As the number of new users exploded on Twitter, the Suggested User list is also born. It was not until about a month ago when Twitter released a list of people whom people can follow on Twitter. Their reason is because new users have no one to follow and Twitter is useless if you do not follow anyone. After all, how can you tweet if no one is following you right? No one will read it rendering the website useless.
But then, the release of the suggested users list have raised some eyebrows. As said in the Twitter blog, a particular journalist of PBS named Mark Glaser have questioned the criteria Twitter is considering in choosing this people. In reply to this, Twitter has released an official post on its blog regarding the matter.
Some people may think that Twitter had just randomly chosen the people who are on the list. It may also trigger some questions when it comes to favorites or those who are popular in the industry. But Twitter do have a way of determining which profiles should be included in the list.
Well first, they look at the profile’s appearance. If it looks good and the user is active in the website then there is a higher chance that the staff will pick it. The number of followers along with the conversations are also considered. This will let them determine which accounts will be able to help a new user in Twittering along with providing an interesting profile that people will like to follow.
Other questions they consider are “is the account a good introduction to Twittering for a new user?”, “Does the person or organization running the account have a fairly wide or mainstream appeal?” and” If they are a celebrity or business, have we confirmed it’s really them?”
But one does not need to worry about the accounts posted. They are chosen based on interest and they have not paid Twitter to put them up there. It is just for Twitter’s goal of making their website useful to everyone even to newbies. As all Twitter users can relate to, Twitter really does take some time before you can figure out its power.
The good news is that you can ask Twitter to include your account if you qualified. So it is not really reserved to a few people. However, I think the tool will be more useful if users are categorized according to niches. That way, the following of people who are from a different niche can be prevented.
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