So How Do You Find People on Twitter?

by Mack Collier

One of the benefits to spending time on Twitter is that it's a great way to network.  But if you are new to Twitter, it can seem difficult to find people that are in your industry or that share your interests.  Here's some tips to help get you started meeting new friends on Twitter!

Al left a comment to my post on Monday that I'm sure many of you that are new to Twitter can sympathize with:

"Okay, I got an account on Twitter and I've hit a blank wall, literally. I can't seem to get out of my little box. Perhaps Direct is having the same problem.

There doesn't seem to be any way to "find" anyone unless you already know them from somewhere else. How do you make new acquaintances with similar interests? What's the point in marketing via Twitter if you can't figure out how to get heard?"

This is a real concern, but thankfully there's several resources that can help you expand your network of friends on Twitter.

First, start on Twitter itself.  At the top right of your Twitter homepage you will see a search box that lets you not only search for people, but also by location or any other term that might be in their Twitter profile.  If you are looking for other Twitter members in Ohio, search for Ohio, and Twitter will give you a listing of all the members that have their location identified as being 'Ohio'.  Or you can search for anyone with 'search marketing' in their profile, or 'social media', or any other term you can think of.





Another great way to find people that share your interests is with the Twitter Packs wiki.  Here you can find Twitter users by subject matter, you can find companies that have a presence on Twitter, and even locate people by region.  If you are interested in meeting other Twitter members that focus on 'Technology', for example, you can view the list, and even add yourself to this same list so that other members can find you!

My favorite search tool for Twitter is Tweetscan.  With Tweetscan, you can search for topics, people, places, anything.  You can also search and make sure that you have seen all the replies to you that other Twitter members have left.  Just search for '@YourTwitterName'.  Sometimes the web version of Twitter as well as Twhirl will miss some of your replies.

But perhaps the best way to meet new people on Twitter is to follow the people that your friends are following.  Watch the conversations unfolding, and if you see that one of your friends is having an interesting conversation and replying to someone that you aren't following, then click on that person's name and check out their Twitter page.  It could be that they are someone that you would like to follow. 

With these tools, you should be able to expand your Twitter network significantly.  And the best part is, your Twitter experience becomes much richer and more rewarding as you follow more people.

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