Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Winter Solstice

Hey, faithful readers. I'm sorry not to have kept up with blog series. I hope to finish it perhaps with a little less over-the-top sarcasm. I just underwent a small identity crisis about this blog, what I'm using it for, my "tone" and its content.


This has happened periodically over the 3 years I've kept Spiral Scratch but more frequently now that I have other people reading it. It was much simpler to keep my focus when I had no audience although I greatly appreciate the positive feedback I've received about the content & my writing.

It's just that when you're only writing for yourself, anything goes. You can indulge any whim, not care about how you are being perceived, jump from intimate & personal to grand statements about the world. It's an online journal for whatever thoughts you want to express.

When you are conscious that others read your content (and it doesn't matter whether you have 1 subscriber or 10,000), most people have a bit more hesitation about what they put out there because no matter how kindly they might be, people are passing judgment on you & your writing...was it clever? was it insightful? was it boring? was it funny? was it groan-worthy? Readers begin to form a mental image of who you are and what you care most about.

This thought process happens unconsciously, in the few minutes it takes to scan over a blog entry. Most bloggers claim to be just being themselves but don't believe it. The awareness of people reading what you write changes the way you write. That fact doesn't mean that writers necessarily censor themselves but only the most stubborn of them can not be influenced by the desire to please their readers, even if that means being cantankerous, it's still about meeting other people's expectations of you.

As a person with literary stage fright, I'm not immune to this pull whatsoever! I've dropped my more idiosyncratic posts about my personal life and focused on discussing social networks, especially Twitter. But I've resisted a pressure I feel to adopt a "professional voice" because my blog was never intended to be a vehicle for business or my career but a place where I could talk about experiences and ideas.

The current series about ways to become popular on Twitter was intended to highlight trends I've noticed among the top 1000 most followed people on Twitter that are in contrast to how people normally perceive one gets to be popular. So, I lifted the sales tone of get more followers spammers & tried to make my points in a humorous way (I hope!). But, unfortunately, not everyone got that I was being satirical and not actually giving advice by pointing out some of the more ridiculous aspects of Twitter popularity. I began to question whether I had adopted the best method to get my points across.

Those doubts just stopped me in my tracks even though I had actually mapped out the last segments of the series. I'd like to share these insights but am unsure if I'll just continue in the comic mode or just make the points more directly. It's unsettled but I'd like to finish it.

Since I'd received a couple inquiries about the blog, I just wanted to post this update. I hope everyone is enjoying the remainder of this holiday season, isn't feeling too much end-of-the-year stress, and can enjoy the company of offline and online friends & family. Happy New Year to you all!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ - Step 6

To recap, over the past 6 weeks I've introduced you to my 10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ system and shown you Step 1 (Never Tweet!), Step 2 (Follow No One!), Step 3 (Impersonate a Celebrity!), Step 4 (Tweet in Japanese!) & Step 5 (Work for Disney!) that can help you on your way towards becoming a hot, top Twitterer.

Each Tuesday (ur, Wednesday if I'm at a conference), I work my tail off to provide you with some truly profound advice, and also with examples taken from the ranks of the Most Followed Twitter Users to scientifically back up my points.

So, here is the Proven Strategy & Secret to be a Top Twitterer #6

6) Become a talk show host! Radio, television or the web, it doesn't matter. Talk to yourself or, better yet, have guests on. You can integrate chat with music videos, news, feature stories or take calls from viewers, whatever fills the time!

Now, at first, this might seem counter-intuitive. "What are you talking about, Liz?", you say. "Talk shows are about broadcasting, Twitter is for 'conversation' among friends." How very, very wrong you are.

Talk shows usually occur on a Monday through Friday weekday basis and over the weeks & years, viewers or listeners feel like they know the host, that they are like an old friend. And just like an old friend or a senile relative telling stories about walking 10 miles to school in the snow, you don't mind if they go on & on and never respond back. "That's just Oprah," you chuckle, "whatcha you gonna do?!"

