Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Not Cult Leader Material?

Evidently, those who have Twitter accounts can garner "followers". A subset of those are labeled " following". I've been enrolled for over a day and yet to have even one follower. I see that fancypance, for example, has 99. What charisma!

I attribute my lack of disciples to various factors.
  • Most of my friends check their e-mail once a week, and that's about the extent of their online presence.
  • Twitter sounds gay. Normally, I'd avoid it like a pink shirt if I didn't know better. My inner circle of old farts aren't going enter Twitter in their search engines.

Like I said, most have no Internet savvy. If they want to visit a site you have to dictate the URL to them and they must write it down. The chance that they will actually go to the site is remote.

  • I've been staying at home too much.
  • Those who are close friends and family see and hear enough of me as it is. Why follow me on Twitter, when they could be doing something constructive?
  • Who wants to be some one's ONLY follower. It is much like having an invisible friend or being a personal lackey. No one has stepped up to break the ice.

So why Twitter? I like doing this blog, if for nothing else, to go on record. There's something therapeutic about chronicling one's day-to-day actions and thoughts. Going public makes it a commitment. It's like going to Weight Watchers. Twitter handles those mental notes and comments that aren't beefy enough for a paragraph or two. Sticking with the dieting analogy, Twitter takes care of that handful of m&ms that usually does not get tallied in the calorie count, where as the blog handles meals.

Then again, being a cult leader can bring benefits. It certainly could lead to a boost in retirement income. Twitter may become my first step in building a large base of blindly allegiant followers.

1 comment:

Sarah said...

Just you wait. The followers will come. Half are people that want you to follow their skeevy business, but then a lot of Indy folks will follow. It's cool to follow back; like getting a pulse on the city. Also, geeks will follow back. I have a nice geek/Indy circle of Twitter friends now.