Many Twitter users adopt a “quality not quantity” strategy by only following a certain number of Twitterers. But, by using certain tools and adopting a certain mindset, I think you can achieve both quality and quantity.
Here’s how I follow 2,500 people on Twitter:
It’s a stream, not a publication.
There are two fears related to Twitter: The fear that you will miss out on something because you’re not following the right person, and the fear that you’ll miss out on something because you’re following too many people. I tend to lean toward the former.
The thing is, Twitter is not a permanent publication — it is a conversation, or a series of conversations. You dip in and out of it. I am not “listening to 1,000 voices.” I’m listening to the few who happen to be tweeting at that particular time.
The more people you follow (your Twitter “friends”), the more chance you have of stumbling across something interesting. The more diverse your Twitter friends are, the more likely you’ll stumble across something useful from outside your immediate circles. For me, those are the most interesting Twitter experiences.
So stop worrying about what you’re missing. Focus on what you do see.
As for quality …
You can still choose a few dozen favorite users.
TweetDeck is a Twitter reader that allows you to split posts from your Twitter friends in various ways. I use this to display a separate column for people I know particularly well, alongside the stream of posts from all the people I follow. You can also use Tweetdeck to show a column of tweets from a particular search.
When accessing Twitter via mobile phone, Twitstat Mobile allows you to “sweetheart” users to a “VIP” list.
If you’re worried about missing the buzz, try Web-based, free services such as Twitturly, Tweetburner and TweetGrid Trending.
… That’s it. I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t follow thousands of people — just how and why you might. Twitter is so flexible you can use it in any number of ways, all at the same time.
