Now that we are in an age of vast technological advancements taking place in the computer world every day, it is seemingly becoming very easy to network with people with shared interests throughout the planet. One way to get people to notice your brand, writings, art, music, product, or whatever it is that you are promoting is to build a following of supporters online.
What does it mean to “build a following?” To build a following means to have a number of networks and people who support your cause, whatever that may be. These are usually people who are interested in being part of your online “community”. Sounds easy huh? Well with the genius invention of social networking it can be.
Some of the most popular ways to build a following using social networking include twitter, Facebook, blogs, and YouTube. If you are already among the 7% of the country using twitter than I’m sure that you have already noticed the way twitter works. To get the best twitter experience its best that twitter is used as a marketing, and networking tool instead of just a social network where people just tweet their everyday random thoughts. To build a following on twitter is not as simple as it often looks. For one, you have to be tweeting topics of “substance” to get a solid following. What I mean by substance is unless you are an uber popular celebrity; tweeting boring details of your life will usually not garner too many followers. Tweeting about important issues, funny stuff, or marketing your business or product might just get people’s attention and in return they follow you. Getting a twitter following is about how interesting you are to follow.
Facebook is another tool to use to gain a following and many of us use it already. Facebook can be very easy as a networking tool because half of the time you already are connected to your followers, or “friends.” To get a following on Facebook it doesn’t take any interesting topic statuses, all it takes is to use the site for what it’s for and that’s networking with other people that you meet through the people already on your friends list.
Blogging is another great tool to build a following and network but it will take some work on your part to make sure that you are blogging on news, issues, or topics that people will want to read. Your blog should have all the proper elements to keep people coming back. YouTube has taken the world by storm and has also become a great tool to build a following as well. The thing about YouTube is that if you are going to make videos and want subscribers you have to have videos with elements like humor, important topics, good video quality, and relatable storylines to gain a following of subscribers. When used properly using the internet to build a following can be easy as 1, 2, and 3.
Do you use any of these social networks to gain a following for your cause? If so, which one do you think works best as a networking tool? Do you use twitter? If so, how many followers do you have? Can you think of any other online networks to use to gain followers? How do you feel about the whole idea of having people “follow” you? And finally, can you add any elements to this posting about building a following that I may have missed?
By: Jessica Dames
Sometimes I do but not all the time, and if I do use a networking tool it’s facebook because I feel it works better overall. No. Myspace I used to use to gain followers but I don’t go on my myspace account anymore. I actually don’t mind it I do realize there are creepers out there so that’s why I post limited personal information. But I do like the idea that someone can become a part of something that means a lot to you.
ReplyDeleteI mainly use facebook. I do not have a twitter and I have only created a blog for different classes before. I personally, think facebook is the best networking tool because you can make pages for your cause and then advertise it on your own page. And not to mention how many people are on facebook! I'm sure Twitter is also great for gaining followers because that is their main goal but I have not explored that path yet. I think people "following" you is perfectly fine as long as their your friends or people that are interested in what your saying. We all know that with facebook and really any new media site you can develop stalkers, however the bigger picture of getting your point across to people is more important.
ReplyDeleteBecause I love it so much when people agree with me or find my stuff hilarious, I am constantly working to build a larger Internet following. Yet despite all my promise that yes, I am interesting, my Internet community is really pathetic. I have 205 Facebook friends and 43 Twitter followers. Part of it I blame on not having anything to give these people. I'm not uniquely witty and nothing I've written has been published. As a networking tool, Twitter is above the rest but blogs do a really good job as well.
ReplyDeleteI love the feeling of people following me because it makes me realize some people enjoy what I have to say.
I don't use any of these social networking sites to gain followers, I mostly use them for my entertainment; however, I wish I had more followers. It is hard to get people to follow your blog or your Twitter account because people have to be interested enough to keep coming back and reading it. I think having people "follow" you is a great way to gain popularity and turn what you love doing into a career. A great example is Youtube. A great amount of people rant about topics people can relate to, the viewers find it funny and all of a sudden the person ranting in the video is being paid money to make weekly videos. Many people nowadays find that in order to make it they have to use the internet, and the internet will help build that following.
ReplyDeleteOut of all the types of social media listed above, I generally only use facebook. I do have a twitter that was created for a class as well as a blog but I never used them outside of class and my goal wasn't to gain a following. I enjoy going on facebook to communicate with friends and family and see what other people are doing. However, it is not my goal to gain a following. I mean, I have a lot of friends on my facebook but I wouldn't exactly call it a following. I'm not trying to frequently add new things to my page to keep people interested. I have gotten some friend requests by people I didn't know because we had "mutual friends" on facebook but I wouldn't exactly call that building a following.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I use youtube on an almost daily basis to listen to music, etc but I never upload videos. I have uploaded one video on an account I made for this class but I never log onto that account. When I use youtube, I just search. I don't log on, rate videos, etc.
I have a Twitter but only my room mate and one of my friend's follow me. I rarely tweet. I do not have anything that I really want anyone to follow me on. I do work with a charity and I often post things on my Facebook about those events. I think social media sites are a great way to create a following. I am not comfortable with people following me, but as I said I don't have any writing, band, photography etc... that I want to share.
