Top 10 Reasons I Did Not RT Your DM Request
August 17, 2010 by BuzzEdition
Filed under Social Media
This article is not meant to offend anyone, but I am sure it will. If you have ever been asked to retweet links for someone, at least I think you can sympathize. I have spent hours defending my right to say no to a retweet request. At some point I realized it’s time to just lay it out for everyone so you know where I am coming from.
1. You Have Never Spoken To Me Before
Often people follow me, and I follow back, but they may never speak a word to me. That’s fine, the internet is full of lurkers. But to send me a link without ever even saying hello and building a relationship with me, is truly in bad taste, and likely to get you unfollowed.
2. You Never RT For Others, But Expect Your Content To Go Viral
If I look at your feed and it’s all about your latest blog post, and you don’t regularly RT others content as well, then unfortunately no one owes you a RT, and it’s doubtful you will get one.
3. I Have Never Used The Product, App or Software
Don’t expect me to advertise a product, app or service I have never used personally in my Twitter stream. I am never going to endorse something as the “Best” or the “Greatest” if I have no knowledge of it, or I simply don’t think it’s that awesome.
4. Your Site Contains Content I Morally Disagree With
Everyone has the right to create content as they see fit. I personally have the right to share content I like. But if your sidebar looks like an ad for porno, or you have politically charged entries that I personally disagree with, then it is my right to say no. Just as it is your right to post the same content.
5. I Never Even Saw Your Request
I realize there are people out there that believe I see every single tweet and direct message I receive. I will take this opportunity to say “No, I do not.” I do my best to filter content, but even the best filters don’t bring up every tweet created that day. So there is always that distinct possibility yours was missed in a restart or a barrage of other tweets.
6. I Did Not Like The Content
Sometimes I just don’t like the content, or don’t feel my followers will enjoy it. Don’t feel bad, they don’t like all of my content either. But over time I have become accustomed to what people like and what people don’t like to see in my twitter stream. In all honesty though, I only share content I have read and enjoy.
7. Bad Grammar
Sometimes I enjoy the content, but notice so many spelling and grammar errors that I simply can’t tweet it. If grammar is not your strong suit, then by all means have a friend review the article for accuracy before releasing it to the scrutiny of others.
8. It’s Not Fresh Content
Sometimes I have already tweeted a similar article and don’t want to flood my stream with the same information. Aim for unique content and it will guarantee you more views than a cut-and-paste style copy of something already reported.
9. It’s A Paid Event Invitation
Basically you are looking for free advertising of your event. And while I understand that, I don’t feel the overwhelming desire to sell to my twitter following. If it’s an event that I see merit in, I will consider it, but these type events should be offered as advertisements to blogs, not as retweet requests to help keep your costs down.
10. I Don’t Want To
The way I feel about it, I don’t need a reason. I do want to help my friends with retweets. I truly enjoy sharing great content on Twitter, but I never feel the need to force feed my followers tweets just because someone is my friend. I don’t mind the requests, as long as they are accompanied by the respect for my right to say no.
Great article, Susan.
Ray Beckerman´s last [type] ..RayBeckerman- The Climate Elephant in the Room Youth Climate Mvmt http-bitly-buUyPr
Thanks so much. That means a lot coming from someone I respect so much. ♥
Exactly the points to be noted and finally someone wrote it. Excellent points for the people who simply DM me expecting I have nothing else to do at all (other than RT their DM LOL!). They never converse also. There are quite a few like this. For them I am just silent.. I simply act like I never got the DM or the DM sucked up in a blackhole!
Kudos for the amazing writeup Susan.
Ruhani Rabin´s last [type] ..10 Apps to boost up your brand new Android Phone
That’s funny, this article has been in my head for a year. In all honesty I was a bit nervous to write it. Thanks for the kind words. ♥
Well you shouldn’t be because even truth hurts, it makes you stand tall on top of it and I think you do stand tall
Ruhani Rabin´s last [type] ..10 Apps to boost up your brand new Android Phone
Susan and Ruhani ,
Could not agree more with both of you . I am glad that Susan wrote this . Now I have a rockin post to point at the folks who treat me as an RT machine
Way to go !
Shakthi (@v_shakthi)´s last [type] ..What is twitter influence
Thanks for writing this! It’s so true. I’m bombarded by requests on a daily basis and sometimes I give in but I’m often wondering what’s in it for me? The action is never reciprocated. Way to go!
Sukhraj Beasla´s last [type] ..Thai and Toes- A Spa Day at the Park
Thank you! It seems that I have just written what everyone was already feeling. Love it when that happens! ♥
Its a give/give relationship. Those looking only to take are in for a rude awakening! Thanks for sharing those great points Susan!
