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Simple Twitter Tips: What Does #FF Mean?

13.01.2011 posted by Admin in Twitter

I get asked this question a lot. It’s one of a handful of abbreviations used in Twitter that bamboozles new users, and then they avoid using it. Which is a shame, because Twitter is a really great place to be as I’ve explained on many occasions.

I remember the very first time I saw #FF messages. My Twitter feed was littered with them but I couldn’t figure out what it all meant. I felt left out – what is #FF? how do I get one? what am I missing?!

A short, dirty guide to #FF…

#FF is short for #FollowFriday. It’s a Twitter trend created back in 2009 by Twitter users that has since become a customary Friday activity.

An #FF is a shout out, a show of appreciation, a nice thing to do. Each Friday you recommend Twitter profiles that you appreciate and enjoy to all of your followers. The idea being that your #FF recommendation will encourage others to check out that profile, generating more followers for them. See? A nice thing to do.

The # (hashtag – read all about them here) is added to create a clickable link and group all the #FF (or #FollowFriday) messages on Twitter together making them easily searchable.

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The best ways to use Follow Friday:

If you want to send an #FF, simply add #FF (or #FollowFriday) to your message, the @name of the person you are recommending along with a genuine reason for your recommendation. Like this:

Example of a good #FF tweet about Mark ShawHmm, might need to follow this Mark Shaw guy…

Tip: Try to include just one recommendation per message, rather than a message full of @names which is often counter productive, like this one:

Example of a bad #FF on TwitterSo many recommendations, which should I choose??

Lots of people do the latter. You’ll rarely get a follow from a group recommendation like this one above – there are way too many choices, and Twitter is too fast for making choices. The only decision to make is whether to click on ‘that’ message or ‘this’ one, and if you’ve suggested 5 #FFs in one message you’ll be ignored or worse, labelled a spammer. Whereas, by giving a legitimate reason to follow someone people are more likely to listen.

Looking at both of these messages above, which one are you most likely to act on?

Sending a mutual #FF simply because someone has #FF’d you is not an authentic reason to send them one too. Don’t make this your reason for doing so – others will see through it and won’t appreciate a suggestion to follow someone who tweets nonsense all day. Please, be considered and genuine in your recommendations.

Lastly, If you’re lucky enough to receive an #FF, thank the person in a reply tweet, like this one:

Example of a nice #FF reply on TwitterThat’s nice

Now you know all about #FollowFriday, who will you be showing your appreciation for next time?

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  • 17 January 2011 by Alan Stephenson

    Thanks for explaining #ff Ive been tweeting for a while now and have often wondered what all this #ff was all about and why do it. I couldnt understand why do it as it is very unlikely that someone in their timeline would actually follow any of these mentions, infact its quite possible it could result in an un-follow due to anoyance!
    I can see the point now just doing one at a time as this would hold credibility. Would you send more than one #ff message in a day?
    Very helpful post

    • 19 January 2011 by Alicia

      Hi Alan

      Thanks for you comments, I’m glad you found my post useful.

      It’s not uncommon to send more than one – often 4, 5 or even 10 maybe! I would suggest spreading them out throughout the day though – if you send a bunch of tweets all at once people get irritated by that too. :)

  • 3 June 2011 by Lucy Baker Make-up

    Alicia this #ff advice is worth its weight in gold. You managed to explain and guide me through how to make ‘friday follow’ worthwhile in easy and succinct steps. I made the mistake myself a few times early on of doing the bulk #ff thing but soon realised how the people would feel receiving them as I got a lot of groups ones with my name in them and they felt insincere and rushed!

    When I first saw #ff on twitter, I googled it, but nothing that came back on my search was as helpful as your post.

    As twitter is so quick to use, a heartfelt single #ff takes no time at all to do so why do people continue to bunch them up?!

    I now try to make sure I think about who has helped me throughout the week and I thank those people via #ff on a Friday. I also like to think that thanking people doesn’t have to be just via #ff, it’s nice to show your gratitude via twitter every day of the week if people have genuinely helped you out.

    Thanks again for your continued help and guidance in what can be a social media maze – for me anyway….

  • 25 June 2011 by OC Heaton

    I’ve wondered about #FF since I joined. My sense is most people have no idea how to use it. I must get 5 or 6 group #FF a week

  • 1 October 2011 by carol satterfield

    Same here. I’ve seen it but had no idea what it meant. Thanks for the explanation.

  • 10 October 2011 by June gundlack

    Thanks Alicia …I’d been wondering – thought it was a secret code! :)

    • 14 October 2011 by Alicia

      Anytime, June! I wondered the same at first too :)

  • 14 October 2011 by How To Find Blog Content: The ONLY Source You Will Ever Need | Alicia Cowan

    [...] the #FF article I’m talking about in this post, and here’s another popular question [...]

  • 4 November 2011 by Aine T

    Thanks for that very clear explanation :) Most of the #FF’s I see are the bulk ones you mention above. At least now I’ll know how to #FF correctly!! Thanks a mill.

  • 6 January 2012 by cliveyrussell

    Thanks for answering my #ff question so clearly. Much appreciated

  • 30 January 2012 by Peter

    Thanks — and I almost get it. To use #ff, do Twitterers need to join or follow a specific follow friday group?

    • 30 January 2012 by Alicia

      No, you don’t need to join a group – just #FF anyone you think deserves a follow. :)

  • 2 March 2012 by Twitter Tip: What is a hashtag (#) on Twitter? | Alicia Cowan

    [...] The most popular hashtag is probably #followfriday or #ff – you can read more about Follow Friday here. [...]

  • 14 April 2012 by Battleboards

    Thanks for the insight, I too am fairly new to Twitter, but we make Fantasy Football products for gamers and I thought it was an abbreviation lol, but will be sending out proper #ff from now on Thanks :)

    • 17 April 2012 by Alicia

      Thanks for stopping by and for your comment. It made me chuckle when I read it. Enjoy Follow Friday!

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