A thank you Tweet from Windmill Marketing’s Social Media Strategist @NealSchaffer reminded me that I’ve been meaning to share with my regular readers and collaborators why as we get busier we will need to do things a little differently. Twitter thank yous are a good example.
We all know that what we do on Twitter and all social media is about relationships. We also know it is only polite to say ‘Thank You’ and ‘You’re Welcome’. Have you noticed that sometimes people say thank you on Twitter but mostly they don’t? Here’s why:
Can you imagine what our Twitter timelines would look like
if we said thank you and you’re welcome
for every shared link, tweet, and retweet?
When you’re following thousands of Twitter users that many tweets like that would drive them all bonkers. What power Twitter users do instead is reciprocate. If you say ‘thanks for retweeting’ we retweet something else. 🙂
That’s a win-win and while it does lose some of the closeness of directly chatting, we can make up for that by giving someone our complete attention periodically. As influence grows it is necessary to reduce the time we spend on some things to do more of other productive things.
Gail Gardner
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Lol, if the bird continue counting, he will end up with “she follows me not!” Thanks for sharing your twitter strategy. Again, it is really helpful 😀
i noticed that too..i do so love this cartoon!
This is a great way to show bond between a twitter and the blogger that is very essential factor for online presence.
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That is a smart way. But this is probably also why Google+ could take Twitter and Facebooks spot. You can tweet and then you can thank other people with a private message.
Both cartoons are great btw! Props for that!
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Interesting. I never really tried Google + but basing in you comment, i agree that there’s a bigger chance that Google + will take Facebook and twitter’s place in the future. Thanks for sharing this info.
I used to think people were obsessed with facebook, but the number of tweets some people push out per day is insane. I caught the twittering flu a while back myself, but mostly gave it a rest. There are tools where you can send personalized thank-yous en masse or whatever, but that ends up just making a lot more work for yourself and for them if they have a sizeable account. I like the idea of retweeting for karma better.
some people have different ways to express their gratitude. saying thank you in twitter can be little indifferent for them or not their ordinary custom. glad to read about this post. only a few notices about that. most people really want to feel appreciated.
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Saying thank you is just a way to show that we appreciate the good things our fellowmen did to us.By means of Twitter Thanks we channel our expression to others.We can improve our relationships through this.We must be thankful that we have this tool now a days.Let’s tweet now saying thank you to those we owe something.
It depends from person to person but I think most of agree on one thing and that is, it is not possible to thank back every follower or track all of em’ because in the first place, we do not have the time. I think its more meaningful to reciprocate with those followers who share something common with us.
I can see how that would begin to spam the heck out of your feed if you tried to thank every single person who RTs or shares your content on Twitter. For the smaller web presence, that’s perfectly fine because the RT happens so occasionally it isn’t really an issue. But for anyone larger, it would begin to resemble spam more than anything else.
Whatsoever, but it’s also helps you to be active in real time and increasing your interactions with your following or follower.
Well I keep on thanking to people. Its good to thank if they are doing good for us. Thanks Growmap.. 🙂
After 6 months I logged in to twitter. Facebook being popular, there was no time left for other social networking sites. But now I find twitter the best social network site, as it gets you connected not only to a certain set of people who know you but to everyone whom you know and get the news about the happenings all across the globe. Twitter shall outcast facebook in the coming years.
I think, at a certain point, you have to look at how many tweets your getting and how long it takes you to thank everyone. I have the happy problem that most of my posts on and off my site get somewhere near the range of 100 tweets. While I appreciate all of the people tweeting me, I really just don’t have the time to go through, track them all down, break them into 140 character groups and thank them all.
And I don’t even want to know what it would be like for the people who write on sites that get hundreds of tweets per post (like minimum 300).
First off, my Twitter feed would get bombarded. Second, I feel that my time is more valuable for my readers and followers if I am creating new content, responding to comments, commenting on their sites, and reading / tweeting their articles when I get the chance.
So it has nothing to do with not being appreciative. It has to do with practicality. There’s only so much one can do with 24 hours in a day, and you have to prioritize.
