It’s truly amazing how a far a reach have in the world. With last week’s release of the Top 10 Most Retweeted Tweets it was interesting to see what stood out for fellow tweeps and what they thought was most worthy of a retweet.
So what makes a tweet retweetable? Is it the tweet or is it the tweeter? I have a hard time believing if I tweeted “Aaaaaaahhhhhhmmmmm baaaaakkkkkkkkkk!” like Lil Wayne did, millions of people would have retweeted it. My 5000 or so followers would probably think I was crazy or somebody hacked my account. Same if I tweeted “Te quiero mucho mi amor” like Justin Bieber. I’d probably get one retweet…from mi amor.
So it’s obvious it’s not just the tweet but the person tweeting it that gives it strength. And how’d they get there? Easy: branding. These people are household names and can tweet almost anything on a whim and reach millions of people. You and I, on the other hand have to offer up something valuable to the world, for us to make a splash. But going over the Top 10, it’s interesting to see how humor and satire played into almost all of them.
A lot of people make the mistake of putting up a front when they get online — like they have to be Mr. or Mrs. Serious all the time if they want to be successful. But it’s kind of a huge mistake, especially with Twitter. What would you choose? 140 characters that are boring, but valuable; or 140 characters that make you laugh? Exactly, the value in most cases lies in the humor of it, not the link to the free report or 10% off if you retweet or follow. What I like most about Twitter is the overarching subtlety involved. It’s really easy to throw out information in little snippets throughout the day. But to really reach people, whether it’s one or one million, takes a skill honed when you only truly be yourself, online and off.
