Read on Twitter
Let's say there's something you really really like, a book or movie or tv show or podcast or even just another twitter account
And you don't think enough other people are appreciating it
So you wanna fix that
This is an advice thread on how to write an effective rec tweet
And you don't think enough other people are appreciating it
So you wanna fix that
This is an advice thread on how to write an effective rec tweet
First, we need to define what we're gonna consider an "effective" rec tweet
An effective rec makes someone who sees it actually go check out the thing (buy the book, follow the person, make the recipe, etc)
The way we know this has happened is THEY REPLY AND TELL YOU SO
An effective rec makes someone who sees it actually go check out the thing (buy the book, follow the person, make the recipe, etc)
The way we know this has happened is THEY REPLY AND TELL YOU SO
What has no bearing on the effectiveness of a rec tweet?
Whether the person associated with the thing you're reccing replies and thanks you
Your audience is other people.
That's why this is a guide to rec tweets, not praise tweets (praise tweets are fine but they're not recs)
Whether the person associated with the thing you're reccing replies and thanks you
Your audience is other people.
That's why this is a guide to rec tweets, not praise tweets (praise tweets are fine but they're not recs)
So, now that we've established our criteria for evaluation, let's move on to how you achieve a measurably successful rec tweet
I'm going to use some real examples so you can see it in action!
I'm going to use some real examples so you can see it in action!
Here is a tweet that convinced me to make a pasta recipe this week
It was exactly as delicious as promised, and you can bet I replied and told this person so
10/10 would recommend (both the rec tweet and the pasta) https://twitter.com/yashwinacanter/status/1229233381633748992
It was exactly as delicious as promised, and you can bet I replied and told this person so
10/10 would recommend (both the rec tweet and the pasta) https://twitter.com/yashwinacanter/status/1229233381633748992
Here is a sentence that convinced me to read a book last year
(I'm pretty sure I saw this sentence first on twitter, so we're counting it as a rec tweet) https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1103510563437592577
(I'm pretty sure I saw this sentence first on twitter, so we're counting it as a rec tweet) https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1103510563437592577
Going up and down the thread, we can see that elaborations on this description convinced at least four people to read this book
When you successfully rec something, people WILL tell you about it!
People LIKE bonding over recommendations! https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1103508701682515968
When you successfully rec something, people WILL tell you about it!
People LIKE bonding over recommendations! https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1103508701682515968
Here's another successful rec tweet
(you can't see it in the thread itself but---) https://twitter.com/LuBellWoo/status/1035634058624028673
(you can't see it in the thread itself but---) https://twitter.com/LuBellWoo/status/1035634058624028673
...a few days later, this happens
And then a week later, I meet Ryan at a conference and he tells me Lucy is how he found the show
(not tagging people because I don't want them to get all future thread notifications, twitter fix yrself) https://twitter.com/ryanqnorth/status/1036380722842529797
And then a week later, I meet Ryan at a conference and he tells me Lucy is how he found the show
(not tagging people because I don't want them to get all future thread notifications, twitter fix yrself) https://twitter.com/ryanqnorth/status/1036380722842529797
You know what you don't even necessarily need in a rec tweet?
The actual name or link you're reccing
If you describe it sufficiently compellingly, people will say "omg this sounds amazing, how do I find it"
(not written as a rec, worked as a rec anyway) https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1230642954865381377
The actual name or link you're reccing
If you describe it sufficiently compellingly, people will say "omg this sounds amazing, how do I find it"
(not written as a rec, worked as a rec anyway) https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1230642954865381377
The one, absolute, non-negotiable thing you need in a rec tweet?
WHY you recommend the thing you're reccing
Maybe it's a book with an interesting premise! Maybe the pasta is very delicious! Maybe the podcast is funny and educational!
SAY SOMETHING YOU LIKE ABOUT IT
WHY you recommend the thing you're reccing
Maybe it's a book with an interesting premise! Maybe the pasta is very delicious! Maybe the podcast is funny and educational!
SAY SOMETHING YOU LIKE ABOUT IT
Are you having difficulty articulating what you like about something you want to rec?
