Too Much Retweeting on Twitter?

How much retweeting are you doing? Are you contributing to polluting Twitter?

A few weeks ago I discovered Amber Rose She created a resource page for bloggers I found helpful. This article is among her list of must-reads. I read it today and agree. The post is from Terry Tyler who has written 13 books on Amazon. She also maintains a book review blog. You can reach her @TerryTyler4. I do not know the other three Terry Tylers but if you write, I think you will enjoy #4.

Much Tweeting About Nothing

Part 3: Retweeting and post sharing

by Terry Tyler

Twitter is a fast moving, constantly changing site. It’s said that the average life of a tweet is around 18 minutes, after which it fades away into oblivion. However, if you are only able to tweet once a day, building up a good network of people with whom you retweet regularly will mean that your posts will get exposure not just for hours but possibly for days to come.

Here’s how to make retweeting work best for you:

1. ‘Pin’ a tweet to the top of your page. This makes it easy for anyone who clicks onto your page to retweet (RT) you. To do this, click on the downward arrow at the top righthand corner of the tweet, and select ‘Pin to your profile page’.
2. Change your pinned tweet frequently, at least twice a week; if people have already RTd it they might just click off your page without looking for anything else to RT. Also, it’s good to vary your posts.
3. Retweet with discretion. Retweeting rubbish, out of date stuff or random conversation is a fast way to lose followers. Although it’s nice to return a favour, RTing any old thing just for the sake of reciprocation is pointless. When I first started on the site I thought I had to return every one and used to do three daily sessions—it was ridiculous, took two hours out of each working day. Then one day I thought, this is crazy, and stopped. The world didn’t end (and I didn’t sell any less books).
4. It’s not all about you. Just because something doesn’t interest you, it doesn’t mean it won’t interest your followers. I RT quite a few ‘mummy blogs’, for instance; I have zero interest in parenting but that doesn’t mean that my followers wouldn’t like to read them.
5. Overkill: don’t do 100 RTs at a time. This makes it look as if you’re doing it via an app, and it can annoy followers who don’t want to see hundreds of tweets from people they haven’t chosen to follow.  I think doing a few sessions during the day of around 5-10 is a good plan, though of course this isn’t always possible.
6. Thanking people for RTs: Most long term Twitter users agree there’s no point, and getting loads of ‘thanks for the RT’ tweets can get on people’s nerves, especially those ones that say “Thank you for RTing the amazing new review for Fabulous Book, Part One of The Best Selling Chronicles” ~ it just looks like a final grab at a bit more promotion. A RT back is thanks enough. Remember, a RT is better than a TY!

A word about Retweeting Apps: Just Say No.

Some people use a retweeting app called Roundteam. How do you spot those who use it?

• Somewhere high on their timeline they will have a tweet advertising the app.
• They will RT you the moment you post a new tweet, or tweet a certain word.
• Their timelines consist of hundreds of retweets and little else.
• If you make a comment to them via tweet, they don’t reply.

The people who use these apps rarely appear on Twitter in person, so they don’t see your tweets, your comments, your blog posts, your book promotions; they just programme certain accounts, key words and hashtags into the app, to be retweeted whenever they appear.

Don’t be tempted to use these apps; this isn’t social networking, and your timeline will be nothing but a stream of retweeted promotions for people like me who never return the favour. I retweet people, not robots.

NB: There are a few exceptions, ie, people who use Roundteam and appear on Twitter as well; one very generous lady I know, for instance, has medical problems that prevent her from sitting at a computer for a long time, so such an app means she can help her friends. You usually discover who these people are because they talk to you now and again, too!

Above all, don’t get bogged down with the retweeting thing. A while back a friend said to me that she came to dread the daily RT session, as indeed did I. It’s nice to do your bit, but if it becomes a chore it’s just daft.

Post Sharing

This is when you actually share someone else’s post via a tweet of your own, rather than just retweeting it. Most people do it via the share button on a blog; I don’t, so don’t know much about it, but Rosie has given some tips about it here:

Just 2 clicks to Twitter

Social networking is about generosity; if you read a good blog post, it’s a great idea to tweet saying ‘Excellent post by @username about blah blah’, with the link. I love it when people share my posts, I feel so pleased that someone has liked one enough to do so!

A few tips on post sharing:

• Don’t forget to tag the author in the post with their @username, so that they know you’ve shared and can RT your tweet.
• Don’t automatically share every single post that comes into your email inbox. Check them out first to make sure it’s something you actively want to share.
• Overkill: if virtually all your tweets are shares of others’ posts, be aware that these will get retweeted rather than tweets about your own posts/books, most of the time. If you’re happy with that, that’s okay!

Source: Wednesday Wing – #TwitterTip Part 3 Retweeting and Post Sharing #wwwblogs @TerryTyler4