So, set yourself up as a talk show host in whatever medium you can secure. Could be a local cable access show, a blog radio show or even a Tweet chat. Once people get a sense of who you are, they'll want to follow you on Twitter to keep up with what's going on in your life and find out about the fascinating people you know.

Scientific Proof? Look at these very popular, HOT, TOP Twitter accounts who have racked up hundreds, no, thousands of followers who have their own talk shows or are actually a talk show who twitters!:

@TheEllenShow 3,750,995 Followers
@Oprah 2,635,263 Followers
@JimmyFallon 2,242,178 Followers
@Chelsea Lately 1,763,642 Followers
@MarthaStewart 1,685,015 Followers
@DrDrew 1,674,825 Followers
@GMA 1,543,076 Followers
@StephenAtHome 1,215,824 Followers
@106andPark 682,179 Followers
@ItsOnAlexa 627,319 Followers
@TyraBanks 612,368 Followers
@BarbaraJWalters 485,589 Followers
@Wossy 450,264 Followers
@TodayShow 388,004 Followers
@AndersonCooper 368,771 Followers
@KyleandJackieO 360,514 Followers
@DrPhil 225,994 Followers
@GlennBeck 162,076 Followers
@SherriEShepherd 155,033 Followers
@LeoLaporte 149,508 Followers
@EHasselbeck 138,186 Followers
@TyraShow 137,013 Followers
@JoyVBehar 136,523 Followers
@WendyShow 132,783 Followers
@Regis_and_Kelly 112,924 Followers
@DrOz 81,600 Followers
@SternShow 63,116 Followers
@TheViewTV 53,701 Followers
@The_Daily_Show 52,942 Followers
@Limbaugh 52,249 Followers

This is just a partial list of talk shows & talk show hosts on Twitter as I can't even begin to catch up with the all cable news talk shows & sports talk shows.

An all too common assumption that newcomers to Twitter have is they live interesting lives. That is simply not true. So, if you can get Tom Cruise, Sarah Palin or Whitney Houston to come by & chat over biscotti & tea, don't hesitate to say "yes". Be sure to always send a hand-written thank you note afterwards...Hollywood celebrities have come to expect to receive a letter after a personal appearance.
Keep checking each Tuesday as I continue to reveal one of Hot Top Proven Strategies &Secrets On How To Be A Twitter Elite!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ - Step 5

To recap, over the past 5 weeks I've introduced you to my 10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ system and shown you Step 1 (Never Tweet!), Step 2 (Follow No One!), Step 3 (Impersonate a Celebrity!), & Step 4 (Tweet in Japanese!) that can help you on your way towards becoming a hot, top Twitterer.

Each Tuesday, I work my tail off to provide you with some truly profound advice, and also with examples taken from the ranks of the Most Followed Twitter Users to scientifically back up my points.

So, here is the Proven Strategy & Secret to be a Top Twitterer #5

5) Get hired by the Disney Corporation. It helps if you can act, sing or dance. But you don't have to be very good at it.

Now, at first, this might seem counter-intuitive. "What are you talking about, Liz?", you say. "There are no children on Twitter. It's a social network for ADULTS." How very, very wrong you are.

Although Twitter's old Terms of User specified that users must be at least 14 years old (although it never asked users to verify their age), it's new TOU, updated on September 18, 2009, remove these cumbersome age restrictions. One of the Disney stars on the list below is 11 years old and another is only 9! Throw away notions of Disney carefully protecting its image, let's plunge with them into the exciting, adventurous world of "social media."

Now, along with talking about Twilight films & the Jonas Brothers, kids can participate with others & talk about #3wordsaftersex or #fatgirlremix trends or be followed by porn stars with "interesting" background profile photos. Cool, huh! And a natural place for the Disney Corporation to promote their artists. In business terms, we call it "synergy."