Christian´s last [type] ..30 Redneck Rides
That is very true, however I do RT things all the time without caring about reciprocation. I just prefer to do it with people that are participants in social media, rather than takers. ♥
Thanks, Susan, for this succinct post! My general belief is “reciprocity without expectations” and now I have this post to take note of, point per point! Thank you again! :~)
I feel the same way. I never expect anything from someone I RT, but somehow being asked constantly to RT something from those that always want yet never give, to me is just not the way to handle things. Thanks for reading it! ♥
I rarely look at DMs. It’s way hard to actually talk with anyone via a DM, and most of the time they are nothing more than a request from a new follower to look at their product.
Super post!
I always look at DMs, I rarely see them all though. I do have them set up to email me when I receive DMs, and I have a hefty file to search in case I miss or need something important. I unfollow people that shoot out their DMs requesting I buy their guaranteed product. Most of my DMs are truly just chats and exchanges of information. Glad you enjoyed the post! ♥
Good tips. Liked the association of images suiting a particular point.
I RT Dm’s if the other person reciprocates or I get a feeling that he probably would reciprocate. (If they are new, the first thing I do is whether they RT others & their timeline ofcourse
)
Mani Viswanathan´s last [type] ..Add the Infolinks Related Tags to increase your CTR & earnings
Ha! Searching for the photos was almost as fun as writing it! ♥
Excellent article, Susan.
Much Love
Shire´s last [type] ..Are We Spiritual or Physical Beings
Thanks! ♥
Absolutely spot on Susan, great!
Some of these points were running round my mind only recently. Thanks so much for getting it out so well.
Share to be shared
Paul Steele´s last [type] ..The English Lake District – Inspiration not just for walking
I RT from sources all the time that don’t share, for me the difference is they did not ask me. It’s the people that always think you have to RT that annoy me. Literally if I tell someone no, they argue with me. After hours of wasting time in these “discussions” I felt I had to finally say what I was feeling. Glad you enjoyed it dear! ♥
Bravo Susan! This post was perfect and I applaud you for having the courage to write it. I may just reply to DM’s with the link to this post
Michael Sarles AKA @MASisMore´s last [type] ..Forgiveness- The Give and Take
Eeek! Let me know how that works for you!
The bad grammar really chaps my hide. If it’s not well written, I typically won’t share it unless the message is so powerful it makes me blind to the blunders. I also can’t stand when it’s someone I’ve never really connected with. Wonderful insight & post!
erin´s last [type] ..Crawling Out of My Little Erin Shell- or- Thank You- MrsSarah Robinson!
Sue, thanks for another very insightful post!
As you well know, the DM backwaters are where often deep, personal, and private conversations take place — in addition to the blizzard of spam we plow through.
Just as often, RT requests appear in our DM stream (yes, even sometimes from me!). Like you, I believe such requests must come only after a relationship of trust and sharing has been established. On a basic note, I never click on a link from someone I don’t know well.
While I’m always glad to be tipped off to great content in a DM, friends know that if I don’t RT, not to take offense. RT requests come often and, in pacing my own content sharing, it doesn’t always work — or it likely falls in one of the categories you’ve enumerated.
Thanks for tackling this sensitive subject and letting us share our thoughts!
Glen ~ aka @TrendTracker
Great Post Susan! Love the look of your Blog! You’re a Star:-)
Mick Gill´s last [type] ..Facebook Dislike Button Scam
Great article, now will you RT this for me…
Great post. DM requests from people I never talk to is bad taste, just as an automatic DM from someone I just started following.
Shana Ray´s last [type] ..a single adventure in russian river valley can be yours
Good Morning Susan,
I am glad that I found this article via facebook (not Twitter LOL)
Like you and many of the comments that have been made I find it amazing that peeps who I do not know will send a DM with a re-tweet request to sales links. Instant delete. The more annoying issue is when they send the same request in the regular stream. I get several a week, again I unfollow them immediately.
I do not have any where near the followers of some of the more influential people on Twitter so I can imagine the amount of garbage that you must receive.
I do get request for re-tweets from people who I have developed relationships with, who tweet great content and who I respect greatly. I know that their links are trustworthy and I know that when I have something that I would like to get out..they will return the favour in kind. I would never, ever ask anyone to retweet a sales link..poor form.
Great article from someone who I greatly respect.
Jackie
Jackie Bigford´s last [type] ..JackiesBuzz- Wyclef Jean to appeal Haiti election ruling http-bitly-b0E91r – -via @MarySarahMusic
This is a great article. I sometimes get similar RT requests from new followers. Social media is a two-way street.
Mauricio´s last [type] ..Tutorial & Demo Videos For BlackBerry 6 OS On The Style 9670 Leaked
I only take exception with two points. #7 and your title.
