Why you should never follow your friends on Twitter?

 I was doing some analysis on my Twitter followers the other day on Social Bro. Social Bro is this tool that allows you to understand the nature of your Twitter followers and where are they from and so on.

To my surprise I found that most of my latent tweeters on my network, that is folks who tweet only once a month or less, were actually some of my good friends. As I dug deeper I found out that almost all of my latent followers were those whom I knew very well. But they never had a thing to say on Twitter. Some of them had tweeted last almost 2 years ago.

This revelation brought me to a cross road, and a question. Do I have to add people to my network on Twitter only because I knew them, even though they did not have a single thing to share or say?

The answer to that question is not very simple and as I was looking for expert advice, I decided to post the question on LinkedIn.  And here is what most respondents had to say.

My own perspective is-

1.       Identify why you are using Twitter. If it is to socialize just listen in then it does not matter who all you add in your network.

2.       But if you are using Twitter for building consensus or perspectives or for businesses, then I think it is counterproductive to add your friends if they have nothing to add on the subject or if they are not an expert in the business area you are dealing with.

3.       Always analyze your network every six months. Often you have users who have never used Twitter and are still there in your network. If at all you decide to reorganize your network then you know where to start.

4.       Get familiar with tools like Social Bro. It comes in handy when you want to decide on aspects like the best time to Tweet.

Whether you are using Twitter for personal use or for business, there is no point in following someone who is not likely to share anything. In my opinion kicking them out of the network is the best policy, friend or no friend.

 By Dr.Vikram Venkateswaran, Founder & Director | TheSocialPeople

Dr. Vikram Venkateswaran is a marketing professional with almost 10 years of experience. He is passionate about public health, blogging, writing, public speaking and lawn tennis. He can be followed on his twitter handle @drvikram. Visit his blog at Docter Soccer.

Founder Speak is our weekly column by the founders of TheSocialPeople- Viral Thaker & Dr.Vikram Venkateswaran.