Scientific Proof? Look at these very popular, HOT, TOP Twitter accounts who have racked up hundreds, no, thousands of followers after getting signed to an acting or singing contract with the Disney Corporation:

@AshleyTisdale 2,235,993 Followers
@SelenaGomez 1,158,139 Followers
@DDLovato 1,103,361 Followers
@JonasBrothers 973,290 Followers
@EmilyOsment 391,696 Followers
@David_Henrie 372,015 Followers
@MitchelMusso 338,158 Followers
@BillyRayCyrus 316,889 Followers
@JakeTAustin 215,428 Followers
@MissNoieCyrus 152,831 Followers
@78Violet 147,963 Followers
@ComeAgainJen 146,763 Followers
@TheDebbyRyan 138,960 Followers
@TheRealTiffany 137,298 Followers
@JesseMcCartney 134,345 Followers
@CorbinBleu 109,551 Followers
@Brenda_Song 98,475 Followers
@ItsChelseaStaub 86,759 Followers
@DrewSeeley 69,411 Followers
@LucasTill 62,575 Followers
@JohnLloydTaylor 59,033 Followers
@GregGarbo 58,216 Followers
@AnnaMariaPdT 52,809 Followers

An all too common assumption that newcomers to Twitter have is that people who have the most interesting or newsworthy things to say (which they've gained through education or life experience) become the most popular people on the network. That is simply not true. Spend 10 minutes exploring the Most Followed Users on Twitter and that misconception is quickly dispelled. You can be 9 years old and have over 100,000 people interested in what YOU have to say.

"But," you ask, "I can't act or sing. I'm not young and I'm not White. Why would Disney hire me to star on its television shows or movies or record an album?" Well, yes, the truth is Step 5 is probably the most difficult step in the program to achieve to secure your place on the Top 1000 Twitterers List.

But, when it suits them, the Disney Corporation does overlook the fact that their stars might be over 25 (@BillyRayCyrus) or aren't Caucasian (@CorbinBleu, @Brenda_Song, @AnnaMariaPdT). Be one of those exceptions!

The best part of Step 5 is that you can be popular and keep your anonymity because adults won't know who you are. I found 3 times the number of people on this list who are also Disney actors & singers & have between than 50K-10K Followers but didn't make the cut for this list. Who are they? What do they do? Do they have talent? I don't know! It simply doesn't matter with Step 5. Just get that Disney contract and watch your Follower numbers soar!
Keep checking each Tuesday as I continue to reveal one of Hot Top Proven Strategies & Secrets On How To Be A Twitter Elite!

Disclaimer: The Disney Corporation and its affiliates have no connection to this blog. No Disney characters were harmed in the writing of this post.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ - Step 4

To recap, over the past 4 weeks I've introduced you to my 10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ system and shown you Step 1 (Never Tweet!), Step 2 (Follow No One!), Step 3 (Impersonate a Celebrity!) that can help you on your way towards becoming a hot, top Twitterer.


Each Tuesday, I work my tail off to provide you with some truly profound advice, and also with examples taken from the ranks of the Most Followed Twitter Users to scientifically back up my points.

So, here is the Proven Strategy & Secret to be a Top Twitterer #4
4) Tweet in Japanese.
Now, at first, this might seem counter-intuitive. "What are you talking about, Liz?", you say. "People on Twitter only speak English. It is the 'official language' of Twitter. Speaking another language would be unAmerican!" How very, very wrong you are.
Scientific Proof? Look at these very popular, HOT, TOP Twitter accounts who have racked up hundreds, no, thousands of followers by utilizing an exotic language from the Far East:

@Moooris 568,156 Followers
@GachapinBlog 219,281 Followers
@Tenkijp 195,082 Followers
@Asahi 193,149 Followers
@Mainichijpedit 180,898 Followers
@Takapon_JP 180,457 Followers
@Yahoo_Shopping 149,715 Followers
@TWJ 149,482 Followers
@Kotoripiyopiyo 146,409 Followers
@Taguchi 143,796 Followers
@Kengo 141,302 Followers
@Suadd 140,919 Followers
@Kazuyo_K 133,771 Followers
@Kogure 131,357 Followers
@Nobi 125,361 Followers
@Abfly 123,585 Followers
@Msugaya 121,834 Followers
@Fshin2000 121,812 Followers
@Matsuyou 121,394 Followers
@Tokuriki 121,150 Followers
@Kohmi 118,878 Followers
@Taromatsumura 118,212 Followers
@RKMT 115,551 Followers
@Natalie_Mu 101,251 Followers
@Akky 89,590 Followers
@Masui 88,753 Followers

