How to Get Followers on Twitter

I'm not an expert Twitterer just yet, but I've been getting the hang of it these last few weeks and I've learned a thing or about what inspires tweeps to follow you. If you're not familiar with Twitter, I like to describe it as blogger for people with ADHD -- instead of posting a few paragraphs every so often, people who Twitter post 140 characters several times a day, if not more often. Some people do it really often, and these tweets can include replies to other tweeps, so it can be very interactive when others get in on the conversation. Anyway, like I've said, I'm not a Twitter expert just yet, but I have learned a thing or two about getting more followers. Read on for my tips, and if you'd like to Follow Me on Twitter please send me an @ message so I know to follow you back!

1. Follow them first.

As long as you're not a spambot, or someone who tweets offensive material, many people will follow you back simply in exchange for following them. Some people have their accounts set up to do this automatically and you'll see the results quickly. Others may not notice you and you may want to send them an @ message just to say "Hi!" as I've mentioned above. Do not ask them to follow you back, just wait and see if they do. Unless you're trying to follow a celebrity, many tweeps will follow back.

2. Be interesting.

I seem to accumulate most of my new tweeps after tweeting something funny or otherwise interesting. Obviously, interesting is in the eyes of the beholder, but if you tweet something that makes others smile or laugh, they will probably follow you if for no other reason than wanting to see if you'll make them smile or laugh again. Same goes for people who post news links and other info -- most of their followers seem to have an interest in being fed those links on a daily basis and they follow because of it.

3. Comment on trending topics.

Being Persian, when I started commenting on #iranelection my followers jumped up quite a lot in the first day because people were interested in what I was tweeting on the subject. In the Twitter sidebar you will see a list of the most popular trending topics. Each #word is a hashtag added onto the end of the tweet. If you're posting a music video and it happens to be #musicmonday, add that hashtag to the end of your tweet and those people viewing that hashtag list will see you and pop over to visit -- if they like what you've posted, they will probably follow you.

4. Participate in Follow Friday

#FollowFriday is a hashtag that is hugely popular on Fridays. You simply select tweeps you follow and pimp them out in the hope that other tweeps will follow them as well. Simply use that hashtag in your tweet and then tell people @Whoever is someone they ought to follow. I've gotten quite a few followers this way -- if you do it for others, they will do it for you and both of you will get new tweeps.

5. Follow People Back.

A lot of people will follow you and then come back after a few days to see if you've followed them back -- if not, some of those tweeps will unfollow you. Also, if you've got a big gap between how many you follow and how many follow you, some people will not follow you because they'll expect that you don't often folllow back (although some people will follow you anyway, because they'll assume this huge gap means you're a very interesting tweep!).

6. Interact with your Tweeps.

If people view your profile and see nothing but "you" tweets (in other words, no @replies to anyone who tweets at you) they may think you're haughty and unlikely to give them the time of day. For many, tweeting is highly interactive and this may put them off. Even the celebrities interact with some of their followers, so not doing so could keep you from getting as many tweeps as you'd like.