One great option is to call attention to a particular part you like, such as by taking a photo of a few lines of a book https://twitter.com/kfoutz/status/1196285363729289218
One great option is to call attention to a particular part you like, such as by taking a photo of a few lines of a book https://twitter.com/kfoutz/status/1196285363729289218
Similarly, "here's an insightful analogy" or "here's a funny moment" can also work to rec a podcast/tv show/movie etc https://twitter.com/devonzuegel/status/1197231836113428480
When you're reccing, it's helpful to provide an "on-ramp" to make it easy to get started with the thing you love
Make your recs SPECIFIC
Rather than rec a whole youtube channel or author, enthuse about one particular video or book
Trust that they'll fall down the rabbit hole
Make your recs SPECIFIC
Rather than rec a whole youtube channel or author, enthuse about one particular video or book
Trust that they'll fall down the rabbit hole
Which brings us to the elephant in the thread...
What about tweets that tag a whole bunch of people?
They're often phrased as recs, but how well do they actually work? Let's look at our criteria
What about tweets that tag a whole bunch of people?
They're often phrased as recs, but how well do they actually work? Let's look at our criteria
What kinds of replies do we see on multi-tag chain tweets?
Are they generally other people saying "I'm following all these people now"?
In my experience, they're generally the people who were tagged, saying "thanks for tagging me!"
This does not accomplish the stated goal
Are they generally other people saying "I'm following all these people now"?
In my experience, they're generally the people who were tagged, saying "thanks for tagging me!"
This does not accomplish the stated goal
Multi-tag chain tweets have nice goals!
Promote 10 [thing you love] -- indie podcasts, women in science, etc
But they leave no space for WHY, which is the part that convinces someone to follow
Without WHY, it's just handle spam (term from @AstroKatie) https://twitter.com/AstroKatie/status/1229992651602178048
Promote 10 [thing you love] -- indie podcasts, women in science, etc
But they leave no space for WHY, which is the part that convinces someone to follow
Without WHY, it's just handle spam (term from @AstroKatie) https://twitter.com/AstroKatie/status/1229992651602178048
So what can you do instead of promote-10-handle-spam, if you still want to rec people and things you love?
Here's one nifty strategy, of rallying around one particular account at a time: https://twitter.com/SarahMackAttack/status/1229584884622073856
Here's one nifty strategy, of rallying around one particular account at a time: https://twitter.com/SarahMackAttack/status/1229584884622073856
But another thing you can do as an individual is this:
Instead of tagging 10 people in one tweet, do a thread of 10 people where each person gets their own tweet with a WHY
Or even one tweet recommending one person, if a 10-person thread is too much https://twitter.com/LevParikian/status/1231306505644802048
Instead of tagging 10 people in one tweet, do a thread of 10 people where each person gets their own tweet with a WHY
Or even one tweet recommending one person, if a 10-person thread is too much https://twitter.com/LevParikian/status/1231306505644802048
Reccing one person/thing per tweet also allows you to take a bit more time to research them, so people don't accidentally get tagged in groups they're not part of
(It's great to rec nonbinary people, but don't do it in threads about women in science/podcasting/etc)
(It's great to rec nonbinary people, but don't do it in threads about women in science/podcasting/etc)
Yes! A rec doesn't have to sound sophisticated or intelligent!
Some of the recs that have worked most effectively on me have been incoherent squeeing on tumblr!
But they were TARGETED squeeing about one particular thing at a time, not 10-item rec lists https://twitter.com/LuBellWoo/status/1231302839030304768
Some of the recs that have worked most effectively on me have been incoherent squeeing on tumblr!
But they were TARGETED squeeing about one particular thing at a time, not 10-item rec lists https://twitter.com/LuBellWoo/status/1231302839030304768
Also this!
"10 people to follow" optimizes for virality (at least one of those 10 people will probably tag their own 10 people)
But it isn't that helpful for actually finding people to follow (10 names to click through on is a lot) https://twitter.com/StubbornLights/status/1231310645523632136
"10 people to follow" optimizes for virality (at least one of those 10 people will probably tag their own 10 people)
But it isn't that helpful for actually finding people to follow (10 names to click through on is a lot) https://twitter.com/StubbornLights/status/1231310645523632136
I think it's not an accident that many effective rec tweets are by people who also make things online
My theory is, when you've been tagged in dozens of rec tweets, you start noticing which ones get stronger replies
So maybe putting a few in a thread is a useful shortcut
My theory is, when you've been tagged in dozens of rec tweets, you start noticing which ones get stronger replies
So maybe putting a few in a thread is a useful shortcut
In that spirit, let's crowdsource an effective-rec-tweets training set!
Reply with the url of a tweet that either a) made you take someone's recommendation or b) where someone replied to you saying that they took your recommendation!
Reply with the url of a tweet that either a) made you take someone's recommendation or b) where someone replied to you saying that they took your recommendation!
Totally! Whereas "here is a list of 100 fonts I love" would probably be overwhelming for people!
