Are you re-Tweetable?

Three guidelines to become re-Tweetable.

1. Does your message contain value?

Do I really have to ask this question? Do you really need to know the answer? Absolutely! If you tweet several times a day with little discernible value in your tweets, not only will you not be re-tweeted, but you may lose followers. On the other hand, if you tweet only once per week, but that one tweet strongly impacts me, not only will I re-tweet you, I am going to talk about you repeatedly. Most tweets fall somewhere in the middle between powerful and mundane. So what makes a tweet worthy of a re-tweet? That is what makes Twitter so useful. The saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” can be restated here to say “valuable tweets are in the eye of the reader.” I will re-tweet a short inspirational comment; I will re-tweet a topic about which I’m passionate; I will re-tweet events or appearances conducted by my peers. Why am I telling you this? You now know what value I will re-tweet. Watch not only what people are tweeting but also what they are re-tweeting; it will give you a glimpse into what is valuable to them.

2. Do not bait and switch.

If your message talks about a topic I am passionate about and contains a link, I always follow the link, for a couple of reasons. First, I want to make sure that the link actually works before I forward it on. Second, I want to make sure I believe in the entire message, not just what you say in the tweet. If you tweet about something specific but the link you provide is to something completely different, I will definitely not re-tweet you and will probably block you. Another bait and switch technique is to provide a link that should go straight to an article but actually takes me to your unrelated site which then must be searched for said article. This will also get you blocked on my list. On the other hand, if your tweet contains a brief summary of the topic and links to an actual article on a topic I am passionate about, I will be happy to re-tweet you.

3. Leave enough room for your name.

When you re-tweet someone, you need to credit that person. If you want your tweets to be re-tweeted, leave room for your name so you can also receive credit. If, after abbreviating every 2, 4, U and R, your tweet is still 140 characters then either, A) you will not be credited in the re-tweet, B) the end of your message will be cut short or C) even worse, your tweet will not be re-tweeted. If I want my message passed along in a re-tweet, I must leave 20 spaces available for “RT @larrystraining: ”. Your space needs will be different based on the length of your name.

I look forward to learning from you and following your tweets in the future and possibly re-tweeting you.

Larry Straining