Are you sacrificing trust for a following?
I’ve noticed a shift in my perception of folks on Twitter, FaceBook and other SM sites. I no longer consider follower count as a measure of credibility. A couple years ago I did.
It’s just too easy now to trick systems, especially on Twitter where several services exist simply to boost followers.
I can’t really go by blogs, either. Comments can be crafted and are filtered – much like LinkedIn recommendations, about which I wrote last week. Therefore, I don’t put too much merit on blog comments, particularly if they are too flowery.
Lately I’m left wondering if my new follower is simply “collecting” me to boost his/her numbers to build some sort of façade that will help him/her with the bottom line.
Trust isn’t automatic
Let’s face it, we’re all cynics. We don’t just automatically trust everything we see/read, even on a SM site. In that case, why try to trick people by collecting huge followings as opposed to a smaller following with which you have more credibility and an earned reputation?
Brandie's Blog - random thoughts and chatter for fellow consultants 
An end to the shot-gun lead approach. My favorite buttons are delete, block and ignore. Other than that, I actully enjoy meeting new people 🙂
Thinking along the same lines…..I have 2700 followers on twitter…I guess not a huge number by some standards…but all I am really after is maybe 100 quality connections where there is genuine exchange of ideas and mutual advocacy. Sure there are others where that relationship might not develop but they provide great content….so there is a learning aspect.
So out of that 2700 maybe 30 are developing into quality social relationships…so that’s about 1%. I wonder if that’s a good or poor metric?