What is #ff?

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Nicky Kriel

One of the most confusing things for people who are new to Twitter is:

What is the “#” followed by strange words or letters and, in particular, what is “#ff”?

I have even met people who have been on Twitter some time and still don’t know! If you are starting out on Twitter or see your friends’ Twitterstreams fed into Facebook, it looks like everyone is speaking in code!

Very simply, the # symbol followed by something is called a hashtag. It is a simple way of grouping or uniting topics that people are talking about. Hashtags were created by the Twitter community as a way of categorising topics into fields by tagging them. You create a hashtag simply by prefixing a word with a hash symbol.

Each hashtag becomes a hyperlink which means by simply clicking on the hashtag you can follow the conversation of everyone using that hashtag.

And what is #ff? Well, it is called “Follow Friday” which has been abbreviated over time to just the letters. In theory, on Friday people recommend people that they think are good to follow. In practice, it has lost a lot of its meaning.

This is what you what you will see many people people do.

This person has used the hashtag #ff and followed it by a string of Twitter names. There is no indication whatsoever of why anyone should follow any one of these people.

If you want to recommend someone to follow, do it! Give a reason for people to follow them.

When I started out on Twitter, I used to diligently follow the people who were mentioned in an #ff with me, but now only follow people if I am given a good reason. Follow Friday is a nice idea, but at the moment it seems to be an excuse for people just to string a list of their followers. If you follow someone who is interesting, why not send out Twitter love by giving them a #ff, but put some thought behind it.

Hashtags are fun once you get used to them and they can be very useful too. If you would like to find out more about hashtags, this post explains How to use Hashtags, click here to read it.

If you are new to Twitter and would like my Understanding Twitter Jargon Guide, just leave a comment below and I will email one to you.

Nicky Kriel

Nicky Kriel is a Social Media Coach & Trainer inspiring, educating and empowering Business Owners to use Social Media more strategically. She is also the author of How to Twitter for Business Success. For more information visit http://www.nickykriel.com or to find out about her courses that she runs in Guildford visit http://www.nickykriel.com/courses

42 thoughts on “What is #ff?”

sue ritchie on February 25, 2011 at 11:00 am said:

Morning Nicky
Thanks for a very informative post- the idea of giving reasons for #ff is really good, and makes more sense than just producing lists of people which is what i have been guilty of! I didn’t realise by clicking on the # you could the conversation either.
Lots of ideas to put into use
Thanks
Sue

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Richard Mathias on February 25, 2011 at 11:47 am said:

I was just asking myself that question (as a Twitterer of one week’s standing) and scrolled down a couple of posts to find that you had kindly answered it for me.

Thank you

Richard

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oge on February 25, 2011 at 12:09 pm said:

Cool post Nicky. Thanks for explaining to us newlyweds on Twitter
Oge
x

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moira Upton on February 25, 2011 at 3:43 pm said:

Thanks for explaining the hashtag and #ff. I use social media so infrequently I couldn’t suss these out at all!

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Jan at Perfect Verse on March 4, 2011 at 10:10 am said:

Good article.

On a Friday I’ve noticed that many of the tweets I see are just full of names and hashtags. I don’t do anything about those; I’m far more likely to following someone if there is a reason given for following.

Good manners of course mean you should always thank people for the recommendation and some people do this by retweeting the whole list….which can make for a very boring bundle of tweets….

It’s daft really..I firmly believe twitter is all about individuality.

Thanks for posting this article Nicky

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Lou Middleton on March 4, 2011 at 10:22 am said:

Thanks for the #FF info Nicky. Could you email me your twitter jargon guide please, it will be very handy. Kind regards.

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Cat Craig on March 4, 2011 at 10:42 am said:

Thank you for that Nicky – you have been a great find on Twitter, helping newbies like me understand a bit more about how to use the Twitter community. Would love to receive your twitter jargon guide.

Many thanks again for very informative posts.

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shaplandcoach on March 7, 2011 at 5:59 pm said:

Hi Nicky
Yours was the best explanation of #ff I found when I googled it. Many thx. I’d be interested in any further clues re using twitter more efectively

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- Nicky Kriel on March 7, 2011 at 6:51 pm said:
  
  Thank you for that, Penny. Have you had a chance to look under the social media category of the blog, yet? There are plenty of articles that I hope you will find useful.
  
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anne scardarella on March 11, 2011 at 9:29 am said:

Nicky # and #ff – simple and to the point, far superior to some of the wordy explanations I’ve read. A really great help for fledgling twitterers!

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Daniela Horder on March 18, 2011 at 11:11 am said:

Now I finally understand what #ff means!
I’d been trying to figure it out for ages…. thanks Nicky.

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dainekaniko on March 18, 2011 at 12:57 pm said:

Thanks Nicky. I am trying to get my head round Twitter. It sounds like I need you Twitter guide! Kind regards Diane

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Sally Relton Shakespeare on March 25, 2011 at 7:27 am said:

Thank you Nicky – you are a treasure! I’ve been tweeting for 3 years and still feel like I don’t know how to use Twitter properly.

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- Nicky Kriel on March 25, 2011 at 7:56 am said:
  
  Hi Sally,
  Thank you for saying such lovely things. I have been surprised how many people who have been on Twitter for sometime are still confused by some of the jargon. I’ll pop the Understanding Twitter Jargon over to you and would love some feed back about it.
  
