How To Use #MrTweet Instead of #FollowFriday + My Weekly Recommendations

It’s Friday again, and the hordes of #FollowFriday lists are filling up the Twitter stream once more. Every Friday for the past several weeks I have written a Follow Friday related post to share my thoughts and insights into this social media phenomenon, and I have started my own tradition of recommending at least 10 people here with a more detailed explanation of why I follow them in the hopes that you would follow them too and discover the value I have in each of them. At the end of each of these posts I have said that if you desire to recommend me to others on Twitter I would greatly appreciate you using the website known as "Mr. Tweet" to express yourself. I have had quite a few people say they found me through Mr. Tweet, which is even more encouraging because it means they have made a somewhat educated decision to follow me by reading my profile and recommendations on the website, rather than randomly clicking on one of countless lists of names that provide no explanation for the recommendation.

So this week I wanted to give the uninitiated a more detailed look at some of the many features Mr. Tweet offers and help you to see how the benefits of using this tool far outweigh the anonymous Follow Friday recommendation. Of course, at the end of this post I will share with you 10 more people that I truly enjoy following on Twitter. But don’t skip to the end just yet! Let’s take a quick tour of Mr. Tweet and see if it is a tool that you can use to enhance your Twitter experience.

SIGNING UP

Sign up is quick and easy. Mr. Tweet simply uses your Twitter username and password to connect with your account. Shortly after that you will receive an auto-DM that will give you further instructions. Not bad for a quick and easy beginning, eh?

GETTING STARTED

Once you are signed up, there are 2 ways you can begin recommending people. You can either sign in and recommend people from within your account or you can tweet recommendations using the #MrTweet hashtag.

Signing in opens up a world of possibilities because Mr. Tweet recommends people that you follow for you to recommend. You can choose to scroll through the provided list or you can search for people you already have in mind to recommend. Then you simply fill in the reasons why you wish to recommend the person and then click OK. A dialogue box pops up asking if you want to tweet your recommendation, which I always do because it lets the person you recommended know what you’ve done and usually brightens their day. Isn’t that better than tacking their name onto a list of as many as you can fit with no explanation whatsoever?

You can also recommend others by just tweeting about them from within Tweetdeck, Seesmic or whatever Twitter app you use (from within the Twitter web interface also, but if you’re still using that, please stop and download a 3rd party app. Email me if you need help with that!) All you have to do is start your tweet with the #MrTweet or #TellMrTweet hashtag and then explain your recommendation. Something like "#MrTweet I recommend @bkmacdaddy because he’s a cool guy who writes great blog posts and is very humble." Mr. Tweet automatically adds the recommendation to the database and it becomes part of your profile! Of course, the person you recommend gets the tweet also, so you haven’t missed out on brightening their day. Can it get much easier?

THAT’S NOT ALL!

On top of the fact that Mr. Tweet provides these simple ways to build other people’s Twitter reputations, the tool provides much more for its users. When you log in to your account, you are greeted with recommendations of people you may want to recommend, others that people you have recommended have also recommended (meaning you may want to follow these people because tweeps you’ve recommended think they’re cool) and your own statistics. For instance, today when I logged in I learned that through Mr. Tweet I have been recommended to 8,466 people in the past 43 days! I can also see that 15 people have viewed my profile.

Plus, the people that Mr. Tweet recommends to me are listed in a very informational format. I am given their avatar and bio, the number of people they follow and how many followers they have along with the calculated ratio, the people that I follow who also follow them, the number of Mr. Tweet recommendations they have and more!

This is definitely one of the most helpful tools I have used for discovering new people to follow and recommending my own favorites. And the more you use it the more your reputation grows!

CONCLUSION

Okay, I know I sound like a Mr. Tweet salesman. But I want to be clear that I am not associated with Mr. Tweet in any way other than a user and a huge fan. I am just so impressed with this free tool that I had to share and encourage everyone I can to opt out of the Follow Friday madness and use Mr. Tweet instead. For me, it provides a much more substantial way to show the respect and admiration my Twitter friends deserve. I hope this little tour of the tool will help you see the benfits as well.

Now on to this week’s recommendations! Once again, please take a minute to read how each of the people listed below have enhanced my Twitter experience with their personalities, friendship, resources and more. If you are truly looking for people to follow who add value to your Twitter stream, then give my friends a try. I am certain you won’t be disappointed. And if you ever feel the need to recommend me to your followers, please take a sec to do it through Mr. Tweet. I would be honored.

@LaciiJay – Lacii Jay

Lacii is a lot of fun! She’s very sweet, funny and engaging. We have had a few conversations covering everything from dinner recipes to hypnotism. I really enjoy tweeting with her!

@printedproof – Christian Collard

Christian is a cool guy who I am beginning to discover may be a kindred spirit. Has a great love for his family, is a design workaholic & pursues focusing on the truly important things.

@workingmoms – Ann Marie and Anessa

These ladies are truly fun, friendly & love to engage in conversation with people on Twitter. Always up for a chat, and always get me laughing and smiling.

@ADesignInMind – Sean Haney

I’m still getting to know Sean, but he’s a really nice guy. Describes himself as a Freelance Graphic Designer/Student of Design and he shares a lot of great design resources.

@ionacosmetics – Jude

This lady is very playful and funny. I met her early on when I started tweeting and she consistently cracks me up. I can always count on a smile to be born from her tweets.

@RedHouseMedia – Aaron W Hautala

Aaron was one of the first people I interacted with on Twitter. He’s a gifted photographer & designer (check out his site) and a genuinely nice guy with an appreciation of a good cup of coffee.

@joycecherrier – Joyce Cherrier

Joyce is a former Maui girl who I’ve had the privilege of tweeting with enough to know she is for real – genuine, caring and friendly. Also a #PositivePosse member.

@Ben_Sky – Ben Sky

A gifted fellow creative who shares a lot of great design resources and happens to be a nice guy too! Check out his work on his site.

@LadyProducHer – Lady Tha ProducHer

Smooth. Laid back. Classy. Cool. Passionate. Creative. One genuine lady and friend. Need I say more?

@jonrawlins – Jon Rawlins

Just getting to know Jon recently, but enough to know he’s a really good guy and a talented designer. Check his portfolio out here.