I’m running this poll over at TwiTip but thought it’d be interesting to run it here on ProBlogger too as the topic is relevant to both audiences and I was curious to see if there would be any difference in the responses on the two blogs (given their topics cover the two options.
Which do you value and prefer most – Blog Readers or Twitter followers? And why?
{democracy:43}
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Why would you want more Twitter followers than blog readers? You can’t monetize Twitter followers.
I would prefer more blog readers since it is easier to express your thoughts and ideas in more depth on my blog than using twitter. Twitter is more brief quick exchanges.
I’m going to guess that there will be a difference between results from the two sites. Curious to see how much!
Apples and oranges. The blog is the content. Twitter is another form of distribution; and a means to gather realtime surveys.
The answer would be both.
BTW, you can use http://search.tEarn.com to follow the results in realtime. Just type your hashtag as the search term.
It’s going to be interesting to see how much the results vary depending on where the question was asked.
And too bad you cannot keep people from taking the poll off both sites…
But post your results!
I prefer blog readers because those people I develop a relationship with and twitters are my quickie friends if that makes any sense at all.
I don’t mind using Twitter to connect to readers and friends but I would get too annoyed with it to do it all the time; and you really can’t say enough in only 140 characters.
Both, depending upon what you are looking for in the audience.
Definitely blog readers! I can’t type huge articles in Twitter, and plus the posts on Twitter scrolls so fast that most people will miss what you have to say. This would be a better poll if you were comparing something like Digg and Reddit. They are both social networks.
At this stage I would prefer to build my blog reader numbers, I’ve set that up as a information resource,but I find Twitter a great referal tool
For a twitter startup like http://www.tweetizen.com (me) – twitter followers is everything, especially since it’s the only way for us to communicate with our members and the community at large.
I want to know who the few people who said Twitter followers are! :)
Blog readers all the way. They read all your real content, can involve themselves in more meaningful conversation, plus bloggers make money off of visitors to their site :)
Don’t get me wrong, I love twitter, but a lot of people who follow me are simply looking for more follows. Popularity contest?
I too prefer to have more blog readers as it is easier to make more long lasting relationships with them then on twitter.
That’s like asking a newspaper: Would you rather have someone read your headlines or your stories?
Blog readers by far. I spend a ton of time crafting pieces for my blog. Twitter is cool too, but I prefer to use it to get links to other blogs where I can see other meaningful content.
Possible error with survey ??? Question assumes that you have a blog. It could be “Assuming you have a blog and twitter account, would you prefer more readers or twitter followers?”
I get that it’s a different level of engagement once someone makes the leap from just being a reader to being a follower on twitter, but at the same time, that unfortunately doesn’t get me into the higher advertising brackets. It also doesn’t give me a bigger pool to turn into active commentors. Twitter followers feel like the end of the reader line and so personally, I’d rather be getting more leads than converting more sales so to speak.
Which is probably a silly philosophy if you read that from a purely business standpoint, but then metaphors don’t always transfer well now do they :)
oops! i think i may have screwed up your results a bit, i voted on both sites. (more blog readers, for sure), but from what i noticed so far, the results are similar on both sites are similar.
I would prefer more blog readers, but a way to get that is to have more Twitter followers who go to your blog. This is a trick question. You should have both, not one over the other.
~Zsolt
http://twitter.com/LightningZsolt
Blog readers.
You can always convert blog readers into Twitter followers. I am not sure you get as much traffic and loyalty through Twitter as you do with the personal involvement of your blog.
Robb Sutton
Twitter is a fleeting moment, people who follow a blog, do so because they have an interest in the bog content. Twitters, some, just want to increase their numbers.
Blog readers!!! I love twitter and enjoy the community but as Robb said above, blog readers will turn into followers- not necessarily the same will happen the other way around. Besides the blog is your community- They come because they want to read your thoughts- followers are sometimes just looking for numbers.
Blog readers, definitely. My rainbow of crazy can hardly be summed up in 140 characters. :P Seriously, Twitter supports and promotes my blog. According to my stat counts, I have a lot of bleed over from Twitter to my blog, so it’s doing its job.
I would seriously question the intelligence of anyone who answers “twitter”.
I’m pretty sure it’s going to be obvious that Blog Readers will get like 90% of the votes.
Both really, and they are not mutually exclusive. More and more people come to my blog via tweets and retweets (and to a lesser extent the other way around).
If I had to choose I prefer blog readers more, because they surely go for the content. A number of twitter followers don’t even “follow me, i.e. my tweets”.
