Finding relevant friends and followers

You’re on Twitter, Facebook, Hi5, MySpace. And you have hundreds or thousands of followers in the social media space. But how much good is that really doing — and are they the right followers? Here are a few tips for getting in with the right crowd: 1) Find your existing contacts: Import your contacts into a Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail or MSN account. Most social media sites allow you to search your existing contacts for friends or followers. 2) Look at who’s following/friending your followers: If you’re new to a social media space, it can be like walking into a great cocktail party. Your friends are there; you just need to introduce yourself. Check out who’s following your friends. You’ll find worthwhile people there. Walk up. Shake their hands. Make small talk. Follow or friend them. 3) Identify “power friends/followers”: These are the people who are most seeded in the community you’re hoping to reach. Interact with them. They can be your great allies in the social media space and help you blast your word out into the world. 4) Choose your friends carefully: Just because someone wants to friend/follow you, you don’t need to get on board. Lately, I’ve noticed an upswing in adult content followers on Twitter. I’ve blocked them all. Not interested. But thanks. Remember, unless you’ve made your information private, the world can see who’s following you. What your mom told you about people judging you by your friends was good advice. 5) Keep your friends up to date: Lists of friends and followers need regular tending. Make it a goal to actively add new friends weekly or monthly. 6) To have a friend, you need to be a friend: That means interact. Say hey. Rebroadcast the messages of others. Comment. Social media spaces are a big party. Work that room.