How Much is a Twitter Follower Worth?

by Micah on November 13th

$6.19

I know this because of the enormous research I did over the course of the previous 12 months based on multiple factors including number of followers, percent followed, age of account and 28 other measures.

$6.19

Of course, if you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn you can buy.

For some reason, a intrinsic value has been placed on the number of friends or followers we have accumulated in social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others.

A week ago or so, I mischievously tweeted:

“base requirements for a SM expert: LI (>500); Twitter (>2000); FB (>1000); and at least 100 pics of you on flickr. (not self or mom taken)” - @micah

For many people, as their stature online grows they assume that their offline value also increases.

It seems that numbers equate to worth. RSS subscribers, pageviews, twitter followers, Facebook friends all equate to true value.

As an individual’s number of followers/friends grows, they become more aware of how people view them and begin to develop a “personal brand.” (”There are 10,000 people that read my tweets, I cant tweet a joke like that!”)

If a person has an intrinsic value online (meaning that they can influence behavior or thought online), should they also be aware of how they are valued and adhere to that?

Take for example Guy Kawasaki. Most of hs communication online (at least recently) is about Alltop (which is an information aggregator that includes this blog in the startups section), Truemors posts and other efforts he is involved in. How would people react if Guy started talking about just hockey? Would his following leave? Would he no longer have value online?

Or Robert Scoble. Robert is a great source for information about what he is doing and whats going on in the technology space. If he stopped talking about technology and started talking about nature, would his value subside?

Both do a great job of interacting with their respective communities, is that their real value?

Tim Ferriss and Lance Armstrong are both involved with Twitter and have a high number of followers, but neither follow anyone. Do they have no/limited value because of the lack of interaction?

As long as quantity drives online value, quality will always be seen as secondary, driving the voices of truly interesting people into the noise of the “valuable.”

Social Media Value should not be tied to number of followers or friends (or even previous recongnition or fame).

The value of any participant in any social system is just that: participation.

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Viewing 5 Comments

paulmerrill 1 month ago 1 point
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I'm just a baby at twittering, but I would love to get that $223 my followers are worth.

If I "cash them in" do I then have to delete them? Kill them?

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1 /people/paulmerrill/ /people/paulmerrill/following/

billcarroll 1 month ago 1 point
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You ask, "Do they (those with a high number of followers that don't follow anyone) have no/limited value because of the lack of interaction?"

I've thought about this and I'm on the fence. On one hand, what meaningful interaction can you have with someone who has 30,000 followers? If someone has a twitter stream that looks like streaming matrix code, can they really interact with their followers? Seems like there might be some useful limit. On the other hand I do like hearing opinions from certain people who will never know I exist :)

Still, the real value for me from twitter is in the interactions with those I follow and who follow me back. Example, I was pretty sick last week and I twatted :) about it, and someone gave me some advice that made me feel better. That was a valuable interaction with at least $50.

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1 /people/billcarroll/ /people/billcarroll/following/ http://www.opensignals.com billcarroll b3orion http://tumblr.opensignals.com/

divinewrite 1 month ago 1 point
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I've always wanted a bridge! What's the weather in Brooklyn like? Would you consider a trade on a bridge in Sydney? Tell me more... Interesting post. If followers do, indeed, have a $ value, I think the individual $ value of each follower increases as your following increases. Too long an explanation without another coffee. Perhaps I'll blog on that myself! Also, that value is going to increase a LOT in the coming year, as Twitter becomes more mainstream. Cheers. Glenn (@divinewrite).

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1 /people/divinewrite/ /people/divinewrite/following/

Lucretia Pruitt 1 month ago 1 point
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I keep finding that this issue is dividing people across the boards. Someone asked me what "my secret" was for getting lots of followers - my response was "got me... I'm more concerned with the number of people I get to interact with" - but it's something I've been trying to figure out of late. Is there a "right number" or "right percentage"? I don't think so any more. There's just the way we use twitter, I guess.

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http://www.geekmommy.net

Timon Weller 1 month ago 1 point
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Good point there about twitter value, it really depends on many factors..

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http://www.buyers-web.com