However, my twitter FRIENDS are dear to me. And they provide value. (links, advice, replies, even sending articles I need). Generally I don’t see them as quicky friends. Another advantage: it is easier to enlarge your community.
My blog is just a personal one…so for me the answer is definitely- the blog. My friends, both IRL and online, follow my blog and it allows us to communicate at a more intimate level than does Twitter. Both have their uses but for me and my circumstances, blogging gets my vote!
Blog readers… Twitter is great, but followers are much easier to come by. You need great content to get blog readers, but there’s a loyalty in reading blogs that have great content that Twitter just can’t completely replace.
I answered blog readers, but I think that twitter followers will become blog readers if they are engaged and intrigued by you.
And Twitter followers tend to be more diverse (mine are, anyway) than those who read my stuff on my blogs, so the reach is more on Twitter.
I still haven’t figured out how to use Twitter
Absolutely more blog readers. While I enjoy using Twitter, my blog is where I hope to provide real value to other writers. That’s what I want to be recognised for and what I want people to engage with as a source of advice and guidance.
Blog readers,
Twitter followers are a lot more fickle, and I agree with the previous posters that you get a lot more engagement with a blog reader over a follower.
Hi there,
A very appropriate question asked at the right time. I use twitter as more of a publicity tool and of course to get some of the latest updates. Blog readers count because it helps you to understand how many readers have in someway benefited from what you do.
Cheers.
Eddie Gear
I think blog readers are easier to monetize.
I will start to use Twitter soon… probably this weekend when I have some free time. I suspect that my blog will still be my primary focus though. Twitter seems like more of a branding tool than a way to develop a sense of community. I prefer longer posts and more depth for the reader.
no doubt, BLOG READERS!
you can’t get twitter followers to read all your tweets but blog readers will read all the blog posts.
My choice would be Blog Readers. I mainly use Twitter for interacting with readers and without readers, there would be no use of Tweeting(at least for me)!
blog readers absolutely.. atleast until when you really have good twitterethics of saying hello to people and you really mean it.
I as an individual don’t prefer following thousands of people… it’s just that I want to do justice to this app and really interact with people.
I would choose blog readers, because,
not all your followers listen to you, especially those who follow many people.
If all of my twitter followers listen to me, I would want more twitter followers because you can easily convert them to blog readers.
Twitter is fun.Blog readers and those regular ones are like old friends and family members.Even new readers are the new members of family to be welcomed with open arms.Twitter traffic is like social traffic………They hit the back button within seconds.They don’t read your post completely and don’t leave behind a comment.Blog readers do.I love my readers even if I have only a few.Twitter is a one night stand.
Of course blog readers.
Although having a fair quantity of twitter followers is useful to atract audience with RE-twits.
Engaged blog readers. Most followers do not really follow if you follow me.
I couldn’t care less if I had only a handful of twitter followers. I use twitter to read and communicate with friends and blog readers. I have been getting follower requests from totally random people and this bothers me. Why would they want to read what I do? And why would I want my twitter pages covered in random thoughts from total strangers? My blog however can be read by anyone and the more the merrier I say. It’s the place where I write thoughtfully and for as wide an audience as I can. Twitter is garbage by comparison.
I got into blogging because I wanted to write about regional travel. You can’t jam an entire stories and several photos into 140 characters!
Twitter is great for making connections, finding and sharing story leads, announcing your own articles, chit-chatting with folks…it’s a nice addition and/or tool to use for my blogging activities.
I prefer blog reader instead of twitter follower. Because I’m not familiar with Twitter and yet to know how to get traffic from there. Still in learning process. :) So I prefer blog readers.
Regards,
Lee
I don’t see why anyone would want more Twitter followers than blog readers. Having people follow me on Twitter is great, but the barrier of entry is so low that it’s not a monumetous occassion. Each person who subscribes to your blog is saying “Yes, I value what this person is saying and want their content”.
Blog readers. I love Twitter, but blogging is what pays the bills. Even Twitter isn’t monetizing Twitter right now.
I know twitter followers are good but I haven’t really gotten any results so I don’t care about twitter. I love my blog reader and I will keep loving them.
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Mohammad Afaq
Free Website Traffic
Its like choosing between “Half-Full” and “Half-Empty”. Its hard.
Twitter is ok, but I find it pretty useless for myself. It’s like a glorified text messaging service that allows us to spam 10s, 100s, 1000s, 10000+ people at once with 140 characters of gibberish.