First the title: I don’t think it can be considered a RT is you get it through a DM. Or are you getting DMs that say, “Can you give a shout out about my last tweet?” I’ve had people DM me asking for me to tweet a link or something. I don’t think I’ve ever had a request from someone asking me to RT a tweet. Well, not that wasn’t promptly unfollowed for being a spammer I missed.
#7. For some reason grammar online doesn’t bother me as much as it does on printed material. In fact, sometimes misspellings and broke sentence structure lends itself to seeming more genuine and less vetted, focus grouped, polished and edited.
This all said I have three rules for an RT.
1. Is it funny and original?
2. Am I doing a favor for someone that does them for me? I promote @tweet_fail’s website often. Why? Because rule number 3.
3. Do I like it?
I’m not a “what’s cool” or newsfeed though, so I have way different standards for what I’ll send back out.
What I really hate is when people don’t consider their audience. I follow a lot of graphic designers. I love it when they talk about design. When they start throwing out RTs on other subjects I usually shut it off so I don’t see those anymore.
Just my feedback.
Christopher L. Jorgensen´s last [type] ..Lollipop Theater
This article sums this subject up perfectly. I am often sent requests to RT things. Sometimes, I don’t mind but other times I feel I am being pressured into it. I was asked to RT an article a while ago, that I completely disagreed with. It was a religious argument. While I am not religious, I feel people are entitled to their own beliefs and I would’nt want to push mine (or somebody else’s) on anybody. I explained this to the person and they were a little cold with me about it. Also, I like to keep my stream personal to me, things I have found or enjoyed reading, or RT something that I think is worth the RT. Aside from the fact, I wouldn’t dream of doing it myself. Anyway, great article Susan.
Laurawalker86
Great, great, great!!!!!!! Spot on, Susan. I especially like #2 and #8.
Mike Morucci´s last [type] ..Free Lancing
Perfectly agree with you Susan and it is quite natural that people who have just started a blog will find out ways to make it popular. In that desperation they roll out links and forget the first thing to get acquainted with a popular twitter-er. Fairly good article and I’d say every new blogger should read it to know that they are not being ignored but they just need to do it the right way. Perfectly balanced post actually.
jDesai´s last [type] ..How to- Convert JPEG- PNG- BMP to WebP image format
This does a good job of summing up the reasons why I don’t retweet DM requests for the most part.
Justin Germino´s last [type] ..Dragon Blogger Review of Megamind
I rarely comment on post because I don’t see many I like. However this is really good stuff and absolutely true. I will be sharing.
The advice here is very good, provided we all understand ONE very basic thing: None of us are too important… to follow and relationship build with anyone else on Twitter…Facebook…LinkedIn or anywhere else on the Web. Our Social Media decisions should always be based on good judgement and never by self-importance filtering.
That being said, everything offered here works for me.
Marc LeVine
Director of Social Media
RiaEnjolie, Inc.
Great points! I’m getting pretty annoyed with most DMs, they all either ask you to join the FB page as well or to download an e-book or to buy something. What happened to DMs being mostly personal? They were until a year or so ago.
I don’t auto DM, never have, and I still do pretty well on Twitter in terms of followers. By now, I only check DMs for personal notes, but I make it a point to retweet a lot of useful information as a service to my followers. And if you e-mail me, I might even write a blog post about you to help you out
http://dagmarbleasdale.com/2010/10/blogging-rocks-moms-helping-moms/
Great job on this!
Dagmar
Dagmar’s momsense
Dagmar Bleasdale´s last [type] ..Bake Fast and Easy Bread in an Hour
You forget one! Because you’re a douchebag! lol
- Cal
Word.
Ms. Snark´s last [type] ..Natalie Portman goes dark for Black Swan
I’ll add.. b/c you had to ask all needy “gimme gimme.” If the tweet’s good enough, and the post/content is good enough .. it’ll get RT anyway.
Ms. Snark´s last [type] ..Natalie Portman goes dark for Black Swan
Thank goodness someone said it.
Hi Susan, I must have missed this post first time around. Love how you said everything very respectfully. Unfortunately too many people just want to blast away with their messages and forget that you have to give to get and content may not be worth sharing. Thanks for sharing!
Although I am fairly new to Twitter, this just made sense to me. I am adopting it as my own new standard. Not that I would take credit for developing it, just plan to follow it.
Excellent post Susan, totally agree. I have had people ask to to write blog post highlighting their websites for free, I politely said no too.
I am actually pretty lenient as long as the person asking has some valuable content. However, I hate those Trump University kind of DM requests. Affiliate offers and nonsense like that won’t ever get RT’d by me.
Thanks for great post
Very well written Susan! This is what people tend to (want to) forget, isn’t it
I think that one of my biggest Twitter pet peeves is people that constantly promote their own content, but don’t bother to retweet or pay any mind to others unless it is to ask a favor of them. I also can’t stand bad grammar. I don’t think I could retweet someone if the entire tweet was full of grammar errors.