Originally posted on ReadWriteWeb.
The etiquette around Twitter is hotly disputed. Questions range from “Do you have to follow everyone who follows you?” to “Do you automatically DM people when they follow you?” to “Were my tweet’s from last night’s food-poisoning incident TMI?”
But I’ve seen near-fist-fights break out over this one: “When is it appropriate to ask for a retweet?”
I’ve heard answers including:
- Never. It’s too needy. High-quality content doesn’t have to ask to be retweeted.
- Whenever you want. You’re just being open and transparent.
- Only occasionally. You’re drawing down your relationship capital, so ask prudently.
Where do you come down?
Oh, and if you see a tweet about this cartoon, would you mind… um… that is, if it isn’t too much… oh, never mind.
5 Comments
Studies show that asking for retweets gets you retweeted more. Regardless of etiquette, data shows that it works. At the same time, if you do it all the time you will get annoying to followers I'm sure.
I'd go with option 3.
One other thing that could be interesting to ponder ..
Are you personally more or less likely to retweet if asked to; and – how does that tie in with your policy on asking for RT?
Mine's rather mixed; I don't think I've ever asked for for a RT on my own messages, I have RTed (inc. the request) when asked – if I think that it's useful/I know the original poster has few followers / I think they're likely to be upset if no-one RTs it. But, generally, I'm far more likely to RT those things I think useful, than those I'm asked to RT.
I'd only do this if I have some (to me) important question and need the wider reach. But usually those questions get retweeted anyway;)
I only ever RT if I both find something interesting or amusing, and think that my followers will too.
I think that's a good policy, and I try to stick to it myself.
"Try" being the operative word.