How to: Do a Proper Follow Friday on Twitter

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Aaron • 62 Comments

What is #followfriday? Every Friday, you’ll see thousands of people on Twitter using this phrase in their tweets. So what exactly is #followfriday? Follow Friday is a way people recommend their followers in their tweets to other followers to follow on twitter. Don’t get it? Alright imagine you’re in a PARTY. There are tons of people in that party, most of them you don’t know. Maybe me you know me, then I’ll shake your hand and recommend you to my other friends (followers) in that party (twitter). I’ll tell them “Hey meet Mike, he’s a great guy! he owns three successful business”

Then my friends (followers) will get interested in knowing you and you’ll be friends (they follow you on twitter)

Here are some mistakes that you shouldn’t make.

DON’Ts

1. Recommend WITHOUT reasons.

I know that you want to recommend as many people as possible but without any reasons, nobody will look at them and consider following them.

Why you shouldn’t do this. Using the same party situation like above, imagine me shouting “hey meet these guys here” Firstly, I sound like a crazy person. Secondly there isn’t a personal touch in it.

2. Recommend everyone on your list.

Its alright to be friendly but recommending everyone on your list is not a way. First you’ll be spamming the timeline, secondly it looks spammy. Why you shouldn’t do this. Again imagine me going around the party shouting hey meet him, hey meet them, hey meet him, her and him. At first maybe people will listen. After going on for 10 minutes. Do you think anyone bother listening to me anymore?

So how do you do a proper follow friday? Some of you might have a small list of followers, some might have a bigger list of followers. Here are some methods you can use.

DOs

1. Send personal follow friday tweets

This is a proper way to do a follow friday. It has information about the person rather than just tweeting follow him, her, him, him, her, her. It gives you the information of what kind of of guy or girl they are and why you should follow them.

2. Small groups

If you have tons of followers you can use this technique. Recommend four to six people in your list and tell people why they should follow them. Its clean and it has a reason why as well.

3. Create a twitter list and call it “follow friday”

You can also create a list and call if follow friday. Since you have tons of followers it is going to be hard for you to recommend everyone on your list. However you can add them in a list and name it follow friday and ask your followers to follow the list or follow the people on the list.

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Filed Under: How-To

http://wineandhospitalitynetwork.com Margie Tosch

I am beginning to hate FF because so may people have a page full of everyone they know – its gotten horrible – even spilling over into facebook. I found this post by someone with over a page full off un-personal FFs. Obviously posted – without reading!
http://www.sunflowerschoolhouse.com Honey

I have wanted to do a #ff, but wish there was an easier way to add people. How does everyone else do it? Do you simply remember all of your contacts names or do you use a program?
Aaron

You can always add them in the list like i recommend =) I remember them by listing and engaging with them. I don’t randomly recommend people. When i recommend someone that means I really know them through their tweets and engaging with them.
http://twitter.com/NikkiD66 Nicole

Thanks Aaron! Great info. I’m afraid the folks doing the don’t list won’t be the ones reading this and they are in the greatest need of it! =)
http://twitter.com/drdollars Kevin Ong

I suggest using Twellow ( http://www.twellow.com/search?q=singapore&search_cat= ) to follow some SG Tweeters first @Honey

You can view their bios and follower counts at a glance.

Kevin
https://profiles.google.com/doctordollars
Aaron

How to: Do a Proper Follow Friday on Twitter http://is.gd/8dsqQ
Aaron

Thats a good method, but it only allows you to find people mate and follow. Not really bout follow friday =)
Good method though Kevin
http://twitter.com/drdollars Kevin Ong

I’m a bit jaded by FF already after being on Twitter for almost 2 years. It’s the day of the week my Twitter Feed get’s flooded by all the #FF’s from people who are obsessed with numbers but who don’t build relationships.

FF happens everyday for me: I chat with someone who looks interesting e.g. an entrepreneur or who’s from SG or MS. We have a conversation and we follow each other.

It also pays to have a good Twitter bio/profile. I used to just copy and paste people’s bio into my FF recommendation’s Tweets. It got a lot of attention until I stopped following FF.

Pardon my ranting That’s just my thoughts

Do tell us what drove you up the ranks in only 11 months? You beat my idol from Malaysia @EmailCopywriter

Kevin
https://facebook.com/drdollars
http://twitter.com/drdollars Kevin Ong

Oh BTW getting mentioned on #FF doesn’t seem to push up my followers more than usual.

It was a good reason why I decided to abandon the FF tweetmeme.

Here’s a post about a suggested new way of doing FF – the Follow Friday Revolution: http://www.twitip.com/followfriday-revolution/

Best regards,
Kevin
https://facebook.com/drdollars
Aaron

LoL.. @EmailCopywriter and me go a different path.
He chose a more professional twitter path where i chose a more personal twitter path.
I always try my best to connect with all my followers no matter where they are.
So you’ll see me jumping in conversations and retweeting from my followers. I also reply to all 90% DM’s (not spam though lol)

Conclusion: Be personal, be engaging =) that worked out well for me.
As for #FF I don’t use em anymore but i do recommend my #FF + Interesting list to follow
http://thegraphicpost.com TheGraphicPost

After months on Twitter, I posted my first #FollowFriday today. Each person I listed, I have had conversations with and consider their posts informative and worthwhile. There are some people who flood the stream with Retweets of every time their name is mentioned, and that’s just egotism. I’ve been #ff-ed a few times and have thanked the posters and continue to chat with them. #FollowFriday should be used judiciously and not to suck up to the most popular twitterers. Just sayin’.
http://extremeezine.com/ ExtremeEzine

I pretty much stopped with the follow Fridays, it just seems over used and pointless anymore. I do like the idea of a “follow friday” Twitter list though.
http://twitter.com/LiquidWholeFood Carolyn, et al.

