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We’ve got another reader question for the TwiTip masses to answer:
Is there a twitter etiquette for gratitude? If someone says thanks, I reply with a variation of “you’re welcome” and I’m very likely to say thank you as well. I guess it was my upbringing that did this to me! – UBLF
Personally, I agree that it’s important to acknowledge someone’s thanks, be it on Twitter or in the offline world. How do you say “you’re welcome” or “thank you”? The question states that UBLF responds “with a variation” – what’s your way?
@silviastraka
If at all possible, I use DM for the thank you, unless (a) the person is not following me, or (b) there’s a reason to thank the person more publicly. When someone thanks me, I often let it go at that (to not increase the noise on Twitter). But sometimes I’ll say “You’re welcome” as a DM, if it’s an especially meaningful issue. (E.g. Not something like, Thanks for the FF).
@geetarchurchy
I generally send out a tweet saying something along the lines of “thanks to @xxx for answering my q RE (tweet url)”
I thin it’s important to make sure the ueser’s handle is in the middle of the tweet so it’s seen by everybody.
@jessicawaters
if someone “auto thank you”s me, I respond by UNfollowing them!
@RobertHruzek
I usually say something along the lines of, “Thanks, and a tip o’ the hat to ya!” It’s friendly, and it reinforces my “brand”.
Guess I was raised that way, too.
@los_ziegler
From my point of view, in Twitter if I say thanks and you do not say nothing back it does not hurt. But if you twit something in the form of a question and I reply and re-ask then I do wait for an answer back from you. And it does not matter if you have 10000, 1000, 100 or 10 followers.
@billlublin
I am always challeneged by the proposition that being a good person and doing the right thing is different in any environment (with the exception of needing to be sensitive to cultural variations). I don’t think it matters HOW you say “Thaks” or “Your Welcome” I onlty think it matters IF you say it.
@markshaw
I think that it is very important to thank people. We should all remember that being followed is not a right but a privelage, and that every now and then we should thank people for following us.
We should also thank them for retweeting us, and mentioning us on followfriday.
However when thanking people, please dont do it as an automated response… that is tacky..take the time to do it properly.. Clearly though if you are getting thoudands of retweets, and mentions, then a groups thank you will suffice.
Mark
@alanschram
I think Twitter etiquette asks for people to respond with a “thank you” for most situations – retweets, shoutouts, followfriday mentions, etc. For the most part, I try to keep that to the DM. I am thanking them, not the entire twitterverse.
Unless I am thanking my whole network, and I want to give thanks by also giving a shoutout to that person, then I will say “Thank to @username for helping me with [url]“. Gives me another chance to get my URL out there, as well as give a shoutout to whoever already helped me.
@jan_geronimo
If someone thanks me for a retweet or a followfriday recommendation, I answer as promptly as possible. It’s still part of a conversation for me. I don’t just drop the ball.
No need to be original – just say you’re welcome, or that it’s your pleasure to do so. Sometimes I just say, don’t mention it – Rting is my cup of tweet.
Why be scared of being yourself? In real life, we respond warmly and courteously. Why should we conduct ourselves differently in Twitter?
@ajinnashville
I always try to express my thanks for a mention or other props given me by someone on Twitter, but have to admit I’m not always as good about answering back to a ‘thanks’ that I myself have been given. However when I do, I usually do so with my favorite Spanish expression (and one of about only 3-4 that I know), de nada, which literally means, ‘it is nothing,’ but is colloquially interpreted as, ‘you’re welcome.’
@mati4real
Basic good manners should not be overlooked. Everyone likes to be appreciated. The specific wording would depend on how the conversation went, but definitely respond. Short and sweet works.
@asgerd
I think this thanking and thanking for thanking and thanking for mentioning is contributing to the incredible amount of static that gets in the way of communication. I’ve unfollowed people who go on and on about little things – I don’t mind answering a question or RT-ing a good thought but I’m really not wanting to engage in a long run of thank yous after it, and I certainly don’t expect any acknowledgement for a 4-second RT. My impression is that most of my contacts feel the same – I guess it depends on what circles you move in.
@henrikblunck
I would say Matt’s way of saying thanks obeys all forms of decent etiquette.
Well done to give proper credit.
@geetarchurchy
Thanks Henrik
very much appreciated!
@tumblemoose
If I was standing on a street corner having a conversation, certainly I’d say, “You’re Welcome, No Worries, Glad to” or whatever. Since I view Twitter as a conversation on the world’s biggest street corner of course I would acknowledge in kind.
Cheers!
George
@irunabiz
‘thank you’ is required, ‘ your welcome’ is not. Its just a little extra, that in the case of twitter begins to adds extra tweets to scroll through. I’m not offended if I don’t get a ‘your welcome’ for my ‘thank you’.
@luveiviti
Good ole etiquette, one guess is just to reciprocate in earnest, at least I try to do this.
@carolbory
I express my gratitude through a DM. I find it more personal than a reply (seen by all.) I have also been looking for “Twitter” notecards to send to people to express my thanks. I found one that may fit my needs. It is a bluebird (good resemblance of the Twitter bird) sitting on a top tree branch with the words thank you on the bottom of the front cover. All done in letterpress, which is one of my favorite types of printing. For me the paper notecard ,with a touch of Twitter reflections, matches my personality.
@FreeToBerFree
My job is to tend to my business and stay out of others business or I might get burned.
If I see others as having or being a problem, I need to clean up whatever is in me that I am experiencing as that problem.
@flinchbaugh
I am trained to say you’re welcome, but I also find on twitter this can get to be consuming traffic. If everyone thanks and then is welcomed on a single RT, that’s a lot of traffic. I think the act is a “you’re welcome” enough.