Beginning around the early 2000s I was a strong advocate for applying the Google test when hiring people to join a startup. Simply put, the Google test was nothing more than a Google search to see what you could discover about a person online. The more you could find, the better–assuming it was information you wanted to hear. On the other hand, if you couldn’t find one drop of information, then I argued this person probably wasn’t someone you wanted onboard. Today, lots of HR departments routinely check Google about prospective hires. It’s common sense now. It wasn’t back then.
I’m beginning to wonder if the “hire test” now includes a check of Twitter. In other words, if you’re trying to decide whether to bring someone onboard in a startup, should you look to Twitter? I’m leaning towards yes, however, I doubt that the test will be quite as useful as the Google test this time around.
The difference is that there’s a lot of noise on Twitter. Much of what’s battered about on Twitter doesn’t say much. In what ways, however, might Twitter be useful for getting a glance at someone’s online prowess?
1) Read through their tweets to see what they talk about. Is it all about drinking and partying or playing golf or some other leisure activity? Or is there talk about industry trends and news. The latter is more compelling. What’s the demeanor? Is it matter of fact? Confrontational?
2) How many followers/following are there? What’s the ratio? In terms of total numbers, a few hundred followers or following is not too bad. Numbers into the thousands or tens of thousands become more interesting. If the following number is huge, and the ratio fo followers to following is very small, then the person is probably reaching out to many and not getting a lot of return signal. It’s worthwhile re-checking their tweets. Are they essentially spamming people? That’s not good. Generally, a high number of followers is good. There must be some interest in what they are saying (though as spam followers continue to grow this guesstimate will begin to fail.) In the ideal–at least to me–you’d like to see a ratio of followers/following that’s close to one. So if the person has a lot of followers and if following a lot, then you might assume that they are influential and possibly good at reaching out–both which are great traits to have in a startup when you’re trying to spread the word. A ratio close to one and numbers at least in the hundreds, is where things begin to get interesting, but also may indicate that they may have trouble breaking out of a network that they belong to. It’s a tough call.
3) How often does the person tweet? Once, ever? Once a day or so? Dozens of times a day? I’m not sure what the frequency of tweeting says, other than the person’s acceptance of the Twitter concept. A more important measure, might be how often other people respond to what the person says or asks.
4) How long have they been using Twitter? If they started within a few months of Twitter’s debut it may suggest they are quite the early adopter.
5) How often is their Twitter name mentioned by others in replies or in general? A lot of mentions is probably an indication that they are active in the Twitter community.
I’m sure there are some other Twitter indicators. Maybe you have a couple.
I’m still a strong believer in checking Google first, but coming up a fast second is Twitter–at least in the startup world.