The Urban Dictionary defines the Twitterati as:
Twitterati: The Tweet elite, whose feeds attract thousands of followers and whose 140-character spews capture the attention of the rapt who doggedly monitor them.Maybe it’s not the most glowing definition going, but the point is clear: There are people out there whose tweets hold more interest (and probably influence) than others. I’m not just talking about celebrities or the otherwise famous — it’s obvious why those folks have so many followers — and I’m also not talking about friend whores or spammers who just add people indiscriminately. I’m talking about the people with actual, real followers. Lots of them. The people I’m talking about are the ones who have a true connection with their followers and make a real impact on them.
It’s called social media for a reason, isn’t it?
Even though the members of the Twitterati are different people, the same things are being done, more or less, by all of the them. Everyone’s voice is different, most have different areas of expertise or special knowledge, and they usually have a unique viewpoint. Still, you can find 3 common elements in all of their tweets if you take a step back and look at the big picture.
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Engage:
Possibly the most important of the 3 E’s, engaging with their followers is what sets the Twitterati apart, and really puts the social in “social networking”. To build a list of Twitter followers isn’t enough; anyone can get 20,000 followers if you only care about quantity and not quality. The power Twitter users get real people to follow them and learn who they are, find out their interests, talk directly with them, and find ways to get (and stay) connected with their followers as much as possible.
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Expose:
In order to have any appreciable effect on anyone, you have to let them in, even if just a little bit. Show them the real you. Being yourself, opening up, and exposing your strengths as well as your weaknesses helps build a bond between you and your followers. Exposing yourself to your Twitter followers builds trust. And without trust you’re no better than a super-tweeting robot.
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Enlighten:
Last but certainly not least is what the most Twitterati do to keep their followers once they get them. The Twitter elite retain their followers by consistently tweeting relevant links, new tips and tricks, inside information on a particular topic, and any other reliable data their followers will find interesting through a tweet. This is the part where they teach a man to fish instead of giving him one.
Honestly, these aren’t even secrets. They’re common sense and common knowledge. Unfortunately we all seem to lose our way sometimes and forget these things. If you make a point to talk to people, be yourself, and teach them things, you’ll build a strong base of friends and supporters.
