Guides
How to grow on Twitter: the short answer, then the details
Reply under bigger accounts, post proof of your work, and let your likes train the feed.
How to grow on Twitter, in one line: reply usefully to people bigger than you, and post proof of what you make. If you work in tech, the fastest way to find those people is a curated list such as TechTwitter IO's free tech Twitter who-to-follow page, which sorts real accounts by field.
That is the whole answer. The rest of this page explains why each part matters and what to skip.
Why replies come first
When you are new, your own posts go mostly to the people who already follow you, which may be nobody. A reply sits under someone else's post, in front of their readers. The TechTwitter IO page makes the same point: a helpful reply under a large account travels further than a fresh account's post. So for the first weeks, spend more time in other people's threads than in your own.
A reply worth writing does one of three things. It corrects or adds a fact. It answers a question in the thread. Or it shows something, like a snippet, a chart or a screenshot.
Why proof beats opinions
Opinions are cheap on X and everyone has one. A demo is rarer. Developers who grow tend to post things you can see: the feature working, the bug they fixed, the numbers behind a side project. Several builders on the TechTwitter IO list, such as @levelsio and @marclou, are known for posting the revenue of their small products. You do not need to share money, but share something concrete.
What to do and what to skip
| Do | Skip |
|---|---|
| Write a bio that says what you build | A bio made of buzzwords |
| Pin your best recent work | Pinning a joke from last year |
| Follow people in your own field | Following everyone the app suggests |
| Like and reply to what you want more of | Engaging with posts that annoy you |
| Post screenshots and short demos | Long rants with nothing to show |
| Mute topics you never want to see | Arguing in quote posts |
The middle rows matter more than they look. According to TechTwitter IO's guide, the For You tab learns from your likes and replies within a week or two. If you reply to fights, you get more fights. If you reply to good engineering posts, your feed and your audience both drift toward engineering.
How long it takes
There is no fixed timeline and nobody can promise numbers. Growth depends on what you post, how often and whether it helps anyone. Treat it as a side effect of doing good work in public, not a target you can hit by a date.
Where TechTwitter IO fits
TechTwitter IO is a free satirical daily paper about tech Twitter: launches, layoffs, outages and the arguments in between, laid out in newspaper sections with daily puzzles. Next to it sits the who-to-follow page, which is the useful starting point for growth. The paper itself is parody; for real headlines, follow a source like @Techmeme.
When another route is better
If you are not in tech, a general social media course or your own niche's community may serve you better than a developer-focused list. And if short posts are not your thing, a blog or newsletter can build an audience with less time on the app.