Every so often I will dedicate an hour or two to go through all my "[Name] is now following you" emails I receive from Twitter. Whilst I do not care if you follow me, I am actually quite picky as to whom I will choose to follow back. Here are some of the reasons I have decided to follow you:

1. You are over 18
When I went to check in on the twitter web profile of someone following me, I got the surprise it was a 13 year old girl! Hell no! My @goldcoastgirl twitter account is for adults only and is not even SFW (Safe For Work) at times. If you are under 18, please do not follow me on Twitter and do not expect me to follow back. Actually, you'll probably get a @reply from me asking you to stop following me til you are "of age". Please feel free to follow @gcpets instead as it is VERY Safe For Work and All Ages.

2. You have a nice mixture of links, 1-on-1 conversations and content
When I look at your twitter web profile, if all I see is @replies or links and nothing about you/your life then bye bye! Only very rarely will I follow a twitter user who is all links or all @replies. Very rarely. I do actually want to know what you are doing, thinking, what has your attention, etc. I do want to get to know you !

3. We have shared interests
I will follow back those who are into personal development, business development, entreprenurship, SEO, web page design/maintenance, animals, affliate marketing, parenting (in other words, if you are a parent or step parent I will follow back) ..... this list of what I find "interesting" (thus have an interest in) is always expanding and changing as my interests expand/change.

4. You are located in Brisbane or Gold Coast
I'm a big supporter of networking within my "community" which for me is Brisbane - Gold Coast. If you are located Gold Coast, I'm guaranteed to follow you back irregardless of whether we do actually have anything more than just being a Gold Coaster in common. After being part of the Brisbane Twestival, I believe in this more than ever now.

5. I know from somewhere else on the Internet
I know you from elsewhere on the internet: facebook, myspace, various forums and websites or I know one of your friends and thought you were interesting enough to follow as well. Or even better, I actually know YOU and have met YOU in real life.


For now, this is what it takes for me to follow you back on Twitter.