(@liquidwholefood) I got the idea to give a reason for recommending from you months ago and I've noticed that people really enjoy it. When I think about it, everyone loves getting a compliment and that's the essence of a #followfriday mention!
askaaronlee

Thank you =)
Its pretty to browse through a list =)
Also i do follow when someone recommend people individually =)
askaaronlee

Thank you Carol =)
Its hard to find someone who doesn't love a good compliment =)
http://www.bronsonharrington.com Gnuboss

Agreed, you gotta tell people why you give someone props otherwise it's pointless.

If someone's worth a #FF shoutout, do a quick drive by bio in 140 chars or less.
kennedysc

These are great tips; the larger one grows, the more difficult it is to thank folks. A list seems more manageable, although my Followers appreciate being thanked
glitterglitzer

FollowFriday is a great way to find and follow real people. Who in his right mind would recommend a spammer who advertises tooth whitening products…
I agree though that it is being 'abused' by many people and then it really is no fun.
I like giving out compliments as I really mean them and it makes the other person happy or at least they feel special.
Max

I've started just using a list. Create a link and just let it go. Follow Friday is good for one thing though. Sometimes certain people I follow and talk to regularly who don't follow me I'll recommend openly and hint that they're not following me. That usually works.
victorburgundy

I still don't get it …….I think it is a senseless endeavor like the Wave, arg shid fug bobic nod
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http://twitter.com/christellar Christel Loll

great tips
http://askaaronlee.com Aaron Lee

Glad you found them useful Christel
http://twitter.com/SmurfGalak Shirley Thomas

Number one Don't is my personal pet peeve. Such FF would just stream by unnoticed on my timeline

That Follow Friday list is a cool idea!!
http://askaaronlee.com Aaron Lee

Thank you Shirley =D
Glad you found them useful
Using blog works too =D
http://dtvconverterboxes.blogspot.com/2009/06/magic-jack-usb-phone-jack-review-legit.html Phone Man

I haven't actually started using twitter yet but with all of the hype and continued growth I am beginning to think soon it won't be an option but more of a requirement… Who would have ever thought.. I guess social media really is the next big thing.
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http://www.SpringfieldILHomesForSale.com @TroyRoark

Very nice etiquette! I like to highlight the tweeps that engaged me for the past 7 days. Friday morning I will scan my Mentions and Favorites columns (in tweetdeck) and send those folks some nice #ff karma.

You know, turns out only about 50% of those folks might re #ff me, but it really doesn’t matter. If you’re using #ff strictly to see yourself on someone else’s #ff list, you’re in it for the wrong reasons, and everyone can tell.
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http://www.smartfatblogger.in Suraj KV

Cool Thanks, for sharing this. I’ll certainly create and do one.
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http://twitter.com/web_licht Leon Widrich

thanks for writing this Aaron! I always get so annoyed with simply a list of @someone tweets. Your suggestion of number 4 is great, will do that right away. Btw, do you have a certain limit of #FF you set yourself every week?
http://askaaronlee.com Aaron Lee

Hello Leon, I used to recommend them every week but I have been using and asking them to follow list instead .
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http://www.johnpaulaguiar.com John Paul

I agree with you to a point Aaron. and I see the beni in smaller more personal…but…

I use #FF to say thanks to people that have retweeted ,my posts for the week, or have recommended me in any way, or if we have had a conversation.

Just another way to get their name out there in front of my followers. This has worked well.

But I do plan to do a #FF post for my top 10 followers for each weeks, to put more power to my referral.

Personal #FF wouldnt work if you have so many people to share.. that would take me all day lol
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Anonymous

Cool!
http://twitter.com/franticee Fran A Day

Create a twitter list and call it “follow friday”
That is a great idea!!!
http://twitter.com/Melindesign Melindesign

I learned from the original guy who started it all and I tweet like this: @melindesign (jewelry assembly), @jillidesigns (eco silversmith), @stevescott1 (blog master)

and so on. I like to personalize EACH person I tweet about. It shows I know what they are about and not just listing names. Sometimes I’ll add “awesome” or “guru” or something like that in front of what they specialize in.
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http://themanalyst.com Manal Assaad

Oooo quite a celebrity I’m becoming in these kinds of posts hehe. @Thedigitaleb just brought my attention to this one, and I was mentioned before in a post by Diane, @adamsconsulting, but that one was kind of embarrassing
Thank you dear!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5GUQW3XS3A5END3CHMB2FGPI3E Kyle Valentic

Got it. Appreciate the explanation.