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Julio on March 25, 2011 at 6:16 pm said:

Thanks a lot Nicky. I will be more than happy and les ignorant if you e-mail me your Jargon Guide.

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Sally Relton Shakespeare on March 25, 2011 at 7:43 pm said:

thanks Nicky – I will certainly feed back when I’ve read the twitter jargon-buster!

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Hannah Thompson on March 28, 2011 at 7:55 am said:

Thanks for the #ff and trending info. Only just getting back into tweeting, your twitter jargon guide will be very useful, can you email it to me please? Many thanks.

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Tara on April 1, 2011 at 8:38 pm said:

I would love your twitter jargon guide!! Thank you!

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Sarah on April 1, 2011 at 9:39 pm said:

Hi and thank you!! For finally explaining the #ff concept, I have been confused for months! I would love your Understanding Twitter Jargon Guide if you wouldn’t mind emailing it to me? Thanks again, Sarah

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karki on April 9, 2011 at 5:24 am said:

I got what #FF is bt couldnt get why friday , not thursday or saturday or sunday? Is it just conventional or it goes by some twitter rule ?? Also can one do #FF on other days of the week?

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- Nicky Kriel on April 9, 2011 at 12:29 pm said:
  
  Hi Karki, the community makes the rules! #ff is Follow Friday, so it is a bit silly on any other day. There are other days when people recommend people to follow like Shoutout Sunday. You can do it any day you like!
  
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Andy Matheson on April 15, 2011 at 9:52 am said:

Really helpful..
I would like a copy of your jargon guide… I also need to work out how to add the ‘follow me’ tag on my website..

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karki on April 16, 2011 at 11:32 am said:

I was asking why do people prefer friday for the shoutouts? why not other days of the week like monday,tuesday or saturday or sunday? Is it a convention?

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Catherine Jones on May 6, 2011 at 9:36 am said:

Finally! I have been trying to find a simple explanation for twitter conventions and this seems to fit the bill so I would very much like a copy

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Lucy on May 7, 2011 at 1:46 am said:

Please send the “Understanding Twitter Jargon Guide” thank you.

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Mitt on May 20, 2011 at 2:16 pm said:

I would love to read your Understanding twitter jargon guide.

Thank you

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Sue on May 20, 2011 at 5:08 pm said:

Hi

Thanks for the info – could really do with your jargon guide.

Thank you.

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Susan Cooksley on May 27, 2011 at 11:14 am said:

Great post Nicky – I never really understood #ff until now and like the idea of leaving a coment.

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Gill Bonello on June 10, 2011 at 12:27 pm said:

Hi Nicky, this is very helpful – I’ve been wondering for a while about #ff. I’m now following you thanks to my colleague @carolinelewis1. I will definitely retweet this and look forward to receiving your Twitter Jargon Guide. Cheers, Gill

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Colleen Wilson on August 3, 2011 at 5:58 pm said:

Would love a twitter jargon guide if you are still sending them out!
Thanks so much

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Pingback: Nicky Kriel | Social Media Coach, Trainer & Speaker » Blog Archive » How to use hashtags
Rebecca on August 12, 2011 at 6:51 am said:

Great article Nicky, would love the twitter jargon guide. Many thanks

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Lee on August 12, 2011 at 3:16 pm said:

Hi Nicky appreciate the article. It really helps to know the lingo….one tweet that’s got “newbie” written all over it and bangs goes 5 followers – but I will get there! pls share your twitter jargon guide
thanks

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B Ware on August 12, 2011 at 4:25 pm said:

I’d like your new to Twitter guide you mention in “What is #ff?” post. Thanks.

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BigMart on August 26, 2011 at 11:07 pm said:

Now I know about #ff that was puzzling me.

What is the difference between the arrows for re-tweets, and RT in front a message?

Would be grateful for the guide.

Many thanks.

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Ali Bierman on September 2, 2011 at 8:24 pm said:

Thanks for the clarification. I heard others explain it-you actually make sense.

I cannot figure out how to reach you to let you know I listed your blog for the Versatile Blogger Award. find the details here: http://su.pr/2nOqfY

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Natasha Roberts on September 9, 2011 at 6:30 pm said:

Thanks for this. I know that I clearly am seen as a new tweeter, so your guide would be great.

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@zacpullen on September 30, 2011 at 11:19 am said:

Thanks for distinction on #ff strings & #ff’s with lurve !

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Julie Walton on October 21, 2011 at 7:46 am said:

Hi Nikky, I only found you the other day and am really pleased I did. You have given me so much useful info already. Always wondered what the #ff meant but never had the time or enthusiasm to find out. Thanks for this.

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Martin Horswood on December 23, 2011 at 10:27 am said:

Thanks to your Tweet – I’m no longer in the dark as to what #ff is, and good timing I was just looking at my twitter feed and wandering what it was all about!

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cc363 on March 2, 2012 at 2:40 pm said:

Thanks for this – been tweeting for a while but learn so much from your blogs. I’d appreciate a copy of your guide too. Thanks again

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Shari Kingston on April 27, 2013 at 9:31 pm said:

Could I please get a copy of you Understanding Twitter Jargon?

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Nicky Kriel | Social Media Coach & Trainer | Social Media for Business

Inspiring you to grow your business through Social Media

42 thoughts on “What is #ff?”

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