When attending a social event with a lot of Twitter folks, it is common to put Twitter names on nametags since that is how we know our tweeps. This information is especially important if we meet someone for the first time at one of these events.
I was always best known as @kingandottawa. I started that account in April 2009 to share my interest in communications (including social media), community building, social justice and politics — a focus on Kitchener, Ontario. As I became active on Twitter, I started to attract people who were interested in my areas of focus and especially during the 2010 municipal election, I saw my followers grow. In fact, I even attribute the initial success of Social Media Breakfast: Waterloo Region to my presence online as “King and Ottawa.”
When I started my business, my original Twitter account became my personal account as I established another for my business where I mainly shared my professional interests. But I was still “kingandottawa.” when I went to local events.Then last fall, I noticed a shift occurring.
At one point, I was at a tweetup in my hometown of Kitchener and someone introduced me to someone new by saying, “You might know him on Twitter as…” Before I could fill in the blank with “kingandottawa,” I heard “@communic8nhowe” and the new person knew exactly who I was. I found I was surprised but pleasantly so because that’s the account I use for my business.
Over the fall, I saw that the number of followers for @communic8nhowe, that wasn’t established till May 2010, was approaching the same number as my personal account. Early in 2012, my business account started to have more followers than my personal account so that’s why I say that it’s official and I’m now @communic8nhowe.
For me, it’s a sign that my business is maturing and I have managed to attract an audience who look to me to share my communications and social media expertise and also value the links I share to other sources of information that is of value to people involved in charities, nonprofits and small business. For you, I offer this personal experience to show how social media truly is about the long game rather than quick wins.
While I agree that follower counts are not one of the best social media metrics, I do believe that they are one indicator of the interest in what you are saying and sharing. I take care in frequently reviewing my new followers. I block any that are spammy, get rich quick schemes and many that are obviously only looking for me to follow them so that they can try to sell me something. So I’m reasonably confident that the vast majority of the folks following me are interested in what I post.
I see how both of my accounts have grown in terms of followers as being exactly the type of genuine, organic change that I advocate on this blog and through @communic8nhowe.
Don’t get me wrong though, I’m still very much @kingandottawa. And if you live in Kitchener or Waterloo Region, I’m worth following there too!
