regarding, in particular, networking groups. I like to keep an eye on the competition (smile). What I have found to be of value is setting up “search columns” in TweetDeck. I have a column now that searches for the words “boise,networking”. It is important to note that these search columns will search all Tweets and not just those within the group of folks that you have chosen to follow. As such, it is a good way to find folks with common interests.

I did see a Tweet the other day that caught my interest. This local gentleman has started a blog that reviews networking groups in the Boise area. He visits and reports on his findings and plans to also publish a networking event calendar which, incidentally, can be found on this site already. At any rate, I looked at his site, Networking Pro’s Blog, and decided to follow him on Twitter. He has not chosen, at least yet, to follow me back (smile). It would seem that this gentleman also represents a new start up company that will be launching a “CRM” type product that combines social media tools named MyReMa which I would interpret to mean “My Relationship Manager”. Interesting and I will look forward to learning more. At this time it would seem that you are only able to sign up to receive additional information as it becomes available. There is really nothing to look at now.

5 Step Quick Start Guide To Social Media

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Disclaimer: Let me say this, I am about as far from being a Social Media “expert” as anybody you are likely to encounter. But I do know enough to be dangerous. Some might say, very dangerous (smile). So, this is by no means the only way, or the right way, to get involved with Social Media. What it is is my way and how I did it. I do need to give some props to Jen Harris over at Caffeinated Marketing. Jen did the same thing for me and for our group, NetWorks!, which I now repackage and pass on to you. This will get you started, and started only,  if you have not already done so. It is more of a how to than a why do. There are millions of resources out there, including this site, that can tell you more.

Step #1 – Get Educated: There is just a huge and overwhelming amount of information out there on the web and trying to find it and keep track of it can easily exceed a full-time position. I would suggest you do the following:

1. Get a Gmail account. This will also allow you to set up an iGoogle page which I use as my home page. Already have other email accounts and maybe too many? No problem. One: you don’t have to use it and, Two: you may want to use it to track just your social media efforts. Kind of like a folder. Your iGoogle page will allow you to display tools and feeds that are important to you. I have various news feeds, my Gmail inbox, the weather, other goodies, and my Google Reader.
2. Set up Google Reader: Google reader will allow you to subscribe to, and automatically get new posts from, information sources you find to be of value. It eliminates the need to constantly check back on these sites to see if anything is new. Your reader box will show you a title and source which you can then click on to see a simplified version of the article and then will also allow you to go to the site, if desired, to see the original complete article. I would start by subscribing to two invaluable resources: Mashable and………..this blog (smile). Once you have reader set up, many sites including this one, will have a subscribe to entries box somewhere visible on the site. You can also add sites manually to your reader if a subscribe to option is not available.  Mashable is all things social media. I call it the “bible”.

Phase II – Business-Social Media Game Plan

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I’ve just come to the conclusion that, if Phase I was to “collect & digest” information on Social Media, I’m way lacking in the “digest” part of this equation. I just looked at my bookmarks and there about 120 in there regarding various aspects of Social Media (many that I have shared on this site) that I myself have not yet had a chance to completely read and comprehend. These have been collected over the last 60 days. This technology has rapidly exceeded my digestive capacity or, as Jimmy the Sales Weasel would say…”Whoa! Brain overload!” (smile).

I find myself hearkening back to the early 80′s when I was selling what was one of the first personal computers designed specifically for business applications. Many of my potential clients were hesitant to invest in this new office automation solution as, even then, they feared that it would soon become obsolete due to rapid changes in technology. My standard reply? “Please call me when you determine that technology has ground to a halt and you are now ready to reap some of it’s benefits.” The point being, I can continue to collect and review dozens of pieces of information that come across my screen daily or, I can hunker down and put a select few of these to work now and begin to see some positive results. At least, that’s the plan (smile). In the sales game we say…“Don’t confuse activity with productivity.” To date, I’ve been plenty active but not enough productive.

Filtering Tweets & Random Quips

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Through my careful and exhausting research, I have determined that Tweeple Tweet in typically one or more of four major categories. Now say that five times really fast (smile). Furthermore, specific Tweeple appear to lean heavily toward one to two of these categories. They are:

Social: These kinds of Tweets most fit the “what are you doing now” category. Somehow, while I am happy that you at least do this, the fact that you just brushed your teeth does not rate high on my interest level (smile).

Informational: Typically these Tweets will contain links to either a helpful website or a Twitpic (photo).

Inspirational: Thought provoking phrases designed to inspire others.

Observational: Often posed in a question format as in “why oh why do they do that?”

In as much as my basic rule regarding Twitter states: “Twitter is about giving and taking not asking and getting”, I want to focus my viewing on Tweets that are more informational in nature.