Befriending others is what social networking is all about. However, there are a few schools of thought on how you should go about this. Today we’re going to take a look at the three most used friending strategies.
Follow Me and I’ll Follow You
People who use this strategy usually set things up to run automatically. If you follow them, they will automatically follow you back. This technique can apply to any social media site, from StumbleUpon to Twitter.
Why Do It: This allows you to build a huge network very quickly. If you are befriending people to have them follow you back, you can rapidly build up your numbers. The same goes for if you are following people back as soon as they join you . . . it’s a good way to gain more followers, as well.
The Downside: Unfortunately, this technique opens you right up for spam attacks. If you follow everyone back, regardless, you’ll find that your network will be flooded with spam. You can block these users, of course, but it can still result in an annoying stream of notificiations that you have no interest in.
Screened Following
This is the social networking strategy that actually makes the most sense. Rather than just automatically befriending anyone showing interest, you take the time to check the person out. For example, on Twitter, you would take a look at their profile and read back through a few tweets to see if they are a good match for you or not.
Why Do It: This strategy allows you to screen out all the people who spam or who are rude and offensive. If you don’t like what they’ve been talking about on their profile or last few tweets, status updates, etc. then don’t befriend them. This keeps your network clear of riff raff and ensures quality contacts.
The Downside: You will lose some followers. Often, people will befriend someone new and if they haven’t been friended back within a week, they delete you again.
No Follow
This is a rather extreme tactic that usually only the most popular people can pull off. If you are an actor or a famous internet marketing guru, then you might be able to get away with this. Essentially, the person doesn’t follow anyone back. In some cases, they may follow a very few real life friends, but no strangers.
Why Do It: Again, you probably won’t get away with this unless you are famous, but the main reason is to eliminate noise. If you don’t want to deal with hundreds of tweets or Facebook app invitations, then you can skip all that by just not having any friends and save yourself quite a bit of networking time.
The Downside: The most obvious downside is that you won’t have any followers unless you are already popular. For those who attract huge crowds no matter what, this eliminates much of the ability to interact with followers, which can be a valuable networking skill.
Which method do you use? Are you one of the extremes or in the middle?
