Saying “thank you” is a response many parents teach their children at a very young age. It becomes ingrained in us. If someone does something nice for you, you say “thank you.” If someone holds the door for you or picks up something that you dropped, you say “thank you.” If someone gives you a compliment, you say “thank you.” “Thank you” should be one of those automatic responses that doesn’t require much thinking or force. It should be natural and genuine. A simple “thank you” is very powerful.
I’ve been paying a lot of attention lately to how people express thanks online. Every day, we post and share other people’s content on the social Web. We tweet and post on Facebook about positive experiences with companies and brands. We write posts and online articles that highlight the good things people are doing around the world. Many times, those complimentary efforts are followed up with a “thank you.”
However, sometimes they aren’t. Think about the people who have hundreds and thousands of blog readers and the companies with hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers and Facebook “likes.” Realistically, how can they thank each and every person who shares their content or writes something nice about them online? It’s impossible. If I tweet about a post from a blog that I know is highly trafficked, I don’t expect the blogger to thank me, even if I do include his/her handle in a tweet. I’m not offended if I don’t get a personal “thank you”, and I bet many of you would agree that you feel the same way.
Now, what about one of your friends (whether you know them personally or have only connected with them online). If a friend who is a blogger (say he/she is someone who doesn’t have quite the same amount of success as someone who is inundated daily with tweets, posts and messages related to his/her content) doesn’t thank you for sharing his/her content, are you offended? I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I’m offended, but I definitely appreciate those people who thank others for sharing their content. I’m more likely to keep reading and sharing if I know you are appreciative. I am happy to support people who I know don’t take that support for granted.
But saying “thank you” can easily get repetitive. I follow some people who thank every person who retweets anything they post, regardless of whether it’s content they created. I understand wanting to build rapport with followers, but in my opinion, that’s going a bit overboard.
I don’t think there comes a certain point (amount of time spent active on social networks or number of likes/followers/members, etc.) where you should start or stop thanking people. Everyone operates differently. Looking at just Twitter, here’s how I approach saying “thank you”: I always thank people who share my blog posts, give me a compliment, support me during a specific effort (like my upcoming Chevy SXSW road trip with Team Motown) or include me in a Follow Friday shout out. Sometimes I thank people publicly, and sometimes I thank them privately through DM. I don’t always thank people who retweet what I share. If someone I’ve never talked to or haven’t talked to in awhile retweets me, I use that as an opportunity to start a conversation.
I’m sure there have been times when I completely missed thanking someone. Between Tweetdeck, Twply and alerts on my phone, I’m confident I catch most tweets directed to me. But everyone misses the boat now and again. It’s definitely not intentional. It’s called being human (and busy!).
That’s just me. I’m interested in hearing what others think about saying “thank you” online. How do you thank people? Do you see a difference in how people express thanks in person and online? Is there a right or wrong way to express thanks online?