It has become something of a phenomenon on social media.  I can’t speak for Facebook  and Instagram as I’m hardly on either of those platforms but shooting your shot is an endemic on Twitter.

Going into the logistics of it all feels quite pointless given the popularity of the trend (or perhaps I’m over embellishing its reach). However, for the sake of clarity I will briefly explain:

Shooting your shot means making your feelings towards another person known.  Perhaps” feelings” is too strong a word but the act definitely involves a crush or fancy on some level . The person with the crush then approaches the uninformed party,  drops some cheesy chat up lines ( as is often the case) and then sees how far he/she can get.   There are only two possible outcomes here:  you either score or you miss.  Winning the other party over with your chat up lines constitutes a score,  asking the person out on a date and them obliging constitutes a score, getting their number in order to upgrade the DM conversation to a whatsapp conversation, constitutes a score.  On the other hand,  an awkward “lol” followed by quick deflection would constitute a miss, an “I’ve got a man” would constitute a miss  a “please stop  messaging me” would constitute a miss and then obviously a total disregard for your DM would also constitute a miss.

Granted the implications of shooting your shot can be off putting: sleepless nights wondering if the other person is crushing too, embarrassment that seems to linger on especially if the other party screen shots your messages and makes a public spectacle of your advances, a bruised ego and the crippling fear of rejection.  However, Steph Curry ( considered to be the greatest shooter in NBA history)  didn’t become Steph Curry by over-thinking factors.  He became Steph Curry by taking shots.

#1

Follow them  – This might seem obvious but it really isn’t. Don’t be the person who crushes from a distance. Increase your chances by following them and getting a feel for their personality through their tweets.

#2

Make sure they follow you – Immediately after following them like or retweet one of their recent tweets.  Don’t be tempted to like anything beyond 48 hours as that might  make you look like a stalker and that’s not the kind of impression you want to create.

#3

Make sure you respond to his/her tweets – Engagement is key to developing banter and you’ll need heaps of banter in order to make the transition from mentions to DMs as smooth as possible.    “Like” a  tweet, throw some “lols” around, give your opinion on something,  have a healthy and light- hearted debate with the person.  Engagement will force the other party to notice your existence.

#4

Pay attention –  The amount of information we voluntarily give away on Twitter is outstanding .   For many people, Twitter is an online journal where they document their grievances with the world, how much they hate Trump, their  attitudes towards men who don’t pay on first dates, their love for pizza and other foods and their general preferences in life.  The shooter needs to have ample knowledge about the person before shooting. The shooter must then select one of these topics ( the one they are most comfortable with ) and invade the DMs.  Do not invade the DMs with a generalist approach as this will limit your chances of success.

Exhibit A:

Boy has been crushing on one of his followers for some time. He enjoys her way with words,  her blog ( which happens to be The Promiscuous Pen) and the persona she has created on twitter. He is intrigued by her and wants to meet her outside of the twitter walls. He stumbles notices she has a strong interest in The Lion King. He knows this because she often quotes from the film.  He hops on on to twitter on his lunch break and one of her recent tweets reads, “ I would love to experience the Lion King in theatre again one of these days *sad face”. He quickly enters into her DMs and says “come with me.”

Contrast this to exhibit B below:

Boy has been crushing on one of his followers for some time.  His crush is a writer and  everything from her pinned tweet to her everyday tweets revolve around her various articles. He invades he DMs with “Do you write or something?”

The boy from exhibit A has taken a real interest in what she finds interesting, whilst the boy from exhibit B hasn’t even bothered.  The boy from exhibit A will likely shoot his shoot and score whilst the boy from exhibit B will likely be ignored. Don’t be the person in exhibit B.

Shooting your shoot doesn’t have to be scary but it does have to be calculated.  However, whilst it is all about strategy, it’s also about not taking yourself too seriously. Have fun with it and when you’ve scored don’t forget which blog provided the much needed clarity on the social media phenomenon.

Love Cris x