Kris Jones of PepperJam had an excellent post asking if Twitter spam is getting out of control (http://tinyurl.com/d6thzs)

This post made me think of something that been rattling around in the back of my head: “twitter math”

First off, if one has a personal and company twitter account, I think it’s appropriate for the latter to be more of a “broadcast” mechanism for announcements, products, etc.  People can opt-out any time if you overdo it – similar to the company newsletter.

This is where the “math” comes in, and is particularly important for a “personal” account where one could argue the conversation would be more “intimate”.

On my personal account, the first thing I look at is your following/followers (f/f) “weight ratio”:

• 1 to 5 (or higher): “Lean and Mean” – You’ve got twice as many followers than you’re following.  This means people really want to hear what you have to say, and you’re probably engaged in the conversation.  A couple good examples are “affiliatetip” and “shoemoney”.
• 1 to 1 “Very Fit” – You’re following everyone that follows you and you’re semi-engaged in the conversation.  I think this is a decent ratio for a corporate twitter account.  You’re  actively looking for twitter users with similar interests and you always reciprocate followers.
• 5 to 1 “Fatty Fat Spammer” – You’re following anyone and everyone with no rhyme or reason in the hopes they will follow you back and you probably aren’t reading a damn thing anyone posts.

The next thing I look at is the sheer numbers, or your “Total F/F”:

• Below 100 -  “The Quite Man” – You’re either just starting out, don’t really use twitter, or want keep it intimate.
• 100 to 1000 – “A Chatter Box” – You actively use twitter and are actively engaged in the conversation at a personal level.
• 1000 to 10,000 – “Marketing Maven” – You’re using twitter as a tool to engage the twitterverse and build your brand.  And if you’re not over doing it (see below, that’s great)
• 10,000 or More – “Twitteramous” (Twitter-Famous) – These people are basically uber-gurus, Internet personalities (iJustine), or just plain famous (Ashton Kutcher).

Following the Quiet Man and Chatter Box is great, especially if you’ve met in person or have common interest.  The conversation tends to be real, personal and valuable.

The Marketing Maven is great to follow for tips, strategy and advice.  However, unless you know the person, it’s not likely they’re going to be actively engaged in a conversation with you.  Their goal is to add value by way of tips (links to articles, etc…) to build their brand and garner customers.

Follow Twitteramous people at your own risk.  These people have such a large audience that twitter is a broadcasting system to keep them top of mind – building brand awareness.  Effectively it’s like a radio show with a ton of listeners.  Sure, they’ll take calls once in a while, but for the most part they are broadcasting.  Most, like iJustine and ShoeMoney, are good about not abusing this with 3-4 twits a day.  But others, like Jason Calacanis, can drive you crazy with the sheer volume of tweets.  It’s like a radio show is always on and jamming up your twitter stream.

7 Strikes and You’re Out

When you follow someone on twitter, you’re giving part of your life away.  If you’re actively engaged, twitter is an interruption to what you’re doing.   Normally it’s a welcome interruption, but how much is it costing you in time?

Here’s some rough math:  The average word in the English language is 5 letters.  Now, let’s say the average tweet is 100 Characters.   That’s 20 words per tweet.
Now let’s say your average reading speed is 300 words per minute.  300/60 = Five words per second.  This means the average tweet take 4 seconds to read!

I think it’s safe to say that there’s also a “switching time” – how long it takes to divert your attention to the tweet.  So we’ll add in one second and round it out to Five Seconds Per Tweet read!

Keep in mind; this does not take into consideration the distraction time for viewing any articles, pictures or videos linked in the tweet.

So at 5 seconds per tweet, 6 tweets a day (and that’s pushing it) is the most anyone should do.  It looks something like this:
5 Seconds x 6 Tweets x 5 Days x 52 Weeks = 7,800 Seconds!

That is 130 Minutes or slightly over 2 Hours per Year per person you are following!

If you follow 100 of people like this, and read every tweet, that’s 200 Hours per year.  Divide that by an 8 Hour work day and you’ve spent 25 Days following people on twitter!

I realize that the last part is a bit of a stretch.  You’re not going to read EVERY tweet from 100 people doing 6 tweets a day.  And, I’m sure there’s some fudge factor in my math.  Nevertheless, there are two important lessons from this exercise:

1. Be judicious with whom you follow on twitter – particularly if it’s a conversation you want to engage in.
2. Don’t waste people’s time with too many Tweets Per Day (TPD):
   • 1-2 TPD:    You’re right on the money
   • 3-4 TPD:    It better be funny or valuable
   • 5-6 TPD:    You’re pushing it
   • 7+ TPD:    I’m de-following your ass