ReplyDeleteI don’t really have a cause for anyone to follow, but I do believe that if I ever had one, I would use Facebook in order to make it known and gain followers. I would choose Facebook because more people use it and it can be manipulated more than sites like Twitter. Different pages can be added for different topics and discussions can be started.
ReplyDeleteI do have a Twitter account, but I mostly use it to follow my favorite actors and shows. I don’t have much of a following. Only about five or six people follow me, including my mom. I am very picky when people request to follow me (or friend me on Facebook). If I don’t know you, I probably won’t accept the follow or friend request.
I think an online network that would be good to gain followers would either be Facebook or Tumblr.
I do not have any causes so I have never used a social network to gain a following. I also do not use twitter. I think having a website or a blog in general is a good way to gain a following but it seems to me that twitter and facebook would work the best. I think if you have a brand the idea of people “following” you is pretty cool. I think it is a great way to get a fan base and to stay in touch with your fan base.
ReplyDeleteI have found that I use social media tools as a form of communication with friends and family. It becomes a great way to connect to people, especially when dealing with the everyday complexes of work and school. I do not use any form of social media for any specific cause, besides staying connected and keeping those informed of what may be happening in my day-to-day life. The one that works the best for me is Facebook. It works out perfectly that you can showcase your opinions, pictures, videos, websites, etc with the ease of “writing on someone’s wall.” Facebook is also a social media tool that involves most of the individuals in this country, making it very easy to find those new friends you met at school or at work. In the form of networking, I find that Twitter and Facebook best showcase yourself and keep you connected to network with everyday people. If you are a frequent blogger and you have a fan base that keeps up with your thoughts and opinions, which could also be a great tool for networking.
ReplyDeleteI do not use Twitter at all, and don’t expect to use it anytime in the near future. I find something so annoying about people knowing everything going through my head, as well as my location at any given point of the day. The only thing on Twitter that I have found myself glancing at every once in awhile is the news. This is a great way that individuals can stay up to date with anything that is going on in the world. I can understand the affect that Twitter makes on fans of specific celebrities. For some reason, people love to keep up with anything that a famous person is doing or feeling. It gives you a sense of actually being with that person and understanding them at a deeper level. Overall, when building a following, it seems that Facebook and Twitter trumps over anything else.
Since I am a musician/artist/writer, I have had much experience attempting to build a following. The way I did it back in the good 'ol days of Myspace was that I first friend requested people I knew and then went to their top friends and requested someone they knew and then went to everybody's top friends and requested someone among them until I had over 300 friends. The best way to build a following however is to keep active on multiple new media platforms. Update your status constantly on Facebook, upload new songs/pieces of art/works of fiction & poetry often and keep putting your name out there. Even though you think there might not be anyone listening to you, you might be wrong. Most of the followers on my facebook art/music/writing page are just friends or people I know, but somehow two or three others stumbled upon my page and became fans of it. The message here is clear. Don't give up. Keep producing and someday people will start to notice. I honestly don't even do it to gain fame, I just do it because it's fun, it's something to do and it keeps me busy; being idle is something that drives me crazy, and so I produce art to maintain my sanity.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting for me because I really don't have any interest in Facebook or Twitter. I'm not sure I'm that unique as my brothers don't use it either. I am interested in viewing YouTube and I have contributed to my father's videos on that media as a videographer and have left comments on videos of interest to me. As a social tool, I much prefer the phone. If I want to communicate with someone, I would rather talk to them. This Sunday's Parade supplement to the Times Union had an article that gave reference to some restaurants accepting orders on Twitter from tables to waiters within the same building. The point of the article was the personal relationship the author had with her waiter and how much she enjoyed actually speaking with him. I can appreciate an artist's need for establishing and nurturing a following as I see that my father closely monitors the number of views that he receives. In that aspect, I fully understand the capabilities of these mediums. Perhaps in a few years when I am exploring new avenues, I will see that I may need to use these media more than I am at the current moment.
ReplyDeleteIt really is amazing all the ways that people can use social media for networking or to gain followers. I only use facebook and it is not for any type of cause. It is strictly for social networking. As for having a following, I don't see the need unless you are marketing something or are famous and really have followers. Twitter is weird to me, in that people just follow friends or celebrities minute to minute status updates. I think it is kind of a waste of time and don't care to know every little thing that people are doing. I think that the whole "following" idea is people just being nosy. Why does someone care about what I am doing all day long and why do I want to share every little thing I do with everyone? To me it seems that no one wants to keep things to themselves or have things unknown. Instead it is all shared with all those who follow you. I just don't really get it, but that is my feelings on it and perhaps down the road I will change and use one of these tools to gain followers.
ReplyDeleteI have my own twitter account but not for a cause, it’s for my own personal use. But if I were to switch from being a personal twitter account to a commercial one I’m pretty sure I would have quite a few followers. Friends are always good when it comes to support for a cause. I have friends that have reached a thousand followers through their personal tweets.
ReplyDeleteFacebook may be a bit more helpful to use when advertising a cause. Simply because you can add photos and a thorough description of the cause.
And as for the idea of being followed, it a bit creepy, but just as long as your account is private it shouldn’t be that weird because in that case you would know who’s following you.