Mashable has a post today called "Inside the Minds of Twitter Users" by Ann Handley of MarketingProfs.com. You should check it out before reading on.
The survey of 432 Twitter users was conducted by MarketingProfs on Twitter from 4/8 to 4/15, 2009. The data was collected and analyzed by Allen Weiss, MarketingProfs CEO, Professor at USC’s Marshall School.
I enjoyed reading the post although I thought it was strange that only 432 Twitter users were surveyed.
I must have missed the survey and since nobody asked me for my opinion I'll make it 433 Twitter users here:
"You should follow people who follow you"
Mildly Disagree
I say mildly because of course I look at people who follow me, and I might follow them back. If I do, it's not because they followed me. It's because I am interested in seeing what they have to say. And that doesn't mean that I won't unfollow them next week. I think I am going to make my own version of the napkin flow charts that I have seen others make about this.
"People you follow should follow you back"
Strongly Disagree
Never. As I mentioned before if I am following you it's because I am interested in what you have to say, what you do for a living, who you are, or any number of other things. If I followed everyone who followed me, just because, my network would be a useless mess.
"People who have a large number of followers are smarter than those who don't"
Strongly Disagree
Umm no. Britney Spears has 1,113,126 followers, nuff said. You don't need a bunch of followers to have a great Twitter network. It's your network, do whatever you want with it. I don't believe that Ashton Kutcher enjoys Twitter any more than I do even though he has 1,344,5456 more followers than I do.
"People who have a large number of followers are more respected than those who don't"
Strongly Disagree
I don't use Twitter to get respect. I have a life outside of Twitter for that. Ashton Kutcher can commission a billboard and go on Oprah to get to 1 million followers and beyond and I still don't respect him anymore than I did three months ago. I shouldn't make it sound like I have anything against Ashton Kutcher. In fact, I respect him just for using Twitter in the first place. He doesn't tweet much about his newest movie, or TV show, or other self promotion. He and his wife tweet normal things that normal people do in their funny, normal lives. Every now and then they might drop a plug for a project or a good cause, and good for them. That makes them real, rather than just soul-less celebrities. And for that alone, they get my respect.
"I feel bad when I tweet something and nobody responds"
Mildly Disagree
I say mildly because it is always nice to see @replies come in and I can almost guarantee that if you have ever @replied to me you get extra points on the follow flow chart. That being said, @replies are not my main goal when tweeting. I am here for me. This is me. If you don't agree, if you don't like me, or if I have offended you, the unfollow button is a click away. I am well aware the there are plenty of people who follow me who don't agree with some of my views but most of them hang around just to lurk. And that's fine too. Afterall, that's how I started.
It’s alarming to talk with someone on the phone and realize they suspect you are a liar. This past week I received, via FTD, a belated birthday package—a gourmet basket with some of my favorite things… but there was no signature. No name. In effect, I got a thoughtful gift from someone I couldn’t thank for their thoughtfulness. Weird.
Read the full story at annhandley.com
