Of course, I have to write about getting 3,000 awesome new followers in less than 72 hours!

Too many people asked. So here it is.

You know this, but let me say it anyway:

"This is a thread https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten">"

First of all, I know nothing about Twitter.

No, really! This is nothing compared with what people like @catalinmpit, @dvassallo, or @DThompsonDev have accomplished.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫️" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">Catalin has a book. Read it!
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫️" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">Daniel has a video. Watch it!
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="▫️" title="Weißes kleines Quadrat" aria-label="Emoji: Weißes kleines Quadrat">Danny has a course. Subscribe!

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten">

I can& #39;t speak to their experience, but I can tell you mine.

I came back to Twitter on May 28, 2020, with 874 followers. It was more than a year since the last time I tweeted anything.

When I started tweeting, I started losing followers. Went down to 864.

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It took more than a month to get back to where I was when I came back.

This was demoralizing.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👉" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts"> I knew I had to keep trying. (But it& #39;s hard when you feel you are talking and nobody cares.)

I was trying a lot of different things. I was trying to play the algorithm.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten">

I slowly started getting followers when I decided to interact with people.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👉" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts"> Don& #39;t just "interact" with them. You have to provide something of value. If you don& #39;t have anything to contribute, don& #39;t.

Seeing some followers was definitely a relief!

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten">

Another breakthrough: I stopped using hashtags altogether. I& #39;m not sure if this has anything to do with anything, but none of the hashtags gave me anything at all.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👉" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts"> If you are going to use hashtags: use them sparingly, and don& #39;t spam them! If you ask me, I& #39;d say, don& #39;t.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten">

One day I decided to cut my tweets from 20-30 every day, to 3-5 every day.

With all that free time, I decided to invest more time in each one of those tweets.

Quality went up. Quantity went down.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👉" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts"> Look at everything you are posting. Cut it down until only the best stays.

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I started asking this question every morning: What can I contribute that people can take and use it?

My threads were born that day.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👉" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts"> The format doesn& #39;t matter. The most important thing is "giving." Look at @SimonHoiberg& #39;s videos as an example. Amazing stuff!

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When you give and don& #39;t expect anything in return, people will respond kindly.

When you stop looking for those followers, they will come to you.

We aren& #39;t stupid. We recognize who is trying to help, and who is gaming the system with the "wrong answers only" trick.

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If people find value, they will like, retweet, bookmark, and tattoo your name in their foreheads.

Then one person with 50k followers gives likes it, and another with 100k, retweets, and your stuff goes viral.

And it was because you took the time. You cared. You were different.