X (Twitter) bio examples and how to write a good bio
A good X bio tells a stranger what you post about and why they'd want it in their feed. It should use plain words and fit 160 characters. Picture a stranger who just read one of your replies and has a few seconds to decide. Write for that person.
What the bio has to do
Start with where the reader came from. Someone saw your reply or a post, then tapped your name. They have one question: is more of this worth a follow?
In X's published ranking weights, a profile click has a weight of 0 and a predicted follow has a weight of 4. These are the model's predictions, and the numbers can change. Read them as a reminder that a profile visit earns nothing until the person follows. Your bio does part of that work.
A four-part formula
Pick up to four parts, in this order, and cut whatever doesn't fit:
- What you do, in words a stranger knows.
- What you post about, so they know what they'd get.
- One piece of proof, if you have a true one.
- One human detail or a pointer, if there's room.
Hootsuite's bio guide also notes that bios are searchable, so name your field the way people search for it. "Dentist" beats "smile architect".
Before and after examples
All of these people and details are invented. Don't copy the proof unless it's true for you.
Founder
- Before: "Serial entrepreneur. Building the future. Dreamer and doer."
- After: "Building a billing tool for small gyms. I post what we learn about pricing and churn, with the real numbers."
Software developer
- Before: "Code. Coffee. Repeat."
- After: "Backend developer, 12 years with Postgres. Short posts on slow queries and how to fix them."
Freelance designer
- Before: "Passionate creative helping brands tell their story."
- After: "Freelance designer for food brands. I post packaging teardowns and what clients actually ask for."
Writer
- Before: "Words are my life. Aspiring author. Opinions my own."
- After: "Writing my first novel at 5 am before work. Posts on drafts, rejections and what's helping."
Marketer
- Before: "Growth hacker | Digital marketing guru | Thought leader"
- After: "Email marketer for online shops. I test subject lines and share which ones lost."
Student
- Before: "CS student. Learning every day."
- After: "Second-year CS student building small apps in public. Posts on what broke this week."
Coach or consultant
- Before: "Helping you unlock your full potential. DM me to transform your life."
- After: "Career coach for nurses moving out of hospital work. Posts on resumes, interