If you’re new or a grizzly veteran of Twitter, you've probably seen, if not participated in, the #FF hashtag. But, for those of you who haven’t, or you've been wondering what it was…

#FF is a way of recommending your Twitter followers to people you find interesting, humorous, or educational.

A few weeks ago an interesting piece came across my timeline from Ted Coine, — It’s Time To Kill #FF Dead #socialmedia

In short, Ted argues because of #FF…

There’s no room for conversation, because everyone’s tweet stream is chock-full of huge, meaningless lists of #ff followed by twitter handles. You can’t find a good article, YouTube video of a talking dog, or interesting blog post — nothing!

I do agree with the majority of his arguments here and in many of his other posts on this topic, it has become more than a bit frustrating. But done well, I still think they can be amazing!

The problem is the typical #FF participant is lazy and puts very little effort or thought into this process at all, usually sending out a tweet that looks a lot like this:

#FF @KathyMdowntown @kantinalondon @OmegaAudioVideo @PillarNN @AllisonDGraham @BudGardens @DrJamieRichards @ecoLIVINGLondon

The problem with the above Tweet is not a lack of worthy people to follow (they’re all pretty amazing) it’s a lack of information. When I come across a tweet like this in my stream, I seriously have no idea why these people are being recommended.

Here are a few examples for recommending those awesome people whose updates you look forward to on a daily basis:

#FF @KathyMdowntown for anything downtown #LDNont — she works, plays, and shops there! plus always offering great recommendations

#FF To the best restaurant in #LDNont period @kantinalondon Write that down!

For custom audio visual advise, work or equipment that fits your lifestyle and budget #FF @OmegaAudioVideo

Business Development Expert Specializing in Personal Branding & Profitable Networking #FF @AllisonDGraham

#FF @DrJamieRichards & @ecoLIVINGLondon helping peeps in #LDNont make lifestyle choices that have a positive impact on their health

#FF to @BudGardens one of the most spectacular venues in all of Canada #ldnont

A quick reminder; the more people you recommend in a single tweet, the more you confuse your followers and the less likely they will actually follow the recommendations.

If you truly think someone is worth following, then you should explain why that person is worth following and if you have a large list, save some for the following week!

So if you still #FF, let’s put some effort into the process — because if you don’t, are you really adding anything of value!?

Happy #FF