(image credit: whendidyoujointwitter.com)

So if I’ve been on Twitter so long, you might be skeptical that I only have 5,000 updates and not even 5,000 followers. Other people are flying by in follower counts.  And that’s fine.  What you must understand is that I’m more concerned about reach and influence vs. just a follower number.

When we take a look back over the past year, some would even go so far to criticize my meager average of 8.5 Tweets per day:

(image credit: tweetstats)

Keep in mind that the average number of Tweets per day is actually 4.  Dan Zarrella might argue with me that I’m not reaching my full potential, as he suggests 22 Tweets per day is optimal.  Maybe he’s right.  Am I a Twitter slacker though? Hardly. (Funny, some might argue that being on Twitter so much makes you a slacker).

We manage several different Twitter accounts and advise on a significant client base.  So if you put all those together, I’m actually Tweeting more than is suggested

Even so, let’s just stick with the 8.5 Tweets per day number.  Some days I’ll even Tweet just a handful.  Why? I would prefer to make each Tweet count and be relevant, entertaining, and helpful to my followers.  They took the trouble of singling me out, so I’m here to provide that value.

A trend that is appearing is that fewer people read blogs (at least, it’s slowed down due to lifestreaming and microblogging) as well as expected RSS usage.  People are looking to their Twitter friends to point them in the right direction.  So, I dedicate my 5,000th Tweet and this further analysis to you, dear reader.  Hope it got you thinking.

How do you approach the whole follower/following/velocity vs. influence discussion? Would love to hear your thoughts.

The research I did on viral content sharing shows that frequent users of social web technologies like Twitter, blogs, and social news and networking sites tend to share online content with more people, more often than those that do not. This means that for marketers these users can be a powerful vector for making content go viral.

While this may sound like some what of a “duh” statement, the concept of “influencers” has been much debated recently. While there is data that individuals give more attention to content passed to them from friends as opposed to A-list bloggers, the fact still remains that there are segments of users who spread content more prolifically than the rest. And by their very nature as savvy social media users, these viewers engage in online activity that makes them easy to target.

We know that people who read Digg, Reddit, Propeller and the like tend to have higher viral reach and sharing frequency than those who do not, so make sure your content appears on these sites. The same applies to those who read blogs, and use Twitter. When it comes time to seed your content, be sure to put it in the path of these extra-contagious users.

An interesting detail of this data is that while frequent users of Facebook and web forums share content with more people and more often in some aspects, generally they’re not as virulent as the users of less-mainstream technologies (with the exception of blog readers). This may be due to the fact that users of sites like Twitter and Digg tend to be early adopters, as opposed to the less-geeky Facebook audience; which seems to indicate that geeks share more content online than non-geeks.

When I segmented these high reach and frequency users, I found that they displayed useful preference trends. When compared to average web users they share more content via IM as opposed to email or Facebook messaging, and they share more news and opinion than humor. When these users share content one-to-one with their friends, they prefer blogs and social news sites to mainstream sites, but that aversion to mainstream media disapears when they share in a one-to-many fashion (broadcast sharing like submitting to Digg, blogging and Tweeting). Again as these users are important viral seeding vectors, we should listen to their preferences and give them news or opinion with short, clean links ideal for instant messaging, and lay off the “funny” email chain letters.

This is a small part of the large data presented in the full report I did on the results of my survey, if you want to know more, be sure to read the rest of my viral content sharing report.

Dan Zarrella is a social and viral marketing scientist, you can read his blog here or follow him on Twitter here.

Rather, the post is here to make you think about Twitter in a way that you might not have before – to use as a scouting and hiring tool. What better a way to find the latest new influencers in social media?

And now without further ado…I give you – Patricia Mayo.

Hi! I’m Patricia Mayo, and I get paid to do the stuff most get fired for doing. Officially, my title is “Social Media Strategist.” But really I just stick my head in the clouds, pull out great ideas, and play with those sites you probably need a proxy to visit at work.

My apologies in advance if I end up getting you fired… *sheepish grin*

How did I get such a great gig? Well – chances are you have already seen my work.

Blazing a Trail in New Media

I have ghostwritten countless search engine optimized articles, copy for websites, ebooks, and ever so infamous five page sales letters. As “Miche” I problogged at Audeamus for Creative Weblogging, which snagged a front page on The Issue and was named a top Social Entrepreneurship blog a few times.

I have also edited Master New Media’s articles, videos, and newsradar. ProBlogger recently featured my guest post “Tired of (Promoting) Your Blog? Flip It” as one of 13 submissions picked out of over 100 submitted in response to his open opportunity for guesting.

Nowadays I’m just a few inches away from launching ComHacker, a blog to help you get what you want out of what you do online, and co-host the WordPress Weekly podcast. Of course, that isn’t the end-all be-all to my story. For more, you can read Dan Pennington’s interview of me on Associated Content.

Yep, I’m pretty much everywhere all at once. The sad part is, that’s not even a quarter of the stuff with my name on it But honestly, I owe the majority of my recent success to Twitter.

I <3 Twitter

Follow me on Twitter

Why do I love Twitter? Let me count the ways…

Thanks to Darren Rowse of ProBlogger tweeting about the open guesting opportunity as it was posted, my submission was the ninth one completed, and one of the first to get picked. The early bird gets the worm!

Brad Williams – Mr. SnapFoo (yes he’s so awesome he deserves a Mr. before the site name) – tweeted about the WordPress Weekly podcast. I tuned in, and ended up being grilled in the after show. Apparently they liked what I had to say.

Of course, I’ve gotta send some love to all the tweeple who saw my tweeted works in progress and sent paying freelance work my way. That’s just plain awesome And I’ve been able to fulfill those orders because I found a few great developers through my gig post at the Startupers site, prompted by Startupers following me on Twitter.

And interestingly enough, apparently going from 3 followers to over 200 followers in less than a month is notable – because that’s pretty much how I qualified for this gig at NowSourcing.

Best of luck in all your endeavors – and I’m certainly looking forward to helping you be a raving success too!

Related articles:

• Interview: Darren Rowse on TwiTip (blogherald.com)
• Still don’t “get” Twitter? This one’s for you… (usegraymatter.com)
• Twitter is Amazing (pistachioconsulting.com)