#FollowFriday- Does it Work? An experiment…

Like birthdays and Mardi Gras, “Follow Friday” (or #FF in the Twitterverse) has become a ritual. It extends a hand of friendship to new followers, offers an assist to those seeking more followers, and is a warm fuzzy between longtime Twitter BFF’s.

However- does anyone really ‘ follow’ from a #FF?

I began thinking about this when I found myself worrying one Friday if I’d forgotten anyone amidst my torrent of week’s end @’s.  I’ve made some very dear friends under the watchful wings of the Twitter bird, and enjoy the humor, kindness, and energy of my followers enormously. But is the #FF gesture largely a token, if not fruitless, one?

Many times, groups clump together, and they are all just #FF-ing each other, so it all comes back even, and no one is more or less ‘followed’ than they were on Thursday. But because of the weekly-Christmas-card feeling of the whole thing, pretty much all are content.

However, I have seen some ire tweeted back and forth between friends who’d slipped through the Twittery cracks of a Follow Friday. It is seen as a slight. A subtle hint. A virtual snub.

But regardless of it’s underlying implications, the question remains; do users see a noticeable increase in followers on Saturday after a vigorous #FF? Let’s find out!

This week, everyone who follows me on #FF and tweets a #FF for @vklynne  will get followed back and  a #FF shoutout. On Monday I’ll report back what my results were, and ask you to weigh in on your results. Did you see an increase? How great? And did the new followers expand beyond your usual friend base?

Then we’ll see if we should keep tapping our fingers blue on Friday mornings- or if we should just try to all meet up for coffee.:)

VK Lynne blogs at AMessLikeMe , and you can follow her on Twitter.