What kind of tweets do people like to read?

New research by Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science has some interesting findings on which tweets work and which don't. In summary:

People liked:

1) Questions to followers - in particular ones that made followers stop and think.

2) Sharing information

3) Self promotion - specifically links to what you have created rather than saying how awesome you are...

4) Random posts - especially if they are humorous.

People didn't like:

1) Announcing your presence e.g. "Hello Tweeps!"

2) Conversations between 2 or 3 people - use email!

How to write good tweets

DON'T be boring, or share old news, or moan.

REDUCE clutter such as hash tags or @ mentions. Let the tweet content shine through!

DO add context to a tweet (e.g. if you are sharing a link say why, if you are doing a Follow Friday say why this person or organisation should be followed etc)

BE funny, concise, relevant and of course, engage with your followers.

There, that's easy isn't it....?

Here is a link to the study.

Here is a link to the Freelance Switch article that has a good summary of the report.