This is a Guest Post by Eric Jones.
Here’s a scenario and question for the ChurchCrunch Community.
Recently a tweet went out from @feeBand saying:
I have discovered that @louiegiglio won’t tweet until he reaches 5000 followers..he’s almost there..EVERYONE FOLLOW and RT…TODAY.
Now I’m all up for “hysteria marketing” as I like to call it. It’s done great things like the MacHeist but sometimes I wonder if we can send the wrong impression.
After seeing this tweet I shot back a reply saying:
@feeband is @louiegiglio saying that because 5k pairs of ears are more important than just 5?
My response wasn’t put out there to be rude or mean. I love both Fee & Louie and love how God is using them even more.
But I have to wonder should you wait till you get to a “Critical Mass” level before you really go all in?
Should you wait till you get X followers on Twitter before you start tweeting? Should your have a blog with X subscribers before you talk about the “good stuff”? Should your church have X parishioner’s before you do that sermon about that thing?
BTW – If you aren’t following Louie or FeeBand you should be.
[Image from Tochis]
andydarnell says
Wow. Fast turnaround on this, but I actually briefly thought the same thing.
Eric Jones says
The joys and perks of sitting in front of a computer all day long i guess π
Daniel_Berman says
Critical Mass is helpful for measurable movement, but waiting for critical mass to develop before moving at all is counterproductive at best.
Eric Jones says
I agree, i'm not a big fan of waiting till X before i'll do / say / teach / write / visit Y
GodsMac says
Seems like very few people could build a legitimate critical mass without posting any content. A following of people who at least 1/2 way care about what you have to say. Louie's one that can probably pull this off. If he posts something at one point, I'd say that it worked for him. If he doesn't, I'd have to say the tweet that's sitting out there now would be a lie, lol.
Eric Jones says
it not a lie at least a poor attempt to spur him into actually twittering…
chrishill says
This post sparked a thought: If you tweeted something you consider very helpful or a thought that you considered extraordinary back when you had 10 followers, do you retweet it now that you have 1000 followers?
Does anyone here RT their own tweets after some time past?
@chriswhill
GodsMac says
I haven't RT my own tweet before. I have taken a handful of tweets that were stirring up intense discussions and prolongued them with taking the topic deeper. Not sure if that makes sense, but it's a method used in blogging where the top topics of the month might are brought up for people to re-visit.
Eric Jones says
mmm i don't think I've ever even considered that idea. i see no harm, it's like telling your best story to your new friends even though your old friends are still around and have to hear if for "like the millionth time"…
human3rror says
I've never really done that… i have retweeted posts… but typicall in reponse to a question from someone.
revkev says
not sure critical mass is needed but it would be great to see @louiegiglio follow some people as well as be followed…
it just feels more like an ego stroking than connecting with others.
Eric Jones says
agree. getting the account up to 5k and then trying to figure out who to follow and not follow… twitter sometimes feels like the online version of Studio 54….
Mikes says
I need to know what they are up to. and what their reasons behind. but I'd agree with you, no need for hundreds or thousands even 1 as long as you have changed and impacted that life then that's what's impt.
Eric Jones says
exactly!
stephenbateman says
At this stage, assuming it's true, it seems natural that Louie would establish a threshold.
His time is limited, if he's gonna tweet, it should matter. I do think that 5k is high though…
Eric Jones says
Good point man. Hopefully if and when he does start to twitter he'll give us all some verbiage as to "why now" π
phil cunningham says
i usually stop following people when this happens, as it seems as through they are just trying to get followers and that is what is important. I almost didn't follow Louie after this post, but then when you said we should be I realized that I do want to here what he has to say, it was my pride getting in the way. Dangit.
Eric Jones says
silly pride…. but yea i had the same thought. Well i'll just un-follow him…wait that would make the devil very happy. Dangit!
ryan guard says
Are you kidding me? I love Giglio, but this is a #chenis moment at its worst. I think you posted a fair question. How busy is Giglio that he can't drop a line to 3,000 people, or 2,000 people, or 400 people? Half of the 5k will be spammers anyways!
Eric Jones says
HA! Yea i'm sure he's got his fair share of spammers. I'm hoping he's been using this time to develop a strategy for his account. Louie isn't one to just do something without a real purpose. That's the one of the reasons i've been happy following a dormant account π
Phillip Gibb says
ok Louie I am follower 5307, lets hears that next tweet π
actually # 268 should get honorable mention – whoever that is π
Eric Jones says
Maybe you should DM him . . . . oh wait.. π
Aaron says
5,300 followers and counting… Why follow someone who isn't using the service? AND he's not following anyone else?
I love me some good Louie sermons, but I hope this is a joke or a fake. Otherwise, he just lost some of his interweb cool points. :/
Eric Jones says
it's really him. Andy Stanley had to grab his from a "squatter" and didn't start tweeting for a bit but still amassed a small following. I think people have sought him out because they really care what's on his mind. Hopefully he'll see the value in that and start using his account. EVEN if it's a ghost tweeter!!!
statedog says
How do we know it's really Louie?
My guess is that a FOL (Friend of Louie) who loves the Twitter snagged the name for him, so no one with malicious intent would abuse the name. But this FOL is trying to get Louie to tweet. Louie says, "what is the twitter stuff anyhow?" And FOL is trying to sway him to take up the twitter mantle by saying, "will you start telling everyone where you and Shelley are eating lunch after church or how Passion City Church is coming along or what is happening backstage at a conference or the latest antics of Lanny Donaho". So this FOL tried to put a numerical quantifier on it.
That's my take on things…but could be wrong.
human3rror says
sure. we could be wrong. who knows. π
statedog says
Does anyone know for sure? I don't mind being wrong as long as I know something for sure.
human3rror says
perhaps we'll find out soon enough….!