Optimizing X

Time to Start Optimizing X

Now that you are on it, it is time to start optimizing Twitter AKA X. And please keep in mind: a lot of what I am talking about where will work perfectly well on Bluesky and many other platforms. But Bluesky in particular.

After all, the same people made them both.

Using Lists for Optimizing X

What are lists on X?

You may have noticed people who have a rather different follower to following ratio than you do. What do I mean by that?

For instance, say you follow 100 people. And 1000 people follow you. The ratio of follower to following is 100:1000, or 1:10. This is fantastic.

Celebrities often have ratios that look like this, or even better, where they might be following 100 accounts but there are 100,000 people following them. Or more!

Newbies often end up at the other end of the spectrum, with 1000 people they are following and 100 are following them, for 10:1.  If you want to just read for the most part, this is perfectly fine, except it tends to not mark you as a thought leader.

Celebs and Optimizing X

Now, most people do not sit down and calculate ratios. But they do glance at profiles.

Someone like soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, might be following some 200 people but he is followed by over 100,000,000. Hence people will really notice if he starts following them.

Does he (or any other celebrity, major or minor) have a sparse news feed? Probably not. Because he might be using lists.

Go to the profile of someone you want to follow but, instead of hitting follow, tap or click the more icon (the three dots), and select Add/remove from Lists.

Your lists will show up, and you can add someone to several at a time, or make a new list. You can even decide whether you want your list to be public.

Go to your own profile (e. g. click on your profile rather than your settings) and you will see whose lists you are on.

Why use a list rather than follow? You can still see that person’s tweets in your feed, but your ratio will not change. Furthermore, a public list tells everyone what you are interested in. How about lists for indie authors, agents, or publishers?

You can also follow lists made by other people. Maybe someone will find yours to be definitive and will follow it.

Who to Follow

Well, who should you follow on X?

Sometimes you want to publicly follow someone, rather than add them to a list. So long as you keep these people special, then this is perfectly great. I have tended to keep friends as open follows and anyone more business-related on lists. But you may prefer otherwise.

Follow fellow indie writers (this is a community, after all), or publishers, or agents. Consider who can help you, and who you can help, and follow accordingly.

How to #Hashtag

What is a hashtag, and how do you make one that is not lame?

A hashtag is a means of searching on X. Hashtag something as, say, #amwriting, and click on that, and it leads to a slice of X of everyone who used that hashtag. But beware hashtags do not look good if you use a ton of them.

Do not just indiscriminately hashtag! Also, keep them short.

#ILovePuppiesAndDolphinsAndUnicorns is probably not going to be something used by anyone else, or at least not that frequently. But #ILovePuppies is pretty popular.

Experiment by searching before you hashtag. Beware, your innocent-looking hashtag might already be coopted for an unexpected usage. Just do a search on #NeverForget or #IStayedBecause and you will know what I mean.

Does X Still Matter Enough That You Should Still Want to be Optimizing it?

Hard to say. But only you know your audience or readers. According to Sprout Social, the ratio of male-female X users is something like 2:1. The generation that dominates is Gen Z. So, keep in mind: Gen Z people are born between 1997 and 2012.

Are they the ideal market for your book? It depends. For a generational cohort where a good half or so of them are right around in the wheelhouse where it feels like everyone they know is getting married, having kids, or both, then a book for children could be ideal.

Or maybe books with young main characters out to change the world or destroy it would work better. Hard to say. Just because X is mainly male does not mean they never buy for children.

But some of them might want to continue publicly demonstrating how cool they are. Leaning into that with your marketing might work better.

Takeaways for Optimizing Twitter AKA X

Consider your peers. Who do you love to follow and read? In contrast, who seems like they are not trying too hard? Of course, if you want to start optimizing X, you should copy what the former does, versus the latter.

Want More About X AKA Twitter?

If my experiences with X resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about X.

While it has changed considerably over time, a lot of these tips will still work. And often they will work with other social media platforms as well.

Almost Everything But the Tweet

• Starting a Twitter Stream
† Demystifying Twitter/X
• Twitter, Social Media and Professionalism

† Conquering X/Twitter (verbal elements)
• Conquering Twitter/X (visual elements)
† Twitter/X (metrics and timing)
• X/Twitter (offsite connections)

And, if you are a fellow writer, you may also want to check out:
† PitMad on Twitter/X

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