I am a cog. This is my blog.

Are you a good follower? I know it’s not the kind of question one may hear all that often in the Twitterverse but have you ever sat back and thought about what it is to be a good follower? You can find a lot of stuff on how to get followers and keep followers but not too much on how to actually follow someone. Just as someone can choose to follow or unfollow, a person may choose to block, or not. When you want someone to follow you and they don’t that’s bad enough but if they block you well, that’s even worse.

So what does it take to be a respected follower? One that might even go so far as to get followed back or promoted via the person or people they’re following. There are a couple of resources out there already that relate to this kind of thing. The #SMManners chat is awash in good advice on how one should behave when in the social space. Twitter itself is a great resource. Just throw a question out there (preferably with an oft-used hash-tag) and I’m sure you’ll find a soul or two willing to give good advice. But what I’m trying to get at is a little more specific and what I’m looking for is something more aggregated and all in one place. A list perhaps. A guideline if you will.

Now it may be rough and I’m sure it will need to be frequently updated but here is my stab at such a guideline. I would appreciate any feedback and look forward to hearing of any additions #youseguys think I might need to add.

1. Have a good bio
I personally do not follow anyone without a bio and I know many folks feel the same about this. Let me know something about yourself. I may follow you just because of the bio. I may need a few days of engagement with you or I may not follow back at all but having a bio will increase the chances that I will.

2. Understand who it is you are following and for what reason
Not knowing what I do or what I’m into or passionate about makes me wonder why you follow me. It could just be the great conversation but you should still read bio’s and look through a few streams of tweets that the person has written. Get a feel for them. See if you’re right for each other. Relevance in a relationship, even an early one can help fuel the synergy that can lead to a “Twitter Friendship.” <– future post on what this is will be coming soon

3. Don’t be a nag
Asking to be followed back and generally bugging the hell out of someone does not make you a good follower. It makes you seem annoying and very much like a stalker.

4. Relax with the DM’s and RT’s
Obsessive DM’ing and even going a bit overboard on the RT’s can become annoying and also makes you look like a stalker.

5. Engage yourself
Don’t be afraid to ask. This what Twitter is all about. Conversation. Have a question about someone? Ask it. Engaging with that person and the folks they hang with, especially if they have a cause or subject they are passionate about can open the door to conversation. Jump into a few chats that they may attend. Read and post to their blog if they have one. Make yourself visible but please remember to refer to bullets 3 & 4 and use your best judgment.

I hope this helped and again I encourage input because as you know I’m just a cheerfully following cog and this is my blog.