The following article about followers on Twitter was excerpted from Twitter In 30 Minutes, by author Ian Lamont. Download or purchase the book here.
What happens when someone follows you on Twitter? This is the message that you will see in your email inbox:
You can also see a list of all of your Twitter followers. Go to your profile page on Twitter.com and click the Followers link. All of the accounts following you will be presented in reverse-chronological order.
It may seem strange that these people are following your tweets. Who are they? How did they find out about you? What are their intentions?
For most accounts, it is easy to figure out who they are: Just click on the link to see their profile page and the recent tweets they’ve made.
As for how they found out about you, and why they are following you, those are harder questions to answer. In many cases, they may have stumbled upon you by using Twitter’s search engine or looking at someone else’s list of followers (for instance, if you follow @Oprah or the local newspaper, you will show up on those two accounts’ lists of followers). They may think your tweets are funny or insightful, or you share some common interest.
Most of the time, it’s harmless attention. These strangers will see your tweets, and may even start a dialogue at some point.
But “following” is not synonymous with “stalking.” Twitter creates value by sharing information and letting people and organizations expand their networks, even with strangers who they may never meet in person.
Remember also that anyone can see your tweets. All they need to do is load your profile into their Web browsers. Even if they aren’t following you, they will still see your tweets.
In other words, your tweets are public. If you don’t want anyone to see them, then you should protect your tweets…or not use Twitter at all.
Information on how to block specific users from following you and how to protect your tweets is described below.
To learn more about Twitter followers and how to protect your tweets, download or purchase Twitter In 30 Minutes.