An all too common assumption that newcomers to Twitter have is that only people with U.S. citizenship can use Twitter. That is simply not true, Twitter loosened that requirement when they let @StephenFry open an account. Now, not only people who don't live in the San Francisco Bay Area but also people from other countries (!) and who speak foreign languages are "allowed" to use Twitter provided they do not use it to organize a takeover of our government.

"But," you ask, "I don't know Japanese. Won't it take me a long time to learn a foreign language? Well, yes, it might take you a few years of constant study to master Japanese. After all, they do refuse to use our alphabet despite its clear superiority.

But consider how slowly your Follower count is growing right now. Pretty sad, isn't it? In the time it takes you to learn and happily start Tweeting away in Japanese, odds are that your Follower number will only have increased by the few new friends you've made over the coming year. And unless you're in elementary school, how many new friends do you really make each year? Be honest. I thought so. : (
But take Step 4 and your Follower number is not only guaranteed to increase but you'll be bilingual! You can charm and offend people in several different countries from the comfort of your kitchen table.
Keep checking each Tuesday as I continue to reveal one of Hot Top Proven Strategies &Secrets On How To Be A Twitter Elite!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Twitter Lists 101: Etiquette & Strategies

Like Twitter itself, there is no right or wrong way to use Twitter Lists. But there are some basic rules of etiquette along with some strategies that I've observed in the week I've been playing around with them.

Parameters of Lists:
Etiquette: Currently, Twitter is allotting users 20 lists with a maximum of 500 persons per LIst. This initially seems like ample space but once you get into the process of creating Lists, you might find yourself hitting the limits. It's unknown whether Twitter will eventually offer users the ability to create more or larger Lists.

Strategy: Play around with Lists. Create some and delete the ones that you find aren't useful. For example, I was initially creating geographic Lists but I found that some Lists only had a dozen or fewer names on them and I wasn't going to be looking at them very often. So, I deleted them and created a few topical lists that would provide more value to me.


Public & Private
Etiquette: You have the option to make your Lists public or private. If you create a Private List, the people who are on it will not be informed or aware of their presence on it. You may want to keep Lists of family, closest friends, or people you despise private if you are concerned with revealing too much about your personal life or offending or embarrassing others.

Strategy: I've started to keep Lists I'm still in the process of building private and when I think they are finished, I've changed their status to public. Remember, through the Edit feature, you can always make a public List, private and vice versa.


Following vs. Lists:
Etiquette: Unlike Following, Twitterers don't assume Lists are reciprocal. Because each user has their own rationale for creating lists (friends, colleagues, news feeds, celebrities, etc.), it's not expected that you will put everyone you follow on a List or that people you put on to a List will somehow have a List that you will be appropriate for.

Strategy: There are always some people who you follow who will never follow you back. They could be celebrities, high profile Twitterers or just be highly selective about who they follow. So, it's impossible to create the kind of reciprocal friendship that many people seek in social networking. I've found one strategy is to stop following those users and put them on a List instead. This lightens the load on my Tweetstream but means I can still click on the List and see what they are up to.


What's in a Name?
Etiquette: You're not allowed many characters when you name a List so you should give your Lists names that concisely sum up the rationale for including people on them. Examples might be Journalists, Friends, Web Designers, Music, Chicago, People I've Met or Conference Presenters. However, putting together a List of celebrities or high profile Twitterers and naming it My Friends will make you look delusional! You can use Lists titled Most Influential or Thought Leaders to flatter popular people but considering the hundreds of Lists some of them are on, your effort is likely to go unnoticed.

