I was at a music festival over the weekend with 80,000 of my closest friends. Between many beers and numerous music sets I couldn't help but notice how similar the festival was to social networking. The networking phenomenon has to be as exciting as the hippy movement was many decades ago. I want to mention three major similarities that I noticed:

You have to be interesting
I was struck by the fact that some bands with a large following really didn't interest a lot of the people there. They had the audience but for whatever reason they just weren't interesting enough on the day. Maybe they didn't have a very good live act, or maybe they just weren't into to it that day, but they probably didn't succeed in growing their fans on the day. I think this same lesson applies to one's internet presence. You can grow your follower all you want on Twitter, but if you're not interesting you'll fail to convert them to avid supporters over time.

You have to be on stage
Before you can be interesting, you actually have to be seen. You could be the most interesting person in the world, but if no one knows what you're up to you'll never break through. There were some good bands at the festival that I had never heard of before. They were on stage, they were being seen. You have to get on stage in a big way in the social networking world too. Make sure you constantly expand your reach so that you can show people what you're made of.

Not everyone will like you
I realize now that my musical taste overlaps with my friends by about 70%. The other 30% is definitely personal taste. You cannot please everyone, so rather focus on being consistent and produce content that you and your followers enjoy over time. Naturally over time you'll attract followers that like what you have to say.

Ok, so it's not quite sex and drugs, but it's definitely rock 'n roll. Get out there, be interesting, and be consistent over time..