There are many people on Twitter that I could be following on this #FF Follow Friday. There is no rule that says that if you follow me, I have to follow you. Twitter is killing the auto-follow back API to stop some of the following foolishness. So what’s your story and why should I follow you? I am being honest. What’s your purpose for gathering a massive following? I hope it’s not just bragging rights. What type of community are you building on Twitter?

As cute as those minions pictured above are, it’s not great enough reason for a follow back on Twitter. Just because you will follow me is not a good enough reason for follow back in the first place. Twitter has to be a social network with value. It can’t be a network full of people just trying to see who can get the most followers. What value is there in this?

I personally believe there should be some value for me to follow someone in the first place. Aren’t you expecting something in return yourself? When I follow a person on Twitter, I should be bringing some value to that person, and likewise, that person should bring some value to me. But Twitter gets twisted and distorted when people are no longer looked at as people, but as numbers. Numbering people is not a great idea. It didn’t work in the 30’s and 40’s, and it certainly won’t work today.

Now there are some celebrities and giant Twitter accounts that people are attaching themselves to. But these accounts are not the norm. Most Twitter accounts are not like Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga or CNN for example. For the rest of us, there needs to be a perceived value for others to follow us.

Maybe we provide great information that is hard to find anywhere else. Maybe we have a great sense of humor and people find this funny. Maybe people identify with us and what we were doing. Whatever the reason, people will follow us when they see some value for themselves.

So how do I handle following on Twitter? Sure I like great content, but as funny as it sounds, one of my “deal breakers” is that you have to be human. Robots can produce content on Twitter. What I look for in a Twitter account, before I ever follow that account, is replies and mentions. Robots don’t engage others in conversations. Only humans engage others in conversations. I want to know that your account is run by a human.

So if I don’t see any conversations on a Twitter account, I wonder if that account is human at all. Worse still, if the human is running that Twitter account, they may simply be broadcasting and pushing out information in a one way direction. As a business owner, I’m always looking to create opportunity. There’s no possible way that I can do that with the robot. If I don’t see any replies and mentions in the Twitter news feed, is a good chance that I will not follow back the account that followed me.

I am concerned about building a great community on Twitter. That does not include robots. I would love to have you in my community. But to be part of my community, you have to be willing to engage in conversations and share great ideas. I value conversations. I value building relationships as well.

As a business owner, it is my firm belief that if I can build some really solid relationships in my Twitter community, I can create great value for others as well as for myself. I believe that business is fundamentally about relationship. Having the ability to build a relationship with someone else is critical for success in social media marketing as well. Relationship and social media go hand-in-hand. As a Twitter account, if you don’t have time to build opportunity in others through engagement and the sharing of useful and interesting content, then there’s a good chance that you’re going to have a hard time getting genuine followers that will help you build your business.

Now I don’t expect a Twitter account to be full of conversations. But I do expect some replies and mentions to at least prove that the account owner is interested in more themselves [And that they are human]. Engaging with others tells me that the Twitter account is at least trying to make an effort to be social. This is so critical in determining whether I will follow a Twitter account back or not. Remember that is is SOCIAL media, not BROADCASTING media.

Just imagine if some one walked into your business and you would not talk back to them. How well would that go over? Or imagine this. Someone walks into your business and you yell at them and refuse to answer their questions. How well will that work? People have to see social media as real life and not a separate world all by itself.

Bottom line: you may have your own standards for whether you follow an account back or not. It’s entirely up to you. But for me, I know what I’m trying to build in a Twitter community. I want my community be full of lively and vibrant characters. In order to achieve this, I have to keep the robots and along with the broadcasters out. I don’t have the time, and realistically you don’t have the time, to mess around with those that are not serious about building something great on Twitter.

So, for Follow Friday, think about who you’re going to follow and ask yourself why. Why would you follow a particular Twitter account? We all need to look at our motives for why we are using Twitter. I’m not saying that we have totally pure motives. But it certainly can’t be all about selfish gain. This will never build a truly great and remarkable Twitter community. So think about what you’re building.

I heard a story but a guy that leaned his ladder up against a building. When he finally got to the top of the building and looked around, he realized that he was on the wrong roof. Make sure you think about where you are leaning your ladder, so that you don’t end up on the wrong roof. Build something great today. But build on a strong foundation.

If you like what you are reading, please share this post. Who knows, you might just help someone do even better on Twitter. Thanks everyone.