Do you Follow?

And if so, why?

When I first started using Twitter, I followed people and companies to keep up with their news rather than checking in on their sites or subscribing to their RSS feed. In essence, I was replacing the RSS subscription feature with Twitter. That however was a few months ago and a new job I landed showed me how important Twitter really was.

I started utilizing Twitter to it’s full potential. Following sites who’s information I found invaluable but, who also Twitted relevant and insightful snippits. I’ve also found, a few companies/individuals retweet their older posts. While it can be annoying and to some, considered spam, especially if it’s 10 old retweets in 5 seconds (and then I’d really recommend considering if it’s worth following them), it can be a great asset. If you’ve only started following the site and their Twitter, some of their older posts may be even more relevant to you, than their newer posts.

Some companies even hold “Twitter competitions”. The first X amount of people to retweet a twit will win such an such, or a random winner can be chosen from the retweeters.  I’ve seen some great prizes given away this way.

So, do you follow people/companies instead of using an RSS reader, or for their insightful comments, or to get the latest Twitter exclusive competitions? Or like me, a mixture of all of the above?