Every Friday on twitter, you’ll find an a endless supply of recommended people to follow. If you’ve ever seen a tweet begin with #FF or #FollowFriday – that’s what its all about. Its a brilliant idea and a very unique way to use twitter; @micah is the bright guy who came up with the concept.
An idea that’s about to jump the shark.
#FollowFriday recommendations begin to flood the screen at the stroke of midnight on Thursday. People even like to sneak some in before midnight; some like to brag about being the person who delivered the first tip.
For the next 24 hours, you’ll see carefully crafted messages containing profile names like a shopping list. Oprah? Really?
Afro Samurai: Resurrection movies Recommending quality followers is a great thing. I’d hate to see it turn into an exercise in futility. I enjoy being recommended just as much as the next person. Thing is, I don’t see a noticeable increase in Friday followers when compared to any other day. Probably because everyone else on twitter is busy making lists of people to follow.
Here’s the guidelines I follow to make it effective and reduce noise – adopt as you wish:
- When recommending someone, at least be sure you’re following them; why would I follow them if you’re not?
- Don’t re-tweet someone else’s tweet recommending you. Tacky.
- Don’t send individual, public thank-you’s to every person who gave you a #FF bump. Send a DM.
- Send out a couple individual #FF rec’s; include a meaningful reason for the recommendation.
- Help deserving people with less followers than you; they’ll appreciate it and it’ll help build your presence even more.
- If you can’t fight the urge to create a list of names, group them together others within a market segment.
- Don’t brag about how many #FF rec’s you received that day. Yay. You’re popular.
Sam Kinison: Breaking the Rules divx
How do you effectively use #FollowFriday?
Websites, tech. & cars. That's what keeps me busy. I'm the Internet guy for Auction Direct.
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Good points, Eric. You should re-tweet this link the next few Friday mornings.
Thanking via DM is right on. Doing so publicly is heading in the direction of your bullet #2: re-tweeting someone else's #FF recommendation of you.
Ha! Love the post title!!!
Nice Eric.
I started using #Follow instead of #FollowFriday. Takes up less characters… and it still falls under the concept of “giving kudos and recommendations on ppl to follow at the end of the week (Friday)”
I really agree with the @username followed by a reason why I should click on the profile to view them further in depth.
If they are all lumped together, I tend to ignore it and move on. A few clever people at least added a location to their recommendations. Of course I want to follow people in my home town; it tightens the community!
And I agree with Mark – Keep this post handy, or re-write it after a week pointing back to your original post – maybe you learned something from a comment
Take care,
@MatthewRay
Thanks…
If you're going to recommend someone, may as well sell it nice!
Hey Eric lolol I love some of your points. I used to just plug in the names of people from http://thetwittertagproject.com/followfriday.php but that was just so impersonal, just names and your right why would I want to follow someone you are not following? I love all your tips they are wonderful. I don't think I have seen a spike in my followers on any particular day especially not on #FollowFriday. In conclusion I do try and share a small bit of info on each person. Thanks for sharing your wonderful thoughts.
Uh oh… I don't necessarily agree with you… http://christybrewer.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/c...
I do mine as a group. For ex.” #FF Beauty edition”
I then post beauty bloggers/people into beauty as much as me.
Thanks!
So much of the effort ties back to basic face-to-face etiquette; real life conversations are more meaningful when filled with details & descriptions.
You wouldn't put much stock into a personal recommendation if a friend simply told you told you to “Go talk to that person” without telling you why…
Damien Basile's article on #FF is very well done; are you thinking of others more than yourself?
http://thecauseisthehabit.com/why-followfriday-...
I am a self-proclaimed “info-addict” but I'm still fairly new to Twitter. Thanks for your thoughts here – you had some excellent points on how to use #FF in a sane way. I'm glad to get that Twitter-quette, and appreciate your insights. Look forward to your tweets and more in 2010.
Thanks for commenting; seems like #FF has settled quite a bit and isn't the obtrusive force it once was…as with most new concepts, they go through their maturation & #FF is no different.
Thanks for commenting; seems like #FF has settled quite a bit and isn't the obtrusive force it once was…as with most new concepts, they go through their maturation & #FF is no different.
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