As a kind of experiment and survey, I asked the 598 people who are ‘following’ me on Twitter WHY they did.
The answers were instructive and interesting.
Here’s what I find intriguing, though.
I repeated this question 3 or 4 times in the course of a few hours. 14 of 598 people responded - a 2.3% ‘conversion’ rate. Far lower than typical email response rates.
Why didn’t the others respond?
It would be interesting to match the number of people each of these ‘responders’ are following, and compare it against how many the others who did NOT respond are following.
Because I have a theory - and around it, have formulated my own “Following FORTY” rule.
It is that if one is to have MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS on Twitter, you cannot be ‘following’ more than 40 people (unless you have a disproportionately high duration of time to be active on Twitter).
Thoughts and comments welcome 
Oh, and you can follow me by going here - http://Twitter.com/drmani - and clicking on the FOLLOW button
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8 Comments Received
April 16th, 2008 @10:41 am
Well I just saw the request for an answer via twitter. Following you on Twitter is another connection that we have. It makes for a more complete look at what both of us are up to.
April 16th, 2008 @11:08 am
I am following less than 20 people at this point and find that less than 5 of them are active. I have no idea how to grow a group of followers on twitter. I find Facebook a lot easier to grow a network.
I know Ed Dale is a major fan of Twitter and has convinced John Reese. So I am following these leaders to learn.
I am active on Twitter and Facebook. All are welcome.
The free software offered by the Portal Feeder team seems to be awesome. Find it at actionplantracker.com You will find many helpful Action Plan Trackers there soon. This was set up to encourage action rather than only reading, discussing and watching others.
April 16th, 2008 @12:28 pm
Like Steve, I followed John Reese’s advice and joined Twitter.
I’ve only been on it a couple of days, and I’m not yet convinced that it is as useful a marketing tool as Facebook.
But I’ll give it more time
April 16th, 2008 @9:31 pm
I almost missed the tweet - since I don’t sign on often during the day - but more at night. Hence the reason for not replying sooner.
BUT - I follow you on Twitter, just because I like you.
Thanks!
Michelle
April 16th, 2008 @10:23 pm
Interesting approach, survey, and possible conclusions, Dr. Mani!!
I’m of the opinion *each* and every one of us gets to determine our own Twitter experience.
For some, the numbers are important. For others the expanded visibility. For others, like yourself, fewer manageable, intimate connections are important.
For me, Twitter in and of itself is a somewhat “superficial” platform that I cannot engage in deep and meaningful conversations - for those, I’d take offline and go to email, Skype, phone, in-person.
BUT, Twitter is most definitely a platform where I can increase awareness of myself and my brand. Likewise, I get to discover new people and brands too.
I’m with Seth Godin in his recent blog post - he talks about “drip, drip, drip” - it’s in those little soundbites and nuggets of business and personal life that my Twitter community gets a holistic sense of who I am… and me them. We each build up the respective knowing, liking and trusting - the cornerstones of business relationships, in particular.
Btw, I do follow you as you know - but I rarely have time to view my main river of tweets due to sheer volume and I’m okay with that. Which is why I wouldn’t have seen your tweet despite the retweetings.
I do, however, always read and reply to @ me messages.
April 17th, 2008 @3:25 am
@Paul W.Swansen - Yes, I agree. Twitter’s one more channel or bridge for communication. Maybe even redundant - except when necessary!
Steve Pohlit - Many Twitter users are ‘inactive’. Tried it, didn’t see it fitting, so bailed, I think. You don’t set out to ‘find’ a group of ‘followers’ on Twitter. I think Ed Dale put it nicely when he said on Twitter you MAKE your profile one worth following.
@Ian Traynor - I agree with you, I don’t think Twitter is a good ‘marketing tool’ - until you define ‘marketing’ as ‘building relationships’… when suddenly Twitter becomes the ULTIMATE marketing tool
@Michelle Brouse - You’re excused
I know how busy you are with so many different things, it’s ok even if you missed a few tweets! And yes, I like you too 
@Mari Smith - Awesome comment. Thanks. I’m with you in that Twitter is the most adaptable and ‘ownable’ social media tool I’ve used. Everyone can use it in a way that makes sense for them. There is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to use Twitter - just MY way and YOUR way, and both are just fine!
I too don’t use Twitter for “deep and meaningful” conversation, but use it to dip a bit deeper than the superficial ‘glance and wink, nod and nudge’ that fast-paced interaction on most social media has become, especially when your following is large and grows larger.
My ‘coffee room’ analogy fits ever more nicely as I use Twitter more - http://MoneyPowerWisdom.com/oh-twitter/
April 22nd, 2008 @5:29 am
Hey Dr Mani,
How delighted I was to see you actually cared about the responses! And helpful to me that a few of my twittered questions have gone completely unanswered but I have fewer than 100 followers so my conversion rate is consistent, I get one or two replies otherwise, and I’ve only tweeted them out once.
I did find one new person to follow from the above replies, out of 5 that I checked out based on their comments to you (maybe more after I finish this comment!)
I was at first having trouble keeping up and thought about paring down the # I follow and then decided to let it flow and that the right tweets would reach me at the right time and to not worry so much about back checking my whole timeline, but of course keeping up with @ replies. I’m still investigating twitter tools to improve that too.
The real Twitterholics can recall the AA saying: Take what you like and leave the rest!
June 14th, 2008 @4:54 am
Dr. Mani,
At first I only followed a few people. After a while, I discovered a group of social network buddies who were connected to one of my friends. To understand their conversation, I had to add them all. Then, I found real estate bloggers and I wanted to follow the trends.
I feel like it is polite to follow those who follow me, unless they have a generic picture and just promote their business without joining the conversation. I can’t keep up with all my twitter friends. (That’s why I didn’t respond to your question earlier.)
I used to get your ezine years ago and lost the subscription when I changed email addresses. I was happy to see you on twitter. I am so grateful that you took the time to follow me and I always think, “I better not waste Dr. Mani’s time with pulp fiction.” So I try to remember you’re reading my tweats and I better watch what I say. (Just skip the Friday night twitter party I sometimes go to.)
Joy~
Jeanette
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