Why I’m Skipping #FollowFriday this Week

Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely appreciate every recommendation I get and I try to sincerely recommend those I believe bring value to Twitter.

With that said, #FollowFriday has become cumbersome and at times annoying.  What started off as an incredible idea has turned into a race for many.  There are those who recommend hundreds, even thousands of users every week. While I will not presume the intentions of those who do this, it can be assumed that at least some are doing it in hopes of receiving #FollowFriday recommendations back from those they recommend.

This week, I’m skipping it.

I’ll be back next week, I’m sure, but this week I will not recommend anyone. There are so many worthy of recommendations, but I would love to see it return to what it once was.

Follow Friday

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Top 237 Twitter Users Who Will Follow You Back

As Twitter hits its stride and emerges as a juggernaut in social media, the top users on the site are distancing themselves from the pack.  The race to 1,000,000 followers will be achieved in a few months by some accounts.  With such strong followings, many new or inactive Twitter users may not think that there are top accounts that will follow them back.

On the contrary, there are many. In fact, many users with tens of thousands of followers will follow just about everyone back.  Some use tools to automatically follow anyone who follows them. Others actually go through and manually add their new followers. Regardless of the method, these 237 accounts will most likely follow you back, even if you’re a Twitter newbie.

Twitter Followers

(image source: ProBlogger’s excellent article about growing your Twitter presence)

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Complete this Sentence in 140 Characters or Less: “2009 will be the year of ___ because ___.”

The Year ofIn so many ways, 2008 was a predictable year.  When the year began, the economy was heading in the wrong direction, while Twitter was being born into “wow, this is way cool.”  The Republican Party was one political faux pas after another, while smart phones were going from luxury to necessity with each new glorious app and feature.

Google was at its peak with no place to go but down.  The automotive industry was already feeling like a step-child before they became an orphan.  The Dark Knight was phenomenal while Speed Racer was phenomenally bad.

None of these things were surprises, but there were a few unexpected happenings.  Gas peaked (for now) and bottomed out just in time for holiday travel.  The Detroit Lions were worse than anyone thought a team in 2008 could be.  John McCain fought back from obscurity within his own party to win the nomination, then threw us a VP curveball that flew over the catcher, over the ump, and on towards the talkshow circuit.

2009 seems to be starting with quite a bit more uncertainty.  How will it end up?  Nobody knows, of course, but at least we can speculate.  I would like comments, please, with your predictions of what 2009 will be.  Here are a few to get it started: [Read more...]

Absolute Proof that I have the Coolest Twitter Followers in the World

If there was ever a doubt before, all doubt has been erased by this screenshot:

1337 Twitter Followers

OK, it’s cheesy, but hey, so am I.  That magic number is already passed, but you can see where I sit right now.

Read more about Twitter on Social News Watch.