Most people suck at being interesting via DMs.

The thing is - it takes a lot of time and effort to do it right.

Here are 9 frameworks to stand out from the crowd:

Pre-game:

Start on the timeline:

1. Turn on notifications for your favorite tweeters.

2. Reply with something insightful in under 10 minutes.

You will enter their radar.

Then, follow up on a specific tweet or idea via DM.

Don't make "connections", make friends:

Remember: Twitter is different.

You don't have an audience-consumer relationship like LinkedIn or TikTok.

On Twitter, it's a friend-friend relationship.

Write a catchy first line:

By the design of Twitter DMs, you don't have much real estate.

In "message requests", you only see the name of the person + the first few words.

Crazy part: I get 30 of these DMs per day.

Make sure the first line is eye-catching.

Crucial.

Be specific as f*ck:

General compliments and feedback are useless.

To stand out, ask this question to yourself:

What do you *actually* like about them or their work?

High specificity means you're genuine.

Being genuine will get you more friends.

If you use it right, your Twitter account is worth more than your degree.

But 98.8% suck at it.

Here are 9 unique ways to turn Twitter into a crazy valuable asset:

Highly Curate Your Following

99% of users follow real-time news on Twitter.

That's okay. But you won't make Twitter an asset then.

To make it an asset, build a high-signal information diet.

You'll see it as a whole new opportunity.

Let me show you...

Use Twitter Lists

I find way too much news, drama and irrelevant ideas on the Twitter timeline.

I use Twitter lists to cut the noise and amplify the signal.

Bonus: Lists aren't affected by the algorithm.

Here's a video to get started on Lists:

Use Advanced Search

Scrape the internet to find what you want:

"(from:aaditsh) min_faves:1000 marketing"

Tweets with "marketing" from @aaditsh with more than 1000 likes.

Another favorite:

"(from:aaditsh) until:2021-09-01 since:2021-05-01"

Between May and September.

Mute Trolls

Trust me. They're not worth your time.

Click on a profile that annoys you.

Click "more" → "mute profile".

You won't "block" them but their content will become hidden on your timeline.

It's so peaceful.

Elon Musk is a big believer in First Principles Thinking.

Not just Musk — Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel and Feynman too.

Here's what it is, how to use it, and become better at it:

What it is:

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on First Principles Thinking:

It means "boiling things down to the most fundamental truths and then reasoning up from there."

A first principle is a basic truth that cannot be broken down any further.

God — this reminds me of high school chemistry when we first learnt about Atoms.

But that's what they're like! The basic foundations.

Here are 2 techniques to use First Principles Thinking:

1. The Five Whys

This is simple. Keep asking why.

Already asked why? Ask again.

Continuously ask why things are the way they are.

It'll help you discover the root causes of problems (hence helping you solve them).

You know what — Children are great at this...

Children question everything.

They keep asking why (almost to the point that it gets annoying).

Their curiosity enables them to think from first principles.

As we get older, we lose this child-like curiosity to keep asking why.