Article updated: July 30, 2024
Like, reply, repost, and message in X streams
Like posts and respond to posts with a reply, a repost, or a private direct message in X (formerly Twitter) streams.
Watch Building your community with X for engagement strategy tips.
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Like a post
When you like a post, X notifies the creator of the post.
Tip: Consider adding a Likes stream to Hootsuite (see Create an X feed).
- Go to More, select Streams, and then select the board hosting the stream.
- Select Like below the post.
Reply to a post
Replies are posts that are public responses to another post. Any @usernames you include appear in the conversation above your post, so they are not included in the post's character count.
- Go to More, select Streams, and then select the board hosting the X stream.
- Select Reply below the post.
- Enter your message, and then select Send.
Optionally, you may select the Add a Send private message button link below the reply text field. Selecting this option inserts a URL into the text field that automatically adds a button below your reply; the X user can select this button to continue the conversation privately.
Note: To use this button, your organization must have the Receive messages from anyone setting enabled in X. To find this setting, follow the instructions in the X Help Center.
Repost
Reposting allows you to re-share someone else's posts to your own X followers. You can repost a message as-is or quote the post to embed the original post as an image in your post before sending.
Reposting or quoting your own posts from Streams can also be useful when you want to resurface earlier posts or quickly reuse already-approved content.
- Go to More, select Streams, and then select the board hosting the X stream.
- Select Retweet below the post to repost the message as-is. Or, select the arrow and select one of the following:
- Retweet - Forward the post to your followers. Your name is shown above the post as the reposter.
- Retweet from - Repost from a different X account. The name of the X account is shown above the post as the reposter.
- Quote - Embed the original post as an image in your post. You may add your own comments to the quoted post. Until you publish, the quoted post displays as a preview of an X (formerly Twitter) URL (it also displays this way in Scheduled streams and your content calendar). Because the quote is a link, it reserves 23 characters of your post. The quoted post displays as an image after you publish.
Important: Quoted posts do not appear in Mentions or Retweets streams.
Send a direct message
Unless you set your X settings to Receive messages from anyone, you can send direct messages only to X users who follow you. See the X Help Center for more information about direct message settings.)
- Go to More, select Streams, and then select the board hosting the X stream.
- Select More options below the post, and then select Direct message.
- Enter your message, and then select Send now.
You can send direct messages by either finding the X account first (through the streams or search features), or directly when creating a post.
Direct message an X contact from a stream
- Go to Streams .
- Locate a post made by the user you want to message, and select their name or profile picture (avatar).
- Select Direct message.
- Enter your message after the prefilled handle name.
- Select Next.
- Select Send now or Publish now.
Direct message an X contact when creating a post
- Go to Create.
- Select the Plus icon , and then select an X profile to send the message.
- Select the left arrow at the top to go back.
- Enter d followed by the @Xhandle you are messaging, followed by your message.
- Select Next.
- Select Send now or Publish now.
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