Anyone who knows me knows I am a numbers geek.  I count everything…the stairs (twelve from my second floor to the first then one more), cars ahead of me in the toll line, people at a boardroom table wearing school colors, and how many wheels of parmesan cheese were in the aging vault in Parma, Italy (over 26,000 valued at over $1.7 million).

I have been Tweeting a lot lately about how important I think it is to read the Tweets of a follower before making the decision to follow them.  Being followed is a privilege, not a right.

In March I revived my original Twitter account @JudeCaserta and decided to keep track of my followers.  Along with doing this I paid careful attention to the Tweets of folks before I would follow back.  Over time, there was one relatively sure fire way to know if an account is spam without reading too many Tweets.

Take a look at the ratio of total followers to number of lists they appear on.  For example, just a few hours ago I was followed by someone who has 1,407 followers and is following 1,548.  Not bad, actually.  His problem is that he is listed only 6 times and one of the lists he is on is actually called spammers!  Dude is listed 1 time for every 234 followers.  Not a good addition to your timeline.

Mine is a reasonably good 17.  I have 734 followers and appear on 42 lists (none of which say spam or imply spam!).  I was followed yesterday by a woman who is followed by 5,605 people and is on 393 lists – so that’s about a 14 (I think that’s great!).  One of my favorite Tweeps has 764 followers and is on 116 lists for a ratio of about 6.  He is a superstar!

So, for a quick way to vet your followers, check the number of lists they appear on to the number of followers.  A quick block never hurt anyone!

Life is good!

Jude

Twitter: MidMajorMom

Twitter: JudeCaserta

http://www.MidMajorMom.WordPress.com

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