Comments on: Thank Me Later: The Role of Gratitude in Social Media

By: Matt Churchill

Matt Churchill — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:46:56 +0000

I try to thank everyone who RTs me – whether that’s lots of people in one tweet, or individually depends on when i’ve seen it pop up in my mentions stream.

The key thing for me is that it’s an acknowledgement of advocacy for a thought or piece of content you’ve shared.

People are essentially self-dramatising by re-sharing your content, to me they’re saying ‘I think xxx about xxx subject’ and online that’s incredibly powerful.

It is much easier for somebody to publish a tweet than it is for them to ring up the head of marketing at a brand and congratulate them on their latest product.

By including an act of advocacy in content we are publishing, we’re pinning a badge to ourselves for everyone to see, that is defining our online identities.

If a user thinks that something i’ve done or shared is worthy of that, I think I should take the time to say thank you as they took the time to re-share it in the first place.

By: Jane Rimmer

Jane Rimmer — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:05:36 +0000

This is an interesting subject for sure! However, in general my view is that I like seeing a thankyou @Rimmergram for the RT. 1. it’s good manners and 2. it’s additional profile for me.

I do think that the Brits are more reserved than the Americans. however, I find on Twitter that it’s the techies that I follow that tend to publicly thank for a RT, and that includes the UK guys. I’ve also had a number of analysts publicly thank me for RTs and I personally don’t think it devalues it in any way. I think the note of caution here is to be selective in what you re-tweet. I wouldn’t RT anything that I wouldn’t want a “thanks” back for!

By: katie moffat

katie moffat — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:03:35 +0000

I’ve always felt odd about thanking people for RTs. Surely you say thank you when someone gives you something interesting/funny/useful or is helpful. Saying thank you for RTs sort of suggests that they RTed it for a reason other than that they just liked it. I agree completely that it’s different if you’re RTing for a charity or bigger cause. But apart from that I have to say that I find it slightly grating.

By: Maximilian Tatton-Brown

Maximilian Tatton-Brown — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:36:37 +0000

Thanks for the comments guys (Disclaimer: Thanks in proper blog posts is appropriate!)

@Kerry I couldn’t possibly comment on the differences in protocol between the US and here. Suffice to say that I think sometimes too much positivity can seem arbitrary and/or superficial, often less is more.

@Claire- Without getting into the topic of when it’s appropriate to *ask* for a retweet, I absolutely agree about thanking people if you’ve asked them to RT for a bigger purpose e.g. a information about a missing person.

And in that case, I might even not recommend a DM for it because it may catch people’s curiosity and they’ll go and look at what you were thanking everyone for, increasing the exposure further. All good things.

But when someone retweets a user and they just go “thanks @jonny, @bill, @fred, @andy for the RT.” it only builds a relationship in the most shallow way.

I think it would be better for everyone if the response was more of a “Glad you found it interesting, what are your thoughts?” than the above model. Something about acknowledging the exposure you’ve been given seems cynical and dirty by comparison.

By: KerryatDell

KerryatDell — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:49:24 +0000

Hi Max – When I was first getting into twitter I read up on a few blogs about Twitter etiquette. These were mainly US blogs, where re-tweeting was listed at “good etiquette”. Over the past few years I’ve seen a divide in this etiquette. In my experience, many our friends across the pond thank for RT’s and UK folks tend not to. Do you think this is because Americans are generally more positive than us Brits?

By: Claire Thompson (claireatwaves)

Claire Thompson (claireatwaves) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:47:07 +0000

PS Just read that – wasn’t suggesting the latter applied to you. It was worth raising the subject!

By: Claire Thompson (claireatwaves)

Claire Thompson (claireatwaves) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:45:17 +0000

Surely it depends. If someone is voluntarily helping you to propel a thought or campaign, or helping you to find whatever it is you need, surely it’s just down to common courtesy.

And personality. If you would say thank you in person because you’re polite and friendly, surely the same applies on line.

If, however, you issue edicts and tell the rest of the world what to do because you consider yourself a bit of a guru, then fine. Never say thank you and people will continue to RT for as long as you’re relevant/provide something they want. It works at it’s very best for those with humongous self belief.

I guess it depends on what ‘brand me’ you want to project!