Learn what makes a tweet worthy, with tips, tools, and real examples to help your posts resonate, connect, and go viral.
“Wait, is this tweet worth it?”
If you’ve ever asked yourself that while looking at your phone with your thumbs hovering above the screen, welcome to the club. I’ve been there a lot. And I’m not just talking about the funny things I say to myself at night or the witty things I say to myself in the shower. I mean those raw, heartfelt, strange, or funny moments that feel like they could explode up but you don’t know if they will.
Oddly enough, sometimes pausing to evaluate your next post doesn’t just help your online voice , it can actually improve productivity in unexpected ways. Instead of doomscrolling or posting impulsively, you’re being intentional, creative, and focused.
People have gone viral for the most random things. A grilled cheese sandwich that looks like Elvis and is burned. A dog that got in the way of a marriage proposal. A life tip in one sentence that makes people stop scrolling. But what is the secret ingredient? What makes anything worth tweeting?
That’s what we’re going to talk about today. Let’s go on this crazy Twitter (okay, X) trip together. Grab a drink and get comfortable.
Article Breakdown
What Does “Tweet Worthy” Mean?
Let’s not make it too complicated. “Tweet worthy” just indicates that something is excellent enough to be put on Twitter (or X, if we’re being accurate with the rebranding). But it also suggests value. Does this tweet give you information? Have fun? Motivate? Make someone laugh? Make someone think?
In short, a tweet is tweet-worthy if it should be shared, retweeted, or replied to, or if it says something that is both universal and very distinctive.
I once tweeted, “People who don’t wave back when you let them merge in traffic are the real bad guys in society.” I didn’t even try, but it received 17,000 likes. That’s when it hit me that something that is tweet-worthy doesn’t always mean something that is new. Sometimes, it’s about getting a group of people to feel something.
💡 My First “Tweet-Worthy” Moment (Spoiler: It Was an Accident)
I posted a picture of my cat falling off the couch while yawning in 2017. No preparation, no hashtags, just me giggling at home. I had 500 notifications three hours later. The tweet had gone mini-viral. Why?
Because it was amusing, relatable, and honest.
That moment taught me a big lesson: just because something is tweetable doesn’t mean it’s perfect. It signifies real.
What Makes Content Worth Tweeting?
After years of tweeting, lurking, deleting, and sometimes going viral, here’s what I’ve learned:
- Charged with Emotion
Emotions like wrath, grief, awe, or laughter make people want to get involved. People retweet things that touch them.
For example:
“My grandma FaceTimed me to show me her new plants.” I didn’t answer, so she texted me this… (With a picture of the saddest tiny succulent ever.)
Boom! It’s viral.
- Easy to relate
You’ve hit the jackpot if someone reads it and says, “OMG, same.”
For example:
“Me checking the fridge again three minutes later, like a raccoon with hope.”
Worth tweeting right away.
- A unique point of view or a hot take
It’s risky to have hot takes, but they can pay off.
For example, a quote tweet could look like this: Original: “Pizza with pineapple on it is gross.” Quote Tweet: “Think about living a life with no flavor.”
That quote tweet was like a hot meme that spread like wildfire.
- Short, Snappy, and Punchy
Twitter rewards short, powerful messages. You only have 280 characters, so treat each one like a piece of art.
- Pictures, GIFs, or memes
Images or GIFs of reactions? Yes, please. Tweets containing pictures get a lot more attention.
- Being on time
Your tweet will be more relevant and shareable if you respond to trends or current events.
- Turn or surprise
Change a boring setting into something exciting. Like this beautiful stone:
“Today I got fired.” But at least I know how to make great mac & cheese in the microwave at work now. See the recipe below.
Tweetable = Unpredictable.
Tools for Analyzing Tweets Like a Pro
Do you want to be more strategic? Tweet Binder is here.
You may use Tweet Binder to look at Twitter trends, hashtags, accounts, and even single tweets. This tool can help you figure out what types of tweets do well or what formats work for your niche.
This is how I use it:
- I enter in a word like “career advice” or “funny tweets” and see which tweets had the most likes and retweets. After that, I look at their tone, structure, and timing.
- And you know what? That’s how I made a tweet that got 45,000 likes last year. Yes, really. Data and humor can get along very well.
