Last night at a Tweetup in Dallas, a girl who I have become friends with through Twitter asked me why I tweet back a thank you to her when she retweets something I have posted. “Because I appreciate it!” I said honestly. “But you know me.” She replied. Recently I have had more and more people asking why I thank them for retweeting me. And some saying that thanks for retweeting is not necessary.
In case you live on a less technologically advanced planet than mine, retweeting is when you repost a message (or tweet) that someone you follow on Twitter has posted. You think that post is worthy of sending out to your network, which likely has many different followers than the original person who posted the item. You are in a sense saying, “this is quality stuff that I want you all to see.”
It is a great compliment to the original tweeter. And I was raised to always say thank you if I receive a compliment. Beyond that, I am posting to my network and yours that I appreciate the fact that you retweeted me. This exposes you to my network as someone who sees value in quality material and will help send that message on to others. People will follow you because of this. These are the reasons that I publicly thank you for retweeting me.
Some people feel that kind of thanks is best sent in a direct message, one that only you and the recipient see. But that doesn’t spread the love as much in my opinion. Does that make sense? I don’t just thank people I am already familiar with. I thank new followers everyday. This further gets their name out and helps to build their network.
Applications such as Twitter Grader track how often you reply to people both in your network and out of your network. And for good reason. People who reply and converse publicly, whether it is just to say thanks or to comment further, are more fun to follow. Its great to follow famous Twitter users who have tens of thousands of followers and provide good content on a regular basis. But after a while it gets a bit old if you never hear anything from them directly. And then, if you do hear something back, its only in a direct message. A direct message from a top Twit is great too, don’t get me wrong. But it doesn’t show your twitterverse that the Twitter celeb is actually acknowledging you. I know that sounds trivial, but unfortunately that’s one of the things that gets others to follow you.
Twitter cynics will say, “But I don’t care if people follow me. I don’t need big numbers.” Well, good for you. But personally, I like networking with many people. It’s sort of my job because I am a recruiter. And if you have a job, or a business, or anything else that networking is good for, then you should agree. The whole idea is to get to know new people. Some of my best resources on Twitter have come from the most unlikely of followers.
So thanks to you all for retweeting me. Much appreciated. Cheers, CF
So do you agree? Should retweeters be thanked publicly? Am I nuts? Let me hear from you.
It's courteous and polite, which we hardly ever see today, and I think it's good business to acknowledge someone you appreciate. It, in turn, should make them feel validated and important, but that's just my take on it.
My experience is thank each Tweep 100% of the time until they ask that you don't. If they don't want it, fine. Until then, there's no real reason not to.
I feel that it takes up attention real estate. I do look at @person who is replied to, because it shows they are involved in the conversation. "@person thanks for rt" gives me nothing about the person, and generally there are dozens in my feed to skim past. Why not say "@person, thanks for RT!" then add something about the individual that would make me interested in reading them? Then at least it provides value forward.
…but then again, I was never very good at thanking people for the little things (a known flaw)
There comes a time when you can thank or not thank 😉
When I first started… I vigorously tried to thank every one that retweeted my goods. That worked when I had 1000 followers and a few retweets 😉
Then opted to go with the "RThx™ @user1 @user2… …@userN" forumula. This worked, except when you have 5 or 6 tweets filled with a wall of people's names. It's not only thanking them but also promoting them as well for their willingness to share.
Now, I'm bogged down with work and I don't get a chance to hit up everyone (there's well over 1500 retweets that I get in a week?!). I often DM people and those that I can't DM since they're not following me, I will publicly thank them in a 'wall' tweet.
It's always good to be thankful and give thanks to those that value your contributions to Twitter.
If you can't get to all of them, just let it be known that they are appreciated in a general tweet. Don't be a schmoe and not thank them. Those people either spent a lot of time digging it up, combing through RSS feeds or have mastered the art of copy and pasting. Either way, their time, consideration and love were put in those links to share with everyone.
The main goal is for people to benefit from RT'ing your goods. Be thankful that they share the same frame of mind.
Oh yes… and if you would like to follow me and be showered with tremendous amounts of information, then please… by all means: http://tr.im/iamTwitter
Nice post, CF. I agree with you and Jeff: thanking people for the positive exposure is a courtesy in response.
I've tried to consistently send a DM to thank for the RT, just as an effort not to take up "attention real estate" for the broader network as Justin noted. But sometimes the person who RTs isn't someone with whom I'm mutually following – so a DM is out.
I like Justin's suggestion to add a little touch that tells the network about that individual, when possible. Great way to "pay it forward!"
Justin, great point and great idea. I like it! Thanks for the comment. And thanks to @iamkhayyam, @jlipschultz, @elysewilliamson too. Good stuff!
I agree with you Craig. Regardless of Twitter or Tweeting, you can never say Thank You too many times. Kindness is a virtue. I frankly don't care if it gets measured or not, I do it because I choose too.
Excellent question you raise! I feel that because no one should *expect* anyone else to RT their Tweets, no one should take it for granted, and thus should always thank those who RT their Tweets. Common courtesy IMO.
Hey Craig! I think it is great that you thank people for re-tweeting your posts. Twitter is a fabulous place to make connections and when someone thinks a tweet of mine is worthy of a re-tweet, I always send a thank you back. Great post!
I'll never do my RT thanks through DM again. Thanks for the insight & I had not thought of it the way you suggested. You & Jeff are the myestros of manners, respect and courtesy.