Data Shows That Social Behavior Gets More Followers

Jan 25th 2010 View Comments

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The linguistic analysis engine behind TweetPsych has given me a bunch of cool data points to analyze, so I’ve begun to look at various factors and their relationship with follower counts. Using a database of over 30,000 accounts that have been analyzed with TweetPsych, the first dimension I’ve looked at is “Social Behavior”.

The “Social Behavior” category includes inclusive language like “we” and “you”, as well as language that describes relationships and communication. As it turns out, accounts with more followers, tended to be using more social language.

Over the next week or two, I’ll be posting about the rest of the dimensions TweetPsych analyzes and how they’re related to follower numbers, so stay tuned.

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http://twitter.com/terpimost Vladislav Korobov

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http://www.makemoneyontheinternet.com/ Make Money on the Internet

Very interesting graph. It’d love to see more data points if it were possible though.

Perhaps a further analysis into how many tweets those accounts do on average to see if there is some sort of underlying theme as to the best amount of tweets and inclusion of social language.

Chris Guthrie
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http://www.michaelcarwile.com/ Michael Carwile

This is incredibly interesting. I've been using tools like Twitalyzer to get similar information, but it's not nearly as involved as this. Have you worked with those types of groups to try and further assess the connections?

I also wonder what the tendency is with regard to WHEN people follow and/or unfollow a person on Twitter. For example, do people tend to gain more followers when a conversation is taking place, or do people tend to unfollow at that point in time? Or do they tend to follow people that are clearly “social” but they are not being social right then – perhaps in an attempt to be noticed in-between the conversations?

The person may have, in general, more followers if they are more conversational and “social” but I wonder if they lose followers at times when they are because those followers were expecting something different from the person and/or they were hoping to be personally engaged within a certain amount of time. I would be very interested in learning more about the psychology in those areas.
http://www.michaelcarwile.com/ Michael Carwile

This is incredibly interesting. I've been using tools like Twitalyzer to get similar information, but it's not nearly as involved as this. Have you worked with those types of groups to try and further assess the connections?

I also wonder what the tendency is with regard to WHEN people follow and/or unfollow a person on Twitter. For example, do people tend to gain more followers when a conversation is taking place, or do people tend to unfollow at that point in time? Or do they tend to follow people that are clearly “social” but they are not being social right then – perhaps in an attempt to be noticed in-between the conversations?

The person may have, in general, more followers if they are more conversational and “social” but I wonder if they lose followers at times when they are because those followers were expecting something different from the person and/or they were hoping to be personally engaged within a certain amount of time. I would be very interested in learning more about the psychology in those areas.
http://www.michaelcarwile.com/ Michael Carwile

This is incredibly interesting. I've been using tools like Twitalyzer to get similar information, but it's not nearly as involved as this. Have you worked with those types of groups to try and further assess the connections?

I also wonder what the tendency is with regard to WHEN people follow and/or unfollow a person on Twitter. For example, do people tend to gain more followers when a conversation is taking place, or do people tend to unfollow at that point in time? Or do they tend to follow people that are clearly “social” but they are not being social right then – perhaps in an attempt to be noticed in-between the conversations?

The person may have, in general, more followers if they are more conversational and “social” but I wonder if they lose followers at times when they are because those followers were expecting something different from the person and/or they were hoping to be personally engaged within a certain amount of time. I would be very interested in learning more about the psychology in those areas.
http://www.michaelcarwile.com/ Michael Carwile

This is incredibly interesting. I've been using tools like Twitalyzer to get similar information, but it's not nearly as involved as this. Have you worked with those types of groups to try and further assess the connections?

I also wonder what the tendency is with regard to WHEN people follow and/or unfollow a person on Twitter. For example, do people tend to gain more followers when a conversation is taking place, or do people tend to unfollow at that point in time? Or do they tend to follow people that are clearly “social” but they are not being social right then – perhaps in an attempt to be noticed in-between the conversations?

The person may have, in general, more followers if they are more conversational and “social” but I wonder if they lose followers at times when they are because those followers were expecting something different from the person and/or they were hoping to be personally engaged within a certain amount of time. I would be very interested in learning more about the psychology in those areas.
http://www.michaelcarwile.com/ Michael Carwile

This is incredibly interesting. I've been using tools like Twitalyzer to get similar information, but it's not nearly as involved as this. Have you worked with those types of groups to try and further assess the connections?

I also wonder what the tendency is with regard to WHEN people follow and/or unfollow a person on Twitter. For example, do people tend to gain more followers when a conversation is taking place, or do people tend to unfollow at that point in time? Or do they tend to follow people that are clearly “social” but they are not being social right then – perhaps in an attempt to be noticed in-between the conversations?

