We all want to be popular, whether it is to make up for the many times we were picked last in elementary school gym class, to make up for all those embarrassing school photos or for that one glamor shot we took in the 90’s. All joking aside, we all want to be popular because it is human nature to want to be liked and accepted by our peers and this does not have an age limit. However, there comes a choice in Social Media that needs to be made, which is whether you want to simply be popular or truly connected with other like-minded people.

This can be a daunting choice for some and for many they would prefer to have their cake and eat it too but we all know that reality is much different. Of course we would all like to be popular on our social networks and in a way you can be without your numbers being the only proof of popularity.

Twitter is a perfect social network to highlight as an example as to why your following count should never be the same number as your followers as it is a site we willingly share publically. In the early days of Twitter people would pay money to inflate their follower count and some may still, but as many of us have learned this was/is the wrong way to use Twitter.

There is certainly no need to inflate your numbers since the only thing you are doing is ruining your Twitter experience, and popularity is not always number based. Unfortunately, although most Twitter users have moved past the inflation phase many are still clinging to the #followback trend.

Truth is not always in the numbers as you can learn from this example, if you have a high volume of followers that you have decided to match with your following count you are not properly using the social site. Instead you are merely using the site as a popularity contest. Your time would be better spent finding quality content that ranges from pictures, links, quotes and video and honing in on the demographic of your audience.

Since Twitter moves in a real-time fashion your choice in who you decide to follow back should matter to you, it should not be because they followed you. There needs to be more of a criterion if you actually want to begin using Twitter as it was intended instead of just having a profile exist.

Bring your account to life by being selective and choosing only to follow people back that share some sort of interest as you. Their tweets should be likable to you. Never follow anyone who doesn’t have a profile pic or a bio filled out, that is always a sign of indifference and Twitter is a social network after all.

Anyone can find a reason to follow someone else and perhaps they are in it to just be, preferably you are not one of those people. Your presence on Twitter needs not only attention to your demographic and type of content sharing but it is important to care as to who your profile chooses to follow and therefore your following count should not mimic that of your following.

Whether for business or personal use this form of using Twitter is the best way to connect, and embrace others as your reasoning behind using the site. You can become popular amongst those who are like-minded as you if you yearn for popularity, but don’t let it simply be based upon a number. Let there be depth.

[Twitter Popularity image via desdevweb]