5 Ingredients for A Great Tweet

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I love twitter.

I’ve been on twitter since May 25, 2008. Since that time, I’ve sent over 32,000 tweets and gained over 20,000 followers.

I don’t say all of that to just give you a twitter stat run down, but to say that in that time, I’ve seen some good tweets (and some bad ones).

I’ve sent some good tweets (and a lotta bad ones).

Either way, though, I feel like I know what it takes to write a good tweet. Just to set it straight, a good tweet in my opinion is one that…

  • Others enjoy reading
  • Others find valuable
  • Is worth sharing

That being said, here are 5 important ingredients for a great tweet…

Valuable information
This means that the tweet packs a punch. Within the character limit, the tweet gives some kind of information (a tip, humor, etc) that others find important and usable.

Retweetable
There are 2 kinds of retweets in the twitter world. One type of retweet is an automatic retweet. Automatic means that someone hits the retweet button and reposts word for word what you just said. Twitter allows this to be done easily through a button that looks like a square with arrows making up the exterior of it. The other type of retweet, though, is a quoted retweet. That means that in front of the tweets contents, someone puts ‘RT @___’ before the content. A good tweet allows enough room for someone to quote your tweet. It’s short, to the point, and easily shared.

A link
It’s a fact, tweets with a link get passed around more. It provides something beyond just the character limit. Tweets with a link have more information if needed by the reader.

A Call to action
This means the tweet content brings the reader to action. It doesn’t just go off as a passive tweet, but calls readers to move and take action. Good tweets require doing something.

Venom Free
This is essential. Good tweets don’t put other people down, they lift everyone up. Don’t take to twitter with your hate for someone else… talk to that person. Good tweets don’t just bash other people, that’s not helpful.

OK, your turn to add to the conversation…

What other ingredients do good tweets need?


Comments

2 responses to “5 Ingredients for A Great Tweet”

  1. Something new & original … not the same platitudes that keep going around. I also have learned to appreciate the tweet WITHOUT a link. Great list, I have a long way to go to 20k – but these are the right way to do it, thanks for sharing them.

  2. Good advise, especially the last paragraph. I would add that there should be “margin” between your content / tweets (buffer is great for this)… Those that “machine gun tweet” with a agenda or message (even a good one) – I tend to interact with less (or just put on a list that I check less frequently).

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