Strategy: One way you can make your List memorable is to give it a descriptive but interesting name. List names like Argumentative, People Who Owe Me Money, All the Geeky Ladies, and The South: Tech Scene give you an idea of why individuals are on a List but distinguish your List from the generic titles most Lists are given. Names that are too obscure (People From That Dinner) mean that the List will only be of use to you. Through the Edit option, you can rename your List whenever you choose.


Good Lists & Bad Lists
Etiquette: So far, most Lists I've seen have been complimentary and are composed of people the Twitterer admires or considers friends. But Lists are neutral tools and can be used to highlight enemies as well as friends.

Strategy: If you find yourself on a List with an uncomplimentary name (Douchebags) you can block the List creator and you will find yourself removed from the List. Of course, this only works for Lists that are public as you are not informed of your presence on an individual's private List.


Personal or Shared?
Etiquette: I've seen some speculation that how many Lists an individual is on will be the new sign of popularity rather than how many Followers a user has. However, considering how easily this feature can be manipulated--an Twitterer creating dozens of bogus accounts & Lists that include them--, having a high List count is not necessarily a sign of quality.

Strategy: A better strategy than trying to be placed on a lot of Lists is to create truly memorable Lists and have people follow them. Instead of considering your Lists to be an address book of your friends, create one or two Lists that reveal your deep knowledge of a field. For example, I saw an awesome Music List of 500 Indie musical artists & labels that I could never reproduce myself. Following other people's well-crafted Lists not only exposes you to users you'd never otherwise have heard of but is a compliment to the Twitterer who spend the time & effort putting a dynamic List together.


Reources: If you have an amazing List you've created & want to share or you are looking for other great Lists you want to check out, go to Listorious, a directory of Twitter Lists. There will undoubtedly be other tools that arise in the coming weeks but Listorious does a great job, acting as a WeFollow for Lists and allowing people to check out the most popular lists as well as contribute their own. I highly recommend checking out their tags for Lists that might be of interest to you.

What amazing Lists have you come across that you'd like to recommend?

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ - Step 3

To recap, over the past 3 weeks I've introduced you to my 10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ system and showed you Step 1 (Never Tweet!) and Step 2 (Follow No One!) that can help you become a hot, top Twitterer.

This is the 3rd of 10 consecutive Tuesdays on which I'm going to release one of the Twitter Strategies & Secrets that the Twitter Elite don't want you to know. I will provide you with some truly profound advice, and also with examples taken from the ranks of the Most Followed Twitter Users to scientifically back up my points.

So, here is the Proven Strategy & Secret to be a Top Twitterer #3

3) Impersonate a celebrity. It helps if they aren't on Twitter but it doesn't really matter if they are or not. You can even impersonate the President.

Now, at first, this might seem counter-intuitive. "What are you talking about, Liz?", you say. "Won't people be able to tell that I'm not a Hollywood or media celebrity? I don't know anything about their lives." How very, very wrong you are.

With a little bit of effort, you can try to capture the "voice" of celebrity but it really doesn't matter. People will follow you because you have a celebrity name on your account, not because you are who you say you are or have anything interesting to say. Or not say...because some people will follow celebrity accounts who don't even Tweet. You don't even have to be able to spell the celebrity's name correctly!
But doesn't Twitter have a policy of suspending accounts that impersonate people," you ask. Policy, schmolicy. Yes, there are accounts that masquerade as celebrities which are suspended but Twitter only investigates these faux accounts if the real person complains about them.

Since there are still some high profile people who don't know or don't care about Twitter (I know, I'm shocked too), it is unlikely that they will ever know you exist or care enough to complain to Twitter. And, as you will see, some of these people who are already on Twitter don't seem to mind if you post under their name!
But, if you are afraid of running afoul of Twitter HQ, you can always go the route of the very popular @NotTinaFey and just openly declare yourself an imposter...it doesn't always seem to register with people who simply want to believe it is really a celebrity they are following.

Scientific Proof? Look at these very popular, HOT, TOP Twitter accounts who have racked up hundreds, no, thousands of followers:

Real account: @BarackObama 2,522,583 Followers
Fake account: @Barak_Obama 73,342 Followers

Real account: @50Cent 1,857,809 Followers
Fake account: @50_Cent 53,856 Followers

Real account: @StephenAtHome 1,156,189 Followers
Fake account: @StephenColbert 373, 808 Followers
Fake account: @StephenTColbert 94,115 Followers

Real account: @DDLovato 1,073,497 Followers
Fake account: @TheRealDemi 64,650 Followers

Real account: @SevinNyne6126 376,628 Followers
Fake account: @LindsayLohan 95,973 Followers

Real account: @RichardBranson 187,651 Followers
Fake account: @SirDickBranson 47,389 Followers

Real (?) account: @Rihanna 85,784 Followers
Fake account: @Rihanna_ 63,643 Followers

Real (?) account: @DanRadcliffe22 60,266 Followers
Fake account: @DanielRadcliffe 44,598 Followers

Just plain fakes:
@Beyonce 391,624 Followers
@NotTinaFey 388,270 Followers
@AdamSandler 203,128 Followers
@JenifferAniston 117,979 Followers
@RoGiddy 107,515 Followers (Seth Rogan)
@Timbaland 101,621 Followers
@Rachel_Bilson 94,227 Followers
@RealZacEfron 84,840 Followers
@ImMKOlsen 83,647 Followers (Mary-Kate Olsen)
@JohnnyDepp 79,178 Followers
@Beckham 79,043 Followers
@Rupert_Grint 71,737 Followers
@IAmKelis 65,890 Followers
@Michael_Cera 55,432 Followers
@GwenStefani 53,142 Followers

An all too common assumption that newcomers to Twitter have is that people care if a celebrity is real or fake. They don't. They just like to believe they are getting messages from famous people who matter. It's like finding a cupcake in your mailbox.

"But," you ask, "what about my 'personal brand'? What about my own identity?" Well, you can try what others have done and build up a fake account and then change the user account to your own name or company. This happened with mixed results with the following accounts this year:

@Michael_Phelps>@Lysted (suspended)
@Vanessa_Hudgens>@NewYorkCityPR (still active)
@BinboaUSAVodka>@EBayAuctionSave (still active)

Who knows? Your phony @RobertPattinson username could be your ticket to a million follower account!
Keep checking each Tuesday as I continue to reveal one of Hot Top Proven Strategies & Secrets On How To Be A Twitter Elite!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ - Step 2

To recap, last week I introduced you to my 10 HOT TOP PROVEN STRATEGIES & SECRETS HOW TO BE A TWITTER ELITE! ™ system and showed you Step 1 of how you can be a hot, top Twitterer.

This is the 2nd of 10 consecutive Tuesdays on which I'm going to release one of the Twitter Strategies & Secrets that the Twitter Elite don't want you to know. I will provide you with some truly profound advice, and also examples from taken from the ranks of the Most Followed Twitter Users to scientifically back up my points.

Last week I showed how you can be popular by creating an account and not sending out any Tweets and how this strategy has worked for some of the most popular users on Twitter. But, most likely, you have already started Tweeting and, unfortunately, can't take advantage of all of the benefits of Step 1 of my program.

No worries! While not every one of the Steps will apply to your situation, I'm kind of fairly sure (well, 50/50) that you'll be able to use at least 1 of the 10 secrets I will reveal over the coming weeks.

So, here is the Proven Strategy & Secret to be a Top Twitterer #2

2) Don't follow anyone. Not your best friend, your mother, your co-workers, your favorite blogger or blog, a celebrity, your fans or customers...FOLLOW NO ONE BACK.

Now, at first, this might seem counter-intuitive. "What are you talking about, Liz?", you say. "Isn't Twitter a social network and isn't the basis of every social network is the ties of relationship you create and maintain?" How very, very wrong you are.