A Case Study in Influence: Xavier Worthy on Twitter
Let’s take a moment to discuss about Xavier Worthy. Not just his football plays, but also how he’s become a big celebrity on social media.
If you look at Xavier Worthy’s Twitter, you’ll see a great mix of
- Sports highlights from real life
- Thoughts and feelings about yourself
- Retweets that demonstrate who you are and how you connect with your fans
He doesn’t want to be a philosopher or a comedian. He’s just being honest. And that realness? That’s what makes his tweets worth reading.
He just wrote in one tweet:
“Man, I just want to play ball.”
That’s all. Real, hopeful, and human, and 40,000 people liked or retweeted it. That’s what power is.
Real Tweet-Worthy Examples and Why They Work
Here are some real tweets I’ve kept throughout the years: ✨ Tweet #1: “I just saw a little kid drop his ice cream, look up at the sky, and say, ‘Why, God?'” “I’ve never felt so close to another person.”
- Humor
- Emotion
- Visual storytelling
Tweet #2 (Example of a Quote Tweet)
Original tweet: “Is it too early for tacos at 8am?” “Time is a colonial construct,” says the quote tweet. “Eat the taco.”
- Funny
- Relatable
- punchy.
Tweet #3
“Make it normal to text your friends: “I saw this and it made me think of you.” That’s all. We all need to be more gentle.
- Emotional resonance
- kindness go viral.
🗒️ Simple Formats to Try When You’re Stuck
When I run out of ideas, I use these tweetable formats:
- “Not a popular opinion, but…”
- “You know you’re an adult when…”
- “No one: Me at 2am: [random thought]”
- Screenshots of admissions made in the notes app
- Funny parts of conversations (with context)
Believe me, these can be really useful.
🧵 My Personal Tweet Journey: From Flops to Favorites
Let’s be honest: not every tweet gets a response. I have sent out hundreds of tweets that no one saw. Nothing. Quiet. One like (probably my mom).
But I learned something from each failure:
- Long rants? Too much.
- Jokes that are too much? Meh.
- Tweets about getting over heartbreak? Almost always hit.
I tweeted this one day:
“Getting better isn’t a straight line, but sometimes a good nap and a grilled cheese can feel like a new beginning.”
It wasn’t hilarious, but it felt real. And that was enough to get 20,000 strangers to tweet about it.
Bonus: 18 ideas you can tweet today that are worth reading
- An uncomfortable moment that made you chuckle recently
- A strange dream you experienced (keep it brief!)
- Something your pet did that made you happy
- A piece of advice you wish you had heard sooner
- A picture of an autocorrect mistake that went wrong
- “Things I pretend I don’t know at 30”
- “Someone heard this at the grocery store”
- A nostalgic meme with a twist
- What are your three favorite comfort shows and why?
- “Things that make me feel like I’m running out of social energy right away”
- “The worst outfit I ever wore to school”
- “I knew I was getting old when I saw this…”
- “Things that have been living in my head for free”
- A good story from your childhood: “When the group chat goes quiet after you reply”
- A product you love that no one else talks about. Your favorite comfort dish with a memory attached.
- Something your grandma used to say that makes sense now
- A time when you actually felt like you were being seen
- “If I had a dollar for every time I ____, I’d be a billionaire.”
Choose one. Change it up. Hit “Tweet.”
Key Takings:
- At the end of the day, tweet worthy doesn’t mean viral. It doesn’t mean algorithm-chasing or being loud for the sake of it. It means putting something into the world that feels real.
- Whether it’s a hot take, a joke, a memory, or a moment, you never know what will stick. But if it’s you, if it’s true, and if it resonates with someone, it’s already done its job.
Additional Resources:
- How to Go Viral: Stick to Your Morals but Add a Hint of Emotion (Wired): Explores groundbreaking NYU research that reveals how emotionally charged moral content is more likely to go viral, especially in politically active spaces.
- Why It’s a Lot Harder to ‘Go Viral’ on the Internet Than You Think (TIME): Dissects the myth of grassroots virality and explains how influencers and hidden broadcasters drive most viral content, not ordinary users.
- Measuring and Detecting Virality on Twitter (SpringerLink): This academic paper introduces a data-based framework for identifying viral tweets using early retweet patterns and machine learning.
