On the surface, Twitter is nothing more than a 140-character answer to the question “what are you doing?”  Don’t be fooled, though – Twitter has far more to it than you may think. Part two of our series on Twitter etiquette focuses on replies, following back, and “Follow Friday.”

Sending a reply.  A reply is a public message sent to another user.  It’s a one-on-one conversation with another tweep – but done in public.  Candidates can use replies to engage their supporters on Twitter and show that they are responsive to their constituents.  Engaged supporters are more likely to volunteer, donate or tell a friend about the campaign because they believe you actually care about your supporters.

When is it necessary to send a reply? Be courteous. If supporters are working hard to spread your message on Twitter, send them replies to acknowledge their efforts and show that you appreciate their work.  Replying to direct questions from supporters is another way to engage tweeps.  A Twitter reply is short and simple, but it goes a long away among followers.  Candidates should not feel like they have to reply to every follower – they’ll only find themselves wasting the day away on Twitter.  Try picking 3 or 4 tweeps a week and replying to them, similar to the way President Obama answers letters.

Following Back. When a tweep decides to follow you, it is generally considered proper etiquette to follow them back.  But be careful! There are a lot of “Twammers” (Twitter spammers) out there.  You should only follow back those tweeps whom you are familiar with or have vetted internally.  A quick review of a tweep’s Twitter history and their possible website should suffice the vetting process.

Remember that tweeps can be superficial; numbers do matter to them.  People typically judge others on Twitter by their number of followers, not by the quality of their tweets.  A user with thousands of followers is deemed stronger and more worthy of a follow than a user with thirty, even if the former’s tweets are worthless.  Candidates need to continue to increase their following by sending quality tweets and using hashtags.

“Follow Friday” is an increasingly popular trend on Twitter.  Every Friday, thousands of tweeps suggest other tweeps to follow and include the hashtags #followfriday or #FF.  Follow Friday is a great way to pat your friends on the back and increase your visibility on Twitter.  When included in another person’s Follow Friday, candidates should remove their Twitter handle and then retweet (RT) the Follow Friday message. This is common practice for tweeps and a great way to increase visibility on Twitter.

Like most other aspects of a campaign, the key to a successful online campaign is the ability to engage supporters.  Replies, following back and “Follow Friday” are all practices that will help expand a campaign’s outreach efforts via Twitter.

–Chris Walling, ProjectVirginia’s Social Media Coordinator