wavLength: May 9, 2008 Archive

Being a public radio guy, it occurred to me today that an on-air fundraiser would be a fun and interesting model for boosting the number of people who follow me on Twitter. So this morning on Twitter I announced a follower drive. I wrote,

As public radio colleagues do the important work of raising money, I'd like to start my own drive on Twitter. Goal: 20 new followers today.

I'm small-time compared to A-list Twitterers, so 20 new followers seemed like a lot. Twitter users responded in a mostly positive fashion. Many couldn't resist public radio fundraiser jokes. @esagor said,

If I got you a new follower, do I get a free tote bag?

A few users needled me for begging. @ShawnKing suggested it appeared a little unseemly, while @s4xton wrote,

I just stopped following @jongordon because of his Twitter follower drive. Ha ha ha.

He wasn't kidding. He unfollowed me until the drive was over, but I won him back.

I should have set the bar higher. I exceeded my goal by five followers, and it only took about 90 minutes. It was tempting to keep working the network for more followers, but I quieted down as I promised.

Early in the experiment, @jojeda wondered how I could gain new followers through a Twitter follow drive, as the only people who could see my pleas were already following me. The idea was that people who follow me could tap into their own networks, of which I am not a part, to spread the message. It really worked. I'm certain that a few influencers, such as @chuckumentary, were responsible for the new followers. There's a marketing lesson here somewhere.