The person may have, in general, more followers if they are more conversational and “social” but I wonder if they lose followers at times when they are because those followers were expecting something different from the person and/or they were hoping to be personally engaged within a certain amount of time. I would be very interested in learning more about the psychology in those areas.
http://www.michaelcarwile.com/ Michael Carwile

This is incredibly interesting. I've been using tools like Twitalyzer to get similar information, but it's not nearly as involved as this. Have you worked with those types of groups to try and further assess the connections?

I also wonder what the tendency is with regard to WHEN people follow and/or unfollow a person on Twitter. For example, do people tend to gain more followers when a conversation is taking place, or do people tend to unfollow at that point in time? Or do they tend to follow people that are clearly “social” but they are not being social right then – perhaps in an attempt to be noticed in-between the conversations?

The person may have, in general, more followers if they are more conversational and “social” but I wonder if they lose followers at times when they are because those followers were expecting something different from the person and/or they were hoping to be personally engaged within a certain amount of time. I would be very interested in learning more about the psychology in those areas.
http://www.michaelcarwile.com/ Michael Carwile

This is incredibly interesting. I've been using tools like Twitalyzer to get similar information, but it's not nearly as involved as this. Have you worked with those types of groups to try and further assess the connections?

I also wonder what the tendency is with regard to WHEN people follow and/or unfollow a person on Twitter. For example, do people tend to gain more followers when a conversation is taking place, or do people tend to unfollow at that point in time? Or do they tend to follow people that are clearly “social” but they are not being social right then – perhaps in an attempt to be noticed in-between the conversations?

The person may have, in general, more followers if they are more conversational and “social” but I wonder if they lose followers at times when they are because those followers were expecting something different from the person and/or they were hoping to be personally engaged within a certain amount of time. I would be very interested in learning more about the psychology in those areas.
http://www.michaelcarwile.com/ Michael Carwile

This is incredibly interesting. I've been using tools like Twitalyzer to get similar information, but it's not nearly as involved as this. Have you worked with those types of groups to try and further assess the connections?

I also wonder what the tendency is with regard to WHEN people follow and/or unfollow a person on Twitter. For example, do people tend to gain more followers when a conversation is taking place, or do people tend to unfollow at that point in time? Or do they tend to follow people that are clearly “social” but they are not being social right then – perhaps in an attempt to be noticed in-between the conversations?

The person may have, in general, more followers if they are more conversational and “social” but I wonder if they lose followers at times when they are because those followers were expecting something different from the person and/or they were hoping to be personally engaged within a certain amount of time. I would be very interested in learning more about the psychology in those areas.
http://www.mediapointpr.com FeliciaG

Dan, you have provided salient points that are very appreciated. We ought to keep the conversation going for all of us to gain benefit from this powerful social medium.
@FeliciaGriffin1
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nic_oliver

Hi Dan!

An interesting case of internet coincidence as I've just blogged on the same issue, from a different perspective – the balance between the use of the first and second person when writing articles. Perhaps we could collaborate on this; the software I use allows written material to be broken down in a lot of different ways. I'm not going to spam your site with a direct link to the article; email me if you'd like to take this further
http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Joe_Jaffe_s_fall_from_grace Ocker

Probably why no one reads that self-aggrandizing twerp Joseph Jaffe any more.
http://lordmatt.co.uk lordmatt

I'm not sure the spread supports this conclusion. Especially in the second half of the data.
http://eoracleapps.blogspot.com/ eoracleapps

Sound interesting , let me try “We” and “you” and see
shreyamehta

its a good article on social media behaviour. it shows good analysis
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bistrobroad

we liked this. we hope it works.

from,
just us
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socialmediaexpert258

I can understand the way you love social networking. I am a great fan of yours from now.
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leah

Neat! Tested your TweetPsych and it's definitely something I think anyone working in social media would be interested in.
Alan Graner

Nitpicking: Data is the plural of datum. Therefore, a datum “shows” but data “show.”
http://flavors.me/NatashaK Natasha Khan

I am skeptical. Brick and mortar stores naturally have more followers, e.g. Burburry and Gucci. These are brands that people love, but really their Facebook pages are just PR platforms, rarely updated, and not that engaging. I really think there has to be a separate measure for well known brands and new brands.
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http://www.everydaypublicrelations.com Kristina Summers

thanks for the tips – great information, and completely relevant.
http://www.everydaypublicrelations.com Kristina Summers

Thanks for the great tips! I will definitely be able to apply these to my work.
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