(also, I'm sorry, this is also a meta-successful rec tweet because I would like the link to this newsletter please) https://twitter.com/LuBellWoo/status/1231316205950001152
(also, I'm sorry, this is also a meta-successful rec tweet because I would like the link to this newsletter please) https://twitter.com/LuBellWoo/status/1231316205950001152
Alright maybe not everyone knows all of the twitter searching commands to find old effective rec tweets, so here are some results for [gretchenamcc -from:gretchenamcc "made me"]
(ie from other people to me, containing the words "made me") https://twitter.com/filosudas/status/1155395016682090497
(ie from other people to me, containing the words "made me") https://twitter.com/filosudas/status/1155395016682090497
Often tweeting several specific snippets that you like from a thing is enough to make people excited about it
Every time I livetweet a book, I get people telling me it makes them want to (re)read it, such as this moment from before the days of threads https://twitter.com/i/events/995902341978247169
Every time I livetweet a book, I get people telling me it makes them want to (re)read it, such as this moment from before the days of threads https://twitter.com/i/events/995902341978247169
I'm not sure what the twitter account version of "tweet several photos of book pages" as a rec is....maybe quote-tweet a particularly good tweet/thread someone has recently made with "this thread is a good example of why you should follow Name of Person"?
I do sometimes see "ooh, following!" and the like as a reply, especially in the context of a rec tweet, but agree that it's probably lower for account recs than book/recipe/etc recs https://twitter.com/EmmaSManning/status/1231320538284482560
This advice about how to get other people into a thing you love also overlaps with an advice thread I did last year, about how to promote your own projects without being annoying
(Tip: you still need to say what's there for people to like) https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1153041673812885506
(Tip: you still need to say what's there for people to like) https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1153041673812885506
Psst, the tweet is just the pretext, effective reccing works cross-platform!
This is also a great illustration of the reccing technique "if you like x, you'll also like y" https://twitter.com/Quandtuniverse/status/1231324321420677121
This is also a great illustration of the reccing technique "if you like x, you'll also like y" https://twitter.com/Quandtuniverse/status/1231324321420677121
This is a great rec tweet of a specific person on twitter! https://twitter.com/Kalendaries/status/1231327928920821762
I think people who write ineffective rec tweets have extremely good intentions!
It's really lovely to try to boost things and people you like!!
It's even better when you can actually have the effect you're hoping to have https://twitter.com/kvox/status/1231325488359985152
It's really lovely to try to boost things and people you like!!
It's even better when you can actually have the effect you're hoping to have https://twitter.com/kvox/status/1231325488359985152
A useful meta point here too: the more reasons you give about why you like something, the more likely it is that someone will find one that resonates with them https://twitter.com/Quandtuniverse/status/1231329571590438912
Great example of reccing something by giving specific reasons!
Appealing strongly to a smaller group of people is often better than appealing lukewarmly to everyone https://twitter.com/b0rk/status/1231336522324094976
Appealing strongly to a smaller group of people is often better than appealing lukewarmly to everyone https://twitter.com/b0rk/status/1231336522324094976
Multi-person rec tweets disproportionately fill up the replies of larger accounts, who don't need the endorsement and already have plenty to reply to (hence handle spam)
If you're going to rec a bunch of people, tag people with under 1000 followers! https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/961258189260914689
If you're going to rec a bunch of people, tag people with under 1000 followers! https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/961258189260914689
This rec tweet embedded here is a useful illustration that sometimes an effective rec can be as simple as calling people's attention to existing promo material (in this case a video trailer)
Again, works best one at a time (1 video is likelier than 10) https://twitter.com/desibility/status/1231335490411999232
Again, works best one at a time (1 video is likelier than 10) https://twitter.com/desibility/status/1231335490411999232
I recognize that people like the excuse of participating in something as a reminder to rec people though
So maybe instead of "tag 10 people who x" we could head more towards "name one person and why"
So maybe instead of "tag 10 people who x" we could head more towards "name one person and why"
A very good example of a rec that explains exactly what particular niche something appeals very strongly to https://twitter.com/lauramariani/status/1231361087062396928
If you're recommending that people do something that involves a potentially-new PROCESS, it can be really helpful to break down exactly what that process involves
Such as this thread about requesting your library buy a book https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1142867130192470016
Such as this thread about requesting your library buy a book https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1142867130192470016
This "first line" strategy is a great rec technique for fiction, especially collections of fiction! https://twitter.com/QuiteVague/status/1232004161199366144
