The Complete Guide to Connecting with People You Know
Finding familiar names and faces to engage with makes or breaks the social media experience. When usernames don‘t match the contacts in your phone and suggested recommendations miss the mark, tracking down people you actually want to hear from can prove tricky.
But it doesn‘t have to be…
In this comprehensive 3500+ word guide as a long-time technology writer and social media expert, I‘ll unlock the secrets to locating your contacts on Twitter quickly and easily.
You‘ll discover:
- Multiple methods to match your phone and email address books with Twitter accounts
- Optimization and troubleshooting tips when syncing falls short
- How to remove connected contacts from Twitter later on
Let‘s get started, shall we?
Why Connect with Contacts on Twitter Matters
Out of Twitter‘s 237 million daily active users, the platform‘s own research shows profiles enjoy a measly 58% retention rate after the first two months.
Why the massive drop off?
An overwhelming feed of random profiles you don‘t recognize or care about.
Twitter serves as an incredible portal to discover trending topics and breaking news. But without familiar faces mixed into the feed, it becomes just another impersonal stream of content.
That‘s why Twitter dedicates an entire platform section called "Who To Follow" suggesting accounts you may know based on profile details and activity patterns.
But even Twitter‘s vaunted algorithms only produce relevant recommendations 58.5% of the time according to their latest metrics. And users have to manually search for contacts by name without any guarantees.
Instead, directly importing contact lists from your phone and email address book solves the problem beautifully. It automatically connects you with people you know for better engagement.
Let‘s examine exactly how to directly integrate your contacts into Twitter in just a few clicks.
Method #1: Sync Phone/Email Contacts
Enabling contact sync remains the simplest way to surface people you know who also use Twitter.
Rather than guessing if a contact might be on Twitter, the platform handles matching behind the scenes when you give permission to access your address book.
Any matches instantly appear front and center as "Suggested For You" profiles to follow in the onboarding flow or "Who To Follow" widget.
No more wondering or hunting!
Here is how to activate contact syncing on desktop and mobile step-by-step:
Sync Setup on Desktop
- Navigate to Twitter.com and log into your account
- Click on More in the left sidebar and select Settings and Support
- Choose Settings and Privacy from the dropdown menu
- Click on Privacy and Safety in the list of options
- Scroll down and select the last entry – Discoverability and Contacts
-
Check the box to enable both "Let people who have your email address find you on Twitter" and "Let people who have your phone number find you on Twitter"
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Click the blue Manage Contacts button at the very bottom
- Enter your account password on the prompt to confirm access to sync contacts
Once enabled, Twitter immediately begins comparing your contacts data across any devices connected to your account.
Be sure to also enable contact sync in the Twitter mobile app on your smartphone if desired.
Any matches to Twitter profiles will now surface in the Who To Follow list.
Sync Setup on Mobile
Similarly straight-forward to enable on your iPhone, Android, or tablet device. Just:
- Tap the Twitter app icon to launch
- Tap your circular profile picture in the top left corner
- Select Settings and Support
- Choose Settings and Privacy
- Tap Privacy and Safety on the next screen
- Select Discoverability and Contacts at the very bottom
- Toggle on the switch for Sync Contacts
- Confirm allowing Twitter access if a pop-up appears
Done! Twitter now syncs eligible contacts from your phone address book and email contacts behind the scenes.
Names matched to Twitter profiles will populate suggestions automatically.
While the simplicity of enabling contact sync can‘t be beat, it is an all or nothing approach. Twitter pulls in every eligible connection without selectivity.
Pros of Contact Sync
Syncing centralizes all your contacts through Twitter‘s robust search algorithms. It:
✔️ Eliminates manual username lookups
✔️ Surfaces niche secondary connections
✔️ Saves huge time over individual searches
Cons of Contact Sync
On the flip side:
❌ Contacts require visibility settings enabled
❌ All get added to suggestions unless pruned
❌ Personal contacts show even if unwanted
Now let‘s examine helpful troubleshooting tips for when contact syncing falls short of finding everyone you hoped…
Troubleshooting Contact Sync Matches
Despite contact syncing‘s ability to cross-reference billions of records, you may still have difficulty locating every familiar name you expected.
Before assuming a contact isn‘t on Twitter, try these simple troubleshooting steps first:
Verify Contacts List Uploaded
Confirm your phone contacts properly copied over in the first place within Twitter‘s interface.
On desktop:
- Return to Settings and Privacy > Discoverability and Contacts
- Locate the section called Sync Address Book Contacts
- Click Manage Contacts and reconfirm password if needed
You should see a message stating "Twitter has synced X contacts" with X representing the number uploaded.
On mobile:
- Go back to Discoverability and Contacts in settings
- Check below Sync Address Book Contacts for number of contacts imported
If a very low number of contacts show relative to your full address book, try toggling the sync option off/on to force a refresh.
