Comments on: Anatomy of A (Successful) Tweet

By: Zenobia

Zenobia — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:19:48 +0000

Jennifer, very helpful and insightful. I am a new Tweeter so I welcome any all wisdom.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:00:48 +0000

The short URL debate is interesting, as it underlines the importance of establishing a relationship with your readers. If you don’t trust a Tweeter enough to follow their link, you probably shouldn’t be following them at all.

From the writer’s point of view, you have to be very clear and consistent about what the people will see in your link to build trust. The link has to be worth their while.

None of this is possible without shortening services (I used short.ie for quite some time).

By: Mike Savory

Mike Savory — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:52:44 +0000

Thanks for these helpful ideas.

Regarding the concern about shortened URLs; Hootsuite (and I’m sure others) display a preview of the full URL and destination page title when you mouse over the shortened URL, which helps reduce the risk.

By: Lana Galileo

Lana Galileo — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:06:23 +0000

I didn’t pay so close attention when doing tweets, just posted what have come into my mind. Maybe that’s reason why i didn’t get so many traffic from it.

Thanks for advices, i will test them and see if ic an sale something.

By: Chaibi Alaa

Chaibi Alaa — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:57:35 +0000

Really Really great post ! I really all those advices .. What is the main problems about my twitter is that the network where I am is a little limited by targets, then I can’t get real interested tweets !

By: Bonnie Burns

Bonnie Burns — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:25:46 +0000

I like URL shortners. Heck, even the programs like tweetdeck, hootsuite etc automatically offer it and as I tweet much from my iPhone, it makes it very easy. It also allows for more words to be used in a tweet.

Yes, you may not know where the link goes to, but one must trust at times that the tweeter is not misleading you to a ‘rick roll’ (a link to something other then what was discussed) Also, as you learn about your followers, you learn to trust what they are providing a link to.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:40:01 +0000

Oops – I meant “G” not SEJ – sorry about that.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:38:48 +0000

This was a nice article. I liked what you said about just asking for the RT – Ask and you shall receive…right?

I wanted to comment about the shortened URLs too. I think SEJ has a point, but sometimes you have no choice, especially if you have a long URL to include and you want to send people to your site. I have ended up on some sites I would rather not have visited when following shortened links but that was my early naive Twitter self. Now I know better and follow links from those I trust. I think people realize who they can trust and which links will be okay to follow.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:17:19 +0000

That is an interesting perspective and not one I’ve heard many people concerned about. Since there is URL shortening automatically I think people just accept it. It’ll be interesting to see what others say on this topic. Thanks for sharing. Very interesting!

By: G

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:01:45 +0000

I disagree on the shortened url… yes, you can track it but I for one won’t click it… nothing personal but the upside of reading what you’ve linked to isn’t worth the risk.
I may be ahead of the curve but people will catch on to the risk of clicking to places that can’t be seen/trusted…