Hi lovely readers,

I made the decision to join Tech Twitter in the summer of 2021. I didn't make any friends at university because of COVID-19. When it came to the wins, frustrations, and excitement of coding, I almost had no one to talk to. It was incredibly lonely sometimes and I wanted more people to talk to.

Now, a year and a few months later, I have 25k Twitter followers without any prior knowledge of content creation. I also didn’t spend any money on it. I made a lot of amazing friends in tech from all walks of life, spoke at one of the largest developer conferences, and made money with Twitter ads.

I am aware that many people who join Tech Twitter would like the same experience as I did. This is why I wanted to offer some advice and share some of my personal experiences. I hope it helps you!

Interact with others

Let us begin with the most important point. Allow your voice to be heard if you want to make connections, make friends, get more opportunities, or anything else. Twitter is a social media platform so you need to be social.

Follow and interact with others you like, both smaller and larger accounts. Like, retweet, and comment on their tweets. Keep in mind that if you want to comment, make sure it adds to the conversation. Share your thoughts or knowledge on the subject. It will make the chance bigger of getting noticed by your favorite content creator.

If you don’t do this, nobody is going to know that your account even exists. If you only retweet content or like it, you’re still less noticeable. Don’t be afraid and leave a comment.

DMs can be great or awful

Many new Twitter users don’t use direct messages correctly. Don’t just say ‘hi’. If you DM (direct message) with just 'hi' as your first message, you're unlikely to get a response. If you want to know what to do and what not to do when sending DMs, read the article I wrote about it.

If you're just getting started, I recommend keeping your own DM inbox open for new opportunities. However, once you reach 1000 followers, your DMs can become a jumbled mess that is sometimes more work than necessary. At that point, you probably have to decide whether you want to keep it open to the public or only to users you follow.

Many people like to keep their DM inbox open, even if they have a larger following so that they can answer questions, take advantage of opportunities, and meet new people. Some people close them because of the repetitive and, at times, obnoxious messages that flood their inbox.

You have to decide for yourself on what you want to do with your account.

Have your own personality

Be your unique self. Don't try and be anyone else that’s already big on the platform. People appreciate it when the person behind the tweets brings something new to the table and shows their own personality through their tweets. It also simplifies meet-ups, events, and making new friends. It can be exhausting to pretend to be someone you're not, so don’t do it.

Experiment with different kinds of content on your account to see what you like and what connects with your target audience. Look what's trending on Twitter and add your own spin or opinion (as long as it's respectful, of course!). Experiment with Twitter Spaces, threads, code snippets, jokes, and questions. When you're starting out or have a small account, no one expects anything from you yet, and you have the space to experiment. Use this to your advantage!

If you already have quite a following but want to try different types of content, do it! Just make the change on content slow. Don’t go from tweeting about Tailwind CSS for two weeks to changing your story up completely with Solidity the next day.

Grow some thick skin

Whatever you do, you will not be liked by everyone. You will probably meet people you don't like yourself. This sort of thing happens when you're on a platform with thousands of different stories, backgrounds, and ideas, and it's perfectly normal!

Continue to do what you enjoy and don't let others ruin your fun. Find some Twitter friends to vent to who understand that being so public can be exhausting at times. Being so out in the open does not always all positivity and happiness.

Have fun!

If you don't enjoy being on Tech Twitter, you won't be there for long. Don't forget to joke now and then, laugh at yourself, and appreciate the community you are part of. Make content that you would enjoy rather than content that you despise but know others will enjoy. Live your truth, share your accomplishments (big or small), and meet new people that have a positive impact on you.

Don’t ruin the fun for yourself and only focus on the grind. It’s okay to use Twitter just for fun. Not everything is about numbers.

That’s a wrap!

Thank you for reading. I hope this can help you on your (future) Twitter adventures. If you have any suggestions or tips, feel free to leave a comment or contact me on Twitter at @lovelacecoding. See you later!