Also, as someone who tweets articles for others (or shares, comments, votes, etc.), you shouldn’t be doing it to get someone’s attention or because you hope to be thanked or receive some form of reciprocation (something I wrote about a while back here). You should be doing it because you found that article valuable and you want to share that value with your followers.
I tweet posts from some blogs regularly and haven’t received one thank you tweet from those bloggers. Big name bloggers. But you know what, they notice! I’ve been mentioned in their posts, their webinars, even their sessions at Blog World when I never even thought I was a blip on their radar. And I tweeted their posts not because I even had the slightest hopes they would notice me, but because I liked their content.
I look being noticed as a side bonus, not the sole reason why I do things. Having that attitude has made blogging and social media much more rewarding as I don’t have to feel angry or rejected just because I was hoping to receive thanks for something and not getting it.
I think thanking 5 persons or so in one tweet is the trick. That could reduce the number of tweets on your timeline. For me, as the “retwitter”, I don’t really mind if you thank me or not. I share your link because I know its valuable and should be shared to others. 🙂
Ooops! Sorry. This was supposed to be a reply to John Paul’s comment. Must have hit the wrong reply button… 😐
I agree that while a thank you is cordial, a retweet is more valuable, less time consuming and serves the same purpose.
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One good tweet (or retweet) deserves another…That being said, though, I still think a simple ‘thank you’ can also go a long way.
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I think saying thank you is the cordial thing to do. That being said, I agree the amount thank you tweets would be crazy. That being said I like the idea of retweeting to say thanks, it’s more exposure for you anyways. Thank you for sharing 🙂
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As for me.. I’d rather response on Thank yous and Welcomes than DMs.
And anyway social networking is about building relationship, imagine if you can’t use “Thank You” in it.
This posts was just screamimg muy name haha
For me, I thank everyone for a tweet, that is just common respect. You can retweet anyone else’s stuff, so when you choose to retweet mine the right thing is to acknowledge it and say thank you.
Now I wouldn’t recommend you thank each person alone for a tweet,, but group them in.
If I get 5 tweets I say thank you to all 5 in one. If I get a random tweet then I thank them with their name alone.. Just a respect thing. and if your trying to build relationships,, saying thank you and personalizing your stream is the best way to do that.
The “big” boys dont say thank you because they really dont care about your tweet. or they are way to busy.
But if you want to stand out, you need to do what others are not doing, even the “big” guns.
Now if I was as big and as busy as Darren or Chris then maybe I wouldn’t do a Thank U.. but right now,m im not that important or that big to not throw out a thank u.
I will say that saying thank u, has been the BIGGEEST thing that grabs peoples attention and gets them writing me and thank me for doing that,, and I quote ” I never seen anyone do that”
Theres power in that there “Thank U” lol
I normally tend to thank all my followers on a regular basis and i believe it is extremely important..thanks for the post.
I think the downside of what you suggest would be that if someone doesn’t have any really good Tweets, then re-tweeting an average tweet of theirs is also going to reduce the quality of your timeline.
I often think that the best thing to do is simply to follow anyone who tweets you. That way, you can direct message them a thanks.
Obviously, re-tweeting people does flatter them, but shouldn’t really be done cynically.
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That makes total sense to me, and it’s only polite, I am going to start thanking on Twitter
I usally check up on the blog if I get a mention of a tweet. If I like a post give a RT. I dont have a large timeline, but I feel giving a RT of a blogpost is more valuable, than just a “thanks for the RT”..
I think it’s the best way to say thank you for a retweet, it shows that you are also willing to share their tweets to your followers, like they are willing to do with your tweets and blog posts 😉
I have horribly misused Twitter. One of these days I am going to begin using it the right way and that is to build relationships.
That was the perfect cartoon to add to this post by the way…;)
Mark
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Thanks are next to useless and really annoying to others, a simple retweet back is the only real logical thank you. 😉
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Very true about reciprocation of tweets. The same can be said for friending on social sites too.