26
Jan

We Have Reached Peak Photo Tweet

Maybe I’m just feeling grumpy because it’s Monday, but this morning I snapped:

Photo tweets are a great tool for publishers. When Twitter first started showing expanded photos in people’s streams, I couldn’t wait to spread the word to my compadres at The Dallas Morning News. After all, images are known for their magic retweetability powers. That said, a photo tweet is not appropriate in all cases. Everything we know about social media says a mix of post types is best for achieving the Twitter goal trifecta: awareness, engagement and clicks back to your domain.

The worst thing about the recent glut of image tweets in my newsfeed: Many of the stories don’t merit the extra visual emphasis. Here are a few examples of when to use a photo in your tweet and when to let your words alone do the talking:

Good Photos Tweets

This clever tease:

Perfect:

Nothing sexy, but the extra info this image conveys is useful:

Just enough to make me want to see more:

Not So Good Photo Tweets

Not necessary:

Ditto:

Weird:

Maybe a chart would work here. This? Not so much:

Stop cluttering my feed, VentureBeat:

I’m pretty sure we all know what Clinton looks like, kids:

This guy, too:

#SadTrombone:

Remember: Just because you can add a photo to your tweet doesn’t mean you should. Make sure you’re serving all of your goals with a mix of tweet types.