If you have not heard about Twitter, you might as well stop reading this right now. But, if you are one of the 200 million people who have an account on Twitter, you may want to read this because here we will try to answer the question: What makes someone popular on Twitter?

Let us begin with what some of the people on Twitter (or tweeples, as some would say) said when they were asked about what it is that makes someone popular on Twitter:

@softykid (3776 followers): You need to be interactive, not attitude driven.

@sonica00 (692 followers): Never tried to be popular, I speak what I believe.

@jsk05 (165 followers): If they’re already a celeb in entertainment or connected to celebs, wealthy, or have some sad life story.

@msnarain (1711 followers) has written a piece on how to attract more followers on his blog. Although the post is written in a humorous vein, I can’t help but get the feeling that if you do what he says on there, you just might be able to attract a few more followers.

If we look at the list of the top 100 followed people on Twitter, it won’t take us long to realise that the list is full of celebrities. So, if you are a celebrity, you don’t have to work too hard to get followed. All you need to do is open an account, and they will follow.

But, because you are reading this,  I am guessing you are not a celebrity. So, what you may need is a lucky break, like living close to a site where the US plans to attack next with their out-of-the-world-helicopters. But, not everyone is that fortunate (or unfortunate, if you please), and so you may need to try some other ways to get more followers.

You could search Twitter for people and lists of people who follow back, and then go on a following spree. If you do it right, you should easily have more than 5,000 followers in a week’s time.

If, however,  none of the above works for you, and you still want to be popular on Twitter, you , I am afraid, will have to take the hard road to Twitter fame, and, like, most things in life, this  does not come with a guarantee. So, take it or leave it – the choice is yours.

Be Interesting. This is not very different from what you have been told since your childhood days. If you want to make more friends, you need to be funny, witty and smart. The best part about the virtual world is that even if you are not any of those things, you can still fake them. But, you definitely need to be seen as someone who is interesting enough to be followed. Now, whether you choose to fake it, or you choose to make an effort to be interesting, is entirely up to you.

Get a Life. As we have already seen, the top 100 followed people on Twitter are celebrities. So, it won’t be wrong to infer that the probability of getting more followers is higher if you are successful at what you do. For that, you need to spend time away from Twitter and focus on what you do. Having a life has an additional advantage of providing you with interesting stuff that you can tweet about later.

Be Yourself. Contrary to what was said about faking earlier, It actually helps if you are being yourself on Twitter. Don’t try to conform to the popular view, and don’t try to argue for the sake of arguing. Tweet what you believe in, and contribute to conversations with your own viewpoint. People just might like you and follow you for that.

Follow the right people. Before you embark upon your mission to get followed, you should follow people. Twitter is a two way street. Unless you are Lady Gaga, you can’t expect to get a lot of followers without following some people back. Ok, I must admit here, that even if you are a female with a nice DP you may be able to get a few followers without following back. Jokes apart, it is important to follow the right people because they will inform you, entertain you and make your Twitter experience worthwhile, which in turn will help you in making it worth people’s time and effort to follow you.

Participate. Lastly, but importantly, you need to be an active participant on Twitter to be followed by people. Whether it is making lists, or trending #hashtags – if it is happening on Twitter, you need to be a part of it. You need to log on to Twitter almost every day, and engage and interact with as many people as you can. Don’t make your Timeline a chat room, but don’t make it a soliloqy either.

Happy Tweeting, and best of luck with getting followed!

( If you would like to follow me on twitter, you can do it here: @neobluepanther )