I am the first to admit that it’s very easy to get into a Twitter Rut. Sometimes Follow Friday on Twitter can just add to that stuck feeling.
Thousands, maybe tens or hundreds of thousands, of group shoutouts are tweeted every week. What began as a recommendation tool (read Carol Stephen’s Best Practices) has become an automated, rewteeted nightmare to some and waste of time for others. Follow Friday is almost as pointless as throwing a bowl of conversation hearts at people in a party and expecting them to talk to you.
Although I don’t spend a whole lot of time blogging about social media in this venue (instead, they’re here) it is apparent on our Twitter feed that I’m passionate about the subject.
I think we can all agree that the main point of tweeting for business is to develop relationships.
“It’s about the connections you make with humans. I’m collecting relationships.”
@GaryVee http://bit.ly/16bXDvK
For those who advocate for the continuation of Follow Friday as it is, please tell me how a shoutout starts or builds a relationship. I no longer see it as an effective resource.
Today I offer an alternative, a challenge, if you will.
Instead of tweeting out a list of people, why not use today to engage?
What do I mean about #EngageFriday? Go back through the most recent followers/follows and find at least 5 tweets to respond to or Retweet.
— Riggins Construction (@RigginsConst) September 6, 2013
Today I plan on going through the last group of followers and finding at least five things to either reply to or retweet, Old School Style, of course. I may even go through my most recent follows.
Other #EngageFriday challenges could include:
- Find five people in your local to engage with (reply to tweet or retweet).
- Find five people in your industry to engage with.
- Find five people with your name to engage with.
What are your suggestions?
Oh, I absolutely love this! #EngageFriday instead of #FollowFriday? Do we dare? Will we be called old school for wanting to have conversations?
We could be the new trendsetters to show these youngsters how to roll!
Oh yes, I agree it’s a great idea! ! I plan to get on that #EngageFriday some time today, if I can catch a breather (I don’t want to just throw it out there, if I don’t have time to really engage!) Now, wasn’t a good time had by all yesterday as we engaged in #drunknitting? I got notifications all day long over that, what fun!
Exactly. And thanks for taking the time to read and comment; I appreciate it.
I say, DARE!
I almost wrote, “I double dog dare you to engage.” LOL
Heheh…#EngageFriday will be like a breath of fresh air on Fridays. I hope to see more relevant posts instead of just seeing FFs full of handles and RTs of the same.
My point exactly.
I have often use Friday for a #FF1 or Follow Friday One. I take one follower, research them, even call them. I then craft a personal “I know you” type of post. Both the poster and the postee benefit for a feel good Friday.
Oh wow. That’s kind of cool as long as you stay on this side of the stalker line, of course.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, too.
Love it. Bridget, you are right on the money here.
Thanks!
Enjoyed the article and great idea! Thought I was the only one who felt that rut.
I’m glad to hear it’s not just me, either. 😀