This article was taken from the November 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Online, you're only as influential as your follower count. But how do you reach as many people as possible? In May, after analysing half a million tweets over 15 months, a team at Georgia Tech published its results on which factors increased Twitter followers. Research scientist CJ Hutto explains how to enhance your impact.
Be informative
Tweets rich in URLs are the biggest predictor for positive growth, so link to interesting content that's likely to be re-tweeted, whether that's a news story or a cat video, as this will increase your exposure. In contrast, only tweeting about yourself is a sure way to haemorrhage followers - unless you're Rihanna.
Be positive
Hutto breaks Twitter users down into two types -- Eeyores and Tiggers. Eeyores, like their donkey namesake, moan a lot. As Twitter users tend not to know each other in real life, an Eeyore's followers will feel bored rather than sympathetic. Tiggers' tweets are positive -- a strong indicator for increased followers -- so keep yours upbeat.
Be readable
Potential followers merely glance over your tweets, so if they're in indecipherable text-speak, expect to be ignored. Over-use of hashtags is equally off-putting, warns Hutto: "One is fine.
Anything beyond that significantly degrades your growth rate." Keep them to single words at the endof tweets: #winning.
Be regular
The Georgia Tech study found that the optimum number of tweets is between one and eight per hour -- less than that and you go unnoticed, more and you may irritate your followers by clogging their feeds. It also helps to keep to a topic. Hutto found that users who used the same words regularly grew followers more rapidly.
Be human
Twitter is awash with bots, so ensure your followers know you're the real deal by reaching out to them. Swap the default Twitter profile for an interesting biography, post a clear picture and interact with people you'd like to follow you. "Reply to people, mention or re-tweet them," advises Hutto. "It sendsa signal directly."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
