In a post at his Be the Brand blog, Dave Saunders links to a YouTube video by Perry Belcher that takes some Twitter users to task for their seeming lack of interest in the people who follow them. (NB: The video contains some four-letter words.)

Belcher illustrates his point with the Twitter profile for one social-media bigwig who has 77,701 followers, but follows only 120 people. According to Belcher, this creates the impression that Mr. Big doesn't like his Twitter-friends: "he doesn't care if they exist or not, they're just drones that follow him around." For contrast, Belcher navigates to Guy Kawasaki's profile, where we discover a nearly even-steven ratio; the editor of Alltop.com follows 31,933 people and has 34,701 followers. Even if you disagree with Belcher's conclusions—and we think he makes a few leaps—his spirited discussion underscores the fact that appearances do matter in the realm of social media.

Dave Saunders adds to the discussion with his own pet peeve: the Twitter snob who never responds to @replies. "Obviously, you can't respond to every single message that comes your way on Twitter," he says, "and some @replies simply don't warrant a response. However, there are people out there who ignore it all. Using the cocktail party analogy, this would be like someone staring you down in silence after you said hello."

Your Marketing Inspiration: Whatever reasons you have for avoiding Twitter dialogue, remember that other users might ascribe your limited interaction to aloof superiority.

More Inspiration:
Mack Collier: Social Media and the Three-Sided Conversation
Michael Rubin: 10 Ways to Give Your Corporate Blog a Sense of Purpose
Ted Mininni: Anything But Generic

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