Because people approach Social Media in a temperamental fashion, I feel the need to post this.  On Twitter, the amount of followers one has is a sensitive area.  Social media is such a fickle area that there are not many things concrete.  Social media is situational.

I hover around 10,000 followers and I follow about the same.  Some people accept that, some people don’t.  I’ve always approached social media as a means to an end, and not as a means to itself.  If you think that I’ve inflated my numbers just to appear like a gran jefe (big shot) you are dead wrong.

Below are both a long story and short story…

Here’s the skinny: On Twitter, I currently follow roughly 10,000 people and they follow me because I have my account set on auto-follow. I auto-follow people based on key words and I follow back anyone who follows me.

If we were in a court room, any good lawyer would try to corner me in stating the above without the explaining my position.  “Is it true that you auto-follow people, yes or no Mr Pagan?!? Yes or no?” Thankfully the democratic properties of social media keeps us unbound.

Here’s the long story…

When I started on Twitter, I wanted to hit the ground running and my approach was to throw a very large net to find as many relevant conversations about Latinos and Hispanics (two of the many key words I used) that I could find.   Thankfully, the same principles for networking applies to Twitter and I used what I learned in the blogosphere in order to grow very fast.  Same game, different tools.

When building a community you do not want to miss an opportunity to connect with others…thus the auto following and key words.  (I am aware that some artificially inflate their numbers just to showcase they have a large following.  Be careful not to believe the hype on some of these individuals as they only seek to deceive and wield their influence, which has  never been my intention.  By the way, I have a track record for building something and then leaving it once it is self-sustaining or are in capable hands of others.  This has nothing to do with leaving things undone or incomplete follow through, but are rungs on the ladder until I reach my goal – it’s all part of growth and a destination.  This has kept me very honest when dealing with social media.)  Any organization or company who does social media right monitors it for relevant key words.  They have the resources – I’d hope – to evaluate the validity of such leads and choose the best way to engage them, or not.  Unfortunately, I do not have the time to evaluate each connection. This is the other half of the main reason on why the auto-settings stuck – lack of time.

Another reason that I auto-follow back is because some people get very personal when you don’t follow them back and unfollow you later.  Again, it’s about the big net and not missing out on opportunities to connect with others.

There are a couple of approaches on networking when you are an organization or a company.  My approach to building a Latino community on Twitter took on a personal signature, meaning I used my own personal account for what I believed in.  This approach was the one that I felt would work best.

There’s a quality vs quantity issue here and this is where some BIG divisions on what is the right way to use Twitter or not.  Many people have their opinions on what is the right way and what is the wrong way.  I’d say show me the results of what you’ve done and that should be enough to make a decision on what works or not.

Going Forward

After re-evaluating the auto-settings on my account (you should always re-evaluate your social media approach every 3-6 months b/c attitudes and perceptions change over time), I am going to clean up my account and do a mass un-following over a period of time and removing the auto-follow and key word settings.  It served it’s purpose and that’s that.  The fruits of labor is the validation.

If you do you’ll find it bustling with action…

There’s the announcemnet of the Hispanicize Latino social media conference and LATISM’s launch of their beta site.

There’s Fox News Latino’s story on how Latino Social Media Will Change the World, and a story that spins of my buddy Gio Rodriguez’s article: Latinos and Teens: Cracking the Social Media Codes.

Google creates a video series on strength of Latinos on the internet.

And in other news, Where’s the Diversity in the Oscars? and Why Low Performing Schools need Digital Media.

The Latino pulse thrives online.

Update: Check out what some of the Latina ladies are doing with social media via a roundup update from LatinaBloggersConnect.

UPDATE: Here’s the video that went along with the piece.  I had the pleasure of sharing this experience with BeingLatino founder, Lance Rios.

I had an excellent time over at Fox studios and met some very focused individuals on their staff.  Congratulations for the vision of Fox News Latino, the streaming video, the article and the all the upcoming projects in store.

The year 2011 approaches in just under 3 hours  (my time) and I’m slapping this post together after dinner and a glass of wine - it just didn’t feel right not to post the last post of the year…of the decade for that matter.

Latinos took ownership of the social web this year, and are positioned to bring the house down in 2011. Organizations like Hispanicize, LATISM, Being Latino, and many more have emerged and placed a foothold on the internet encapsulating the efforts, desires and hopes of their faithful enthusiasts. Likewise, many organizations that exist for Hispanic progression and many Hispanic B2B’s took notice of social media and embraced it.  2010 also can be identified as the year businesses in general took a serious look at the Hispanic market, especially at Latina bloggers.

In 2011, we will see more of the same.  Competition, collaboration and community will define us as well as drive us, but in the end somos todo una familia (we are all family) - we should not forget that.

I am thankful for all the readers that have made this site grow, and all of the amazing talent I’ve met and worked with throughought the year.  I for one look forward to a super 2011.

Happy New Year!

Here are the 10 most popular posts in the last 30 days.

This actually is for Dec. 4 2010, but I don’t want to go back and forth and left the title the same. Click on logo above for deets.

There are a lot more players now than last year providing content in the Latino social media area.  What makes that statement special is that only last year, we’ve seen the very first summits and conferences addressing Latinos in social media.

That said, I have to revamp my Hispanic Media Conferences tab (and you know how I feel about Latino vs Hispanic, but since it’s offline and most of these events revolve around the business world, I’m fine w/ Hispanic).

Over at the Hispanic PR Blog is an announcement of their Second Annual Hispanic PR & Social Media Conference, set for April, 2011 in LA.  And it looks like they have something new going on:  Hispanicize.

latism

LATISM partners w/ PR+MKTG CAMP

Tonight on Twitter – well, there’s always a LATISM Twitter party going on Thursday nights – we’ll be giving away one ticket for the PR+MKTG Camp East for Thursday, October 28, 2010 from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM.

These tickets generally sell for $300 dollars. I have 3 to give away. And one is being given away tonight on Twitter.

Here’s more info on the PR Camp: http://prmktgcampeast…
Here’s more info on the Twitter party: http://latism.org/tom… (in a nutshell just follow #latism on Twitter)

If you want more tickets or did not win and want to go use this code: LATISMCampEast to get a 10% discount.

There are two (2) more to give away.  Connect w/ me in comments/contact form (or follow me at Twitter) for up to date details.

I never believed in success at first try.  Other than being very lucky, success is a process and takes time.

So, I’m comfortable and happy with LATISM being # 5 – one day LATISM will be numero uno.

Thanks to the continued efforts to all the members on Thursday night’s Tweet Parties.