by Jenna Birch

You wouldn’t want to have a conversation with someone who only talked about themselves, right? Same thing goes for Twitter—people want to follow people who interact.

Want your Twitter reach to expand beyond friends and a few coworkers? Stop sending tweets about what you ate for lunch.

People most want to follow users who share information and respond to others, according to researchers who followed 500 Twitter users over 15 months—good for more than half a million tweets.

How can you transform your Twitter presence and strive for Justin Bieber status on the social media hub? Here are scientifically proven dos and don’ts from lead study researcher C.J. Hutto, a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech.

3 Ways to Gain Followers

1. Ask Questions

Tweet this: “@TwitterUser Cool photo. Did you have a good time at the auto show?”
Why it’ll work: You wouldn’t want to have a conversation with someone who only talked about themselves, right? Same thing goes for Twitter—people want to follow people who interact. Make yourself visible (and hopefully more attractive) to the followers of your followers by asking questions, says Hutto. Reply to tweets, retweet ones you like, and favorite a few here and there.

2. Inform (Instead of Me-form)

Tweet this: “Trey Burke is putting up 19.1 points and 6.9 assists per game for Michigan? Magic Johnson-like numbers definitely help your campaign for National POY.”
Why it’ll work: On Twitter, very weak social ties connect users—but it’s the content that matters. Followers won’t care if you won your intramural basketball game, but they may care about the NBA or March Madness. According to the study, informational content attracts followers with an effect 30 times greater than talking about yourself. “Think of Twitter as an information network rather than strictly a social network,” says Hutto.

3. Use Intelligent Language

Tweet this: “I want to see a movie this weekend. Who has an out-of-the-box suggestion?”
Why it’ll work: Hutto says people rely on linguistic cues like spelling and vocabulary to compensate for the lack of it in our day-to-day culture. Use correct grammar, spell out “see” instead of writing “c,” and punctuate your messages. If your tweets look like a middle schooler’s texts, then potential followers will likely skip right over you.

. . . And 3 Ways to Lose Them

1. Whine About Your Crazy Day

Don’t tweet this: “WTF. I hate everyone in my office today.”
Why it drives people away: Researchers found negative content had an adverse effect on follower count over time, possibly because weakly connected strangers find complaining and whining annoying. Hutto says there are a few exceptions: Using negative sentiments along with humor, controversy, or inspiration (think: a quote or comment on a tragedy) didn’t have as negative of an effect on followers in the study. But as  a rule of thumb, positivity grows wider networks.

2. Hashtag Tweets to Death

Don’t tweet this: “Just ran into the spitting image of Mila Kunis. #gothernumber #winning #hot”
Why it drives people away: Used in moderation, hashtags signal keywords to make you searchable (or funny if you use them the right way). However, multiple hashtags (and multiple words within a single hashtag) make tweets hard to read. If it looks like you’re spamming other users, #peoplewillunfollowyou. (While we’re on the subject, avoid these 5 Most Annoying Tweets.)

3. Tweet Once Every Three Weeks

Don’t tweet this: “So, I definitely haven’t tweeted yet this year. Whoops.”
Why it drives people away: You don’t have to tweet like a fiend, but forget you have a Twitter account, and forget about gaining followers. Tweeting anywhere from 8 times an hour to every few days is okay, says Hutto. But users with long periods of silence are less attractive than up-to-date accounts.

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Read more at Men’s Health News

 

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