The Twitter rules all advocates need to know now
Written by Zoe Alexis Whitehorn
The New(ish) News
About a month ago, Twitter announced a small but important rule designed to reduce Copypasta – pesky, intentionally duplicative content that can spread misinformation quickly and over-amplify inauthentic copy-and-pasted phrases and entire tweets. (Think: bots, spammed replies, identical political messaging and yes, maybe those sample posts you spent weeks pulling together and sharing with partners for your next campaign).
Twitter has made its intentions clear: to keep your feeds free and clear of this kind of “disruptive,” duplicative posting.
We waited a beat to see how this rule was playing out in our feeds, the algorithm and in our partners’ social strategies. Here's what *we know* this means so far for all of us and our Twitter experiences:
Simply put, the rule targets copy-pasted posts and content that appears to be nearly identical.
Twitter may limit the visibility of tweets it deems “identical or near-identical,” coming from an individual or multiple accounts. So, for example, your reply will not rank highly, and fewer people will see it; your posts won't show up in Trends and Top Search results, nor will they be featured as recommended posts on users' feeds who don't follow you.
This rule does NOT affect everyone's favorite low-hanging engagement fruit, the humble and beloved retweet. Retweet on, my friends.
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In short, IF Twitter takes action on a post under its new rule, that post won't have good reach and is not likely to lead to new followers or spread your message.
What This Means For Your Advocacy Strategy
Right now, simply understanding the rule and getting in front of it matters. There's still cautious chatter in the social world about how much this will truly make a dent in digital advocacy campaigns and toolkits with sample social posts. We're keeping a watchful eye on metrics, and you can, too!
We know how urgent the many campaigns you’re all leading right now are. Here are a few simple things you can do to set your work up for social success:
Look at the data. If you've recently (in the last month!) run a digital campaign reliant on sample posts without tailored content, check in with your partners to see how that's gone. Revisit your metrics to see if those posts hit the impressions goals you expected. Let the data show you what’s working and what isn’t.
Update your strategy. Get in front of this and tweak any upcoming campaigns and toolkits. Create and share suggested or sample content with clear, easily customizable space for partners to localize, add their POV or personalize. Flex your creativity in delivering content that feels natural to customize rather than just copy and paste. (Think: show partners how to use your core messaging to draft a short post about local impact.)
Take your partners with you. Be clear and make it as simple as possible for your partners. That means leading with and emphasizing the importance of customizing content. For example, you might say:
“Adding your voice to this campaign matters. Only customized, authentic content will get amplified; so, we’ve made it easy for you to tailor your posts to help this campaign take off and actually reach our most important audiences!”
The Great News: You Should Still Toolkit
Toolkits still have a special place in our advocacy hearts. Even with this new rule, a strong toolkit can do so many things at once:
They’re an opportunity to be a thoughtful partner, doing the work for like-minded advocates working alongside you and in turn, building the momentum and reach needed for success. Sharing content in toolkits shows you’re being thoughtful about capacity, and you’re even giving partners some extra content for their social calendars!
They’re an opportunity to be proactive, to plan ahead and to make sure your campaign really aligns with your strategic goals. The work of creating toolkits means you’re thinking through who needs to be reached, what you need them to know or do and who can help you reach those people.
So, as this rule continues to make waves, rest assured there’s still a meaningful, powerful place for toolkits AND that we’ll continue digging into the trends and data to help set you all up for success!
P.S. Interested in seeing a toolkit in action? Check out this example of a toolkit we created alongside our partner, or reach out to zoe@forthrightadvising.com to learn more about our toolkit process.
