the golden rule of twitter - and back rubs

Twitter numbers are huge and still growing. As of 2012 there were 500 million users, doing 350 million daily tweets, and conducting 1.3 billion searches. We're halfway through 2013 and I'm sure the numbers have moved upwards dramatically.

Whether you are on Twitter to entertain, network or sell something, how in the world do you gain followers and then get them to read and share your tweets?

If you follow someone on Twitter and they don't follow you back, you are a fan. If they follow you and you don't follow back, you have a fan.

For most people the "fan" model doesn't really work.

Most of the 500 million of us on Twitter aren't going to command a huge fan base based on setting up an account with our name or a clever penname and posting some tweets - and once you follow 2,000 people, you have to have at least half that many followers to follow more.

So most of us need to follow the Golden Rule of Twitter.

It just so happens that the Golden Rule of Twitter is very much like the Golden Rule that Jesus spoke of in the Bible: Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31, NIV).

If you want follows, mentions, and retweets - yes, by all means, make your account and tweets as good as possible - but the more certain route is to follow, mention, and retweet others yourself.

People appreciate fair play and will respond in kind. Sometimes it's nothing more than quid pro quo - but why shouldn't a social network be based to some degree on mutual back rubs?

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