When it comes to public expressions of social media gratitude, Twitter is in its own league. It has effectively created the perfect storm for reciprocity where a mutual exchange of favors is not only commonplace, it is required for engagement. You follow me, I follow you. You re-tweet me, I look for a way to thank you.
While a simple thank you tweet sends the right message, it says even more if you go above and beyond for someone. Twitter makes it easy.
Since professionals who consistently show appreciation for others are very successful (and happy) with life, I recommend the following 8 ways to tweet "Thank You" (in descending order of positive impact):
1. The Authorship Tweet
This is arguably the most powerful tweet. This form of appreciation involves researching a person's articles on their blog and then re-tweeting a valuable article for your followers.
2. The List Addition
As outlined in my last post (Hire the Person on the Most Twitter Lists?), the greatest benefit derived from the new Twitter List feature is that it serves to validate real contributors on Twitter. A great way to extend thanks to someone is to add them to one of your lists. I maintain a top career resources list, but also a good people to know list as a way of giving thanks to other professionals.
3. The Re-Tweet
When someone shares one of your tweets, rather than simply saying thanks for the RT, glance through their twitter feed for something you can share. (For reference, a great resource who re-tweets quality articles is Susan P. Joyce). To be honest to all the people who don't use Twitter and question how I can keep track of tweets from so many people all at once (although I have friends who follow many more), my response is you can't. My source for articles to re-tweet is typically my twitter lists and the twitter feeds of people I know demonstrate a sense of gratitude via the techniques on this page.
4. The Dialogue Tweet
A logical (and intended) way to engage a fellow Tweep is to create a dialogue. When looking for a way to thank someone for sharing your article, for example, respond to them to generate a few more shared tweets for your followers to witness (and hopefully join in the conversation).
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5. The Group Tweet
The Group Tweet is actually more valuable than the Personal Tweet (#6) because it often connects the people on the same tweet. Group Tweets are a common end-of-day way of saying thanks to multiple people. Two professionals who consistently show appreciation via Group Tweets (and are great people to follow) are Steve Keating and Phyllis Mufson. Notice their respective number of followers and lists. People follow people who have an attitude of gratitude!
6. The Personal Tweet
The Personal Tweet extends thanks to one person at a time. Personal Tweets are commonplace for me when I am tweeting on my blackberry and want to extend thanks in a timely manner. I recommend including the person's first name in any Personal Tweet.
7. The Follow Friday
#FF has become an international weekly event - so it is easy to spot every Friday even in foreign languages. It is simply about giving props to other tweeps once week. #FollowFriday is comparable to the Group Tweet (#5) but can be less timely and impactful if you are thanking someone for sharing your content on say a Tuesday.
8. The Direct Message
The Direct Message is certainly better than showing no appreciation at all. However, I do not use or recommend DM's for saying thanks. Even with the best of intentions, my concern has always been that these DM's may say to someone new.. "Thanks for sharing my wisdom with the world. Please don't let anyone know we were talking."
Whether you are looking for a new job or building your business credentials, Thank You Tweets go a long way!
I look forward to your comments.
And let me be the first to say.... thanks for all that you do!
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