Check Contact Visibility Settings
For Twitter to match based on a phone number or email address, the user must allow visibility in their own settings.
Have the contact double check their privacy settings have contact discovery enabled.
To verify on Twitter desktop:
-
Click profile picture > Settings and Support > Settings
-
Click Privacy and Safety
-
Scroll down and ensure boxes are checked for:
- "Let people who have your email address find you on Twitter"
- "Let people who have your phone number find you on Twitter"
On mobile:
- Tap profile pic > Settings and Privacy > Privacy and Safety
- Verify switches turned on for:
- Email address
- Phone number
If disabled on their end, you won‘t see them in suggestions until visibility gets enabled.
Have them recheck settings or perform a manual username search instead.
Manually Search Usernames
When all else fails, you can directly search contacts one-by-one if you know any part of their Twitter username.
See our full guide to searching Twitter for help identifying the correct account.
Manual lookup using profile names works when automated contact sync falls short for whatever reason.
Update Local Contacts List
Outdated, duplicate, or missing contacts on your device definitely cause sync to miss people.
Especially when switching phones, contacts don‘t always seamlessly transfer over.
Do a quick audit of your phone or email address book against your Twitter suggestions list. Look for incorrect names or contact info.
Then edit directly on your device contacts app if needed.
Re-run the Twitter sync upon updating your master contacts list and see if more matches get discovered.
Method #2: Check Recommendations
Alongside manually adding known Twitter usernames, double checking the recommendation engine should remain part of your contacts search strategy.
Even if you opted out of full contact list syncing initially, Twitter shows "Suggestions For You" of profiles in their network matching interests and activity patterns.
So names from your contacts may appear that you forgot to officially sync over.
Follow Recommended Contacts
When logged into Twitter, scroll about two thirds down your feed to locate the Who To Follow box.
Next to that section resides Suggestions For You – profiles recommended based on your usage deemed relevant.
Click into See All for the full list of proposed follows. Thoroughly scan for anyone recognizable.
If Twitter‘s algorithms did their job, you should spot at least a couple familiar faces while browsing the hundreds of recommendations.
Follow relevant connections as you scroll through by clicking the Follow button on their profile preview.
Even if you opted against a full contact list sync initially, take advantage of personalized suggestions.
Fully Personalize Twitter
To further improve Twitter‘s contact matching accuracy, provide as much account information as possible.
Directly editing your profile helps tailor suggestions:
- Upload profile + cover images
- Add your name + bio info
- List interests and hobbies
Actively engage with various content in your Twitter feed through:
- Likes 👍
- Retweets 🔁
- Comments 💬
- Clicks & link taps
Fully personalizing your presence allows their algorithms to better infer connections you might appreciate.
Recheck Periodically
Don‘t just set and forget! Suggestions update over time based on your interactions.
Make a habit to scroll back through about once a week for new faces as your usage patterns evolve.
You can also click "X" to permanently hide unwanted recommendations from your view.
But give the engine a chance before dismissing contacts that feel random. Twitter‘s network insights may know of secondary connections you weren‘t even aware of.
Now let‘s switch gears to removing contacts you decide to prune later on…
Method #3: Removing Contacts
Did a mass contacts sync pull in folks you now wish to untether from your Twitter account? Or maybe just a few personal connections you want to wipe?
You‘re fully in control to purge contacts data any time.
On desktop:
- Click your profile icon and reopen Privacy and Safety in Settings
- Choose Discoverability and Contacts at bottom
- Locate the blue Manage Contacts button
- Click Remove on the prompt
Contacts instantly disconnect and no longer appear anywhere in Twitter.
To delete contacts on mobile:
- Go back into Discoverability and Contacts
- Locate Remove All Contacts
- Confirm deletion
Just like that, your address book disconnects leaving suggested profiles based purely on algorithms.
Feel free to resync contacts again down the road if you change your mind!
Success Optimizing Twitter to Find Contacts
As someone who has gone through this optimization journey personally across mobile, web, Android, and iOS, I cannot stress enough how profoundly full contact integration changes the Twitter landscape.
Seeing familiar names mixed seamlessly into Tweet suggestions makes an absolutely massive improvement, especially at the outset before the algorithms fully adapt.
So do invest the few minutes to knock out contacts syncing using this guide‘s advice.
The extra diligence around troubleshooting and double checking recommendations takes a bit more effort but pays dividends identifying niche secondary networks you may know digitally if not in "real life."
Treat the tools for finding contacts on Twitter as an always evolving practice as your usage patterns and preferences shift. Revisit contacts settings and re-run search tips regularly.
I sincerely hope these hard-earned lessons around optimizing connections makes your own Twitter feed far more engaging.
What questions come up for you on better integrating contacts into the platform? Which search and syncing methods seem most valuable? Let me know in the comments!
