AnaFxFz is a presentation designer based in San Francisco, CA. I started following her when her post was mentioned on AllTop. I definitely know the Guy Kawasaki Effect and how it can blow up someone’s blog. When it happens, you tend to get some new followers. In my case, I was one of many new followers for Ana.

You should follow Ana if you’re into design and like having a conversation with other tweeps. I’ve also verified that she’s not a creeper either. I love her tweets and find what she posts to be very informative but also personal.

She’s also a Mac Girl!

Happy Follow Friday!

In my early tweeting days, I often made the mistake of asking tweeps to retweet my stuff. At the time, I didn’t think it was a big deal. I’d send a DM asking for some retweets. It wasn’t until people started asking me to tweet these random ass things that made me realize how annoying it can be.

If someone really likes what I post and feel like retweeting it, they will do it themselves.

Here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t ask for a retweet:

• If it’s an influential person, take a moment to think about how many people ask them for retweets, DM and public reply them. Their reply stream is literally blowing up every second. Chances are they won’t see your request or get tired of being asked to retweet.
• It becomes habitual. If they retweet you once, are you going to keep asking them again and again?
• Sometimes it comes off as desperate. Why is your post so important to retweet? What about other people?
• It can be abusive and can make people feel that you’re just using their influence/friends to get your message out there. Again, if it’s noteworthy, people will retweet on their own.

Are there exceptions? Sure, but really think about it before you ask. For example, I have some friends on Twitter that help me by retweeting my posts, and I’ll do the same. They’ll DM me to ask if I can retweet something. If I don’t, they aren’t upset. Know your relationships.

If anything, send them the link and share it with them. They will retweet it if want to. That’s also probably the best way to share a link with someone without putting any pressure on them.

Asking for retweets can put tweeps in an awkward position. It makes them look like a bad guy if they don’t retweet your post. Check out my post on Retweetability if you want some tips on making your posts more retweetable.

So to those that I’ve asked for retweets, I’m really really sorry about putting you in an awkward position. To those that still did it, I’m still sorry but also appreciate your generosity.

Sincerely,

David Hoang, recovering retweeter asker person

How do you do it? You can post it on Twitter, but that’s just a tweet in the ocean in real-time; not everyone will see it. There’s a chance people might retweet it and you get some exposure.

But how do you get retweets? Don’t ask for retweets. Read my post on why you shouldn’t.

Behold, the guide to retweetability, written by some guy who tweets a lot but is not a social media expert:

Don’t be a twooshbag. A twoosh is a tweet that takes up all 140 characters. Just think about it…how the hell is someone going to retweet your post if you don’t give them the room to do so? Sure, they can use the retweet function on Twitter’s website, but that thing sucks.

Size matters. Most of the time, I don’t care if people retweet my posts or not. However, if there’s something I find really worthy of sharing, I give the tweet space. My handle is 10 characters long, so I make character-space for that and “RT” along with space for another person to retweet. That’s space for retweet of a retweet.

Timing. It’s always about timing. Don’t post your tweet in the middle of the night if you’re hoping someone to retweet it, or even read it for that matter. Okay, I’m sure @mayhemstudios and @minervity will read it because they never sleep! It’s not rocket science; think about when most of your followers are awake and post then.

Try again. Guy Kawasaki says it’s stupid to think someone is reading every single tweet you post. I agree 100%. Just because you post it once doesn’t mean you never can again. That said, don’t post it 400,000 times either!

If someone doesn’t retweet your post, don’t feel bad. It doesn’t mean people don’t find it interesting or aren’t reading it. If I retweeted everything I found interesting on Twitter, I would destroy the API limit and end up in Twitter jail.

Happy Tweeting (and retweeting)!

Kim, @heykim (Somewhere in the U.S.)

Sometimes I learn about news from Kim before anywhere else! I started following Kim when we were helping Veronica save her brother #eric. She was one of the first people to reach out to Veronica and help here. Obviously, an everlasting friendship grew via Twitter. Who would have known? Kim tweets a lot about NBA basketball, social meda and breaking news. Although she’s a Blazers fan (and I’m a Lakers fan) we get along quite well. Kim is one of the most loving people whom I’ve never met. Follow her

Tyler Conium, @tylerconium (Toronto, Canada)

http://tylerconium.com

Honestly, can’t remember how I started following Tyler. Definitely my most favorite Canadian on Twitter. If you like sports, Michael Jackson, comedy and film, follow him. I love the fact that he hates Brett Favre and the Pittsburgh Steelers as much as I do. I think he kind of looks like Sam Worthington too. Take a close look. If you get easily offended or don’t take the effort to watch 24 real-time, don’t follow. If so, follow him. Would love to meet up with you someday, friend.

Daniel Hoang, @danielhoang (Davis, CA)

http://danielhoang.com

He’s my older brother, of course follow him! But seriously, if you like statistic, consulting and numbers, he’s your guy. Really excited to have him back in Seattle soon. Follow him

Sarah Vela, @orchid8 (Austin, TX)

http://sarahvela.net/twitter

I met Sarah at the #140tc in Los Angeles this summer. Without even knowing us, she generously gave @raid5 and I a ride to the conference. We easily could have murdered her, but thought she was way too nice. I soon found out that she works on Featured Users and was so happy, as I’m an avid fan of Friend or Follow. She is the fearless leader of Team Hot Salad Dressing. Follow her

Ryan Welsh, @dharmansible (Seattle, WA)

http://mevers.us

I’m always going to feature the fifth Tweep as a Seattle person. Ryan (along with @dimhalo, who I’ll write about some other day.) were some of the first tweeps that I met in real life. The funniest thing was that it wasn’t on purpose. We randomly ran into each other at…wait for it…Zoke Coffee! Ryan really loves Star Wars, nerdy things, motorcycles and many other things. If you’re looking for someone who tweets about what they really feel, then follow Ryan. Also, he’s really become a really good friend in real life, checking in to make sure things are okay when I emo-tweet. If you meet him in real life, check out his tattoo. I did the design for it! Follow him

End game

So that’s it for this week. I actually like doing this a lot; gives me some time to really think about why I follow someone rather than autonomously doing it. Please do not ask for me to write about you; that’d really upset me, and be rather vain in my opinion. If you have a suggestion of someone else, I’d love to hear it.

Happy #FollowFriday