Twitter's founders have repeatedly insisted that Twitter is NOT a social network but a communications platform. And what is more important than telling other people what you are doing and thinking? You are the center of your world and you don't have time to be interrupted by the random thoughts and acts of other people. Who cares what everyone had for lunch when you have your own lunch to talk about?

"But by unfollowing all of the people I know & admire," you ask, "aren't I, in fact, telling them I'm not interested in their lives?" Yes, I suppose that an oversensitive person might take it that way. But true friends know that you don't have time to care about their little problems and if they do get upset--as some people who recently mass-unfollowed people have mentioned--then they really only cared about the influence that you following them lent them. Your following shined light on to their accounts when the spotlight rightly belongs on YOU.

Scientific Proof? Look at these very popular, HOT, TOP Twitter accounts who have racked up hundreds, thousands, in some cases, millions of followers without caring one bit what other people have to say:

@WomensWearDaily 1,340,663 Followers
@YouLookGreat 1,1441,466 Followers
@StephenAtHome 1,133,901 Followers
@ManoMenezes 1,091,765 Followers
@AstrobiologyNAI 840,290 Followers
@Defamer 497,511 Followers
@RevRunWisdom 386,679 Followers
@UWBCI 337,631 Followers
@Eminem 336,518 Followers
@Phillies 313,360 Followers
@Fun140 285,623 Followers
@PigeonPoll 224,152 Followers
@OfficialKathyG 205,516 Followers
@Karl_Lagerfeld 129,933 Followers
@Marcelo_Adnet 124,921 Followers
@CrissAngel 120,376 Followers
@JenifferAniston 117,197 Followers
@GabrielSaporta 94,056 Followers
@Muse 91,141 Followers
@PaniconaTV 89,831 Followers
@_Maxwell_ 86,214 Followers
@RealZacEfron 83,382 Followers
@TomDeLonge 83,227 Followers
@JohnnyDepp 78,382 Followers
@Beckham 78,115 Followers
@VirSanghvi 73,230 Followers
@Barak_Obama 72,764 Followers
@JK_Rowling 71,739 Followers
@Twitition 70,825 Followers
@Rihanna 69,247 Followers
@Rihanna_ 63,216 Followers
@SternShow 61,615 Followers
@ChrisBrownFan 57,339 Followers
@BBCWorld 56,063 Followers
@GwenStefani 52,659 Followers
@Limbaugh 50,584 Followers

As you can see, Step 2 is practiced even more widely than Step 1 and some accounts--like @JenifferAniston, @Barak_Obama, @ChrisBrownFan, and @Limbaugh--smartly combine Steps 1 and 2 to have an account that both says nothing and follows no one! Now, who could resist following an account like that?

An all too common assumption that newcomers to Twitter have is that you are supposed to read other people's messages to you and respond to them. But you, like these other celebrities, celebrity impersonators, agencies, companies & sports teams, are too important to waste time caring what other people, fans, or customers think. And, to be frank, is what they have to say really that interesting? I think not...yawn!

If it's really important, they can email or call you. As Twitter's Biz Stone himself said, "I don’t think of Twitter as a social network. I think of it as a messaging system that has a lot of social components to it." Twitter exists for you send messages to other people, receiving messages from other people just slows the entire system down. Think about it.
Keep checking each Tuesday as I continue to reveal one of 10 Hot Top Proven Strategies & Secrets On How To Be A Twitter Elite!™ I welcome your comments about the success these strategies have brought you although I may not have the time to read them.

P.S. My original version of Step 2 included the @JonasBrothers but 11 hours ago, they added their very 1st follower, @HHMasterMinds. After this misstep, I expect their Follower number to plummet.

It doesn't matter that it is a second account they created for themselves after creating a spectacularly lame video called "Bounce". They should have follow my win-win program and kept their career going strong. We can only wonder how big their Following might have been if they had exercised a bit more self-control. Reblog this post [with Zemanta]