Someone recently asked me how I choose my followers on Twitter.  When I offer an opinion on how I use Twitter, keep in mind that I don’t represent a hospital, business or Fortune 500 brand.  What you do as a marketing professional on Twitter may be very different from what I do as a free-range physician.

I follow:

1)  People who bring me information I can use.  Twitter has evolved as my human signal.  If something’s important my stream will let me know about it.  I try to keep it pure.  I avoid noisy folk.

2)  People with whom I have some kind of meaningful relationship. I’ll follow and connect with my closest contacts if they take to Twitter.  Even here, however, I’m selective.

When I think of Twitter I think inbound rather than outbound.  I put almost all of my attention on who I follow and very little attention on who follows me.  I do more listening than talking.  We need more of that.

Is that selfish?  Not at all.  It’s how I use the tool.  I do share and create but its disproportionate to what I consume.  With regard to my outbound stuff, I like to think that I create value by sharing links that are remarkably good.  Socially I think more horizontal than my peers in social health.  So I often pull in content from other silos in the infosphere.  I offer dry, sarcastic humor if I’m in a mood.

I find the reciprocal follow to be nonsense.  When I follow someone I want their content; there’s no expectation that they have to be interested in me.

As I evolve, how I communicate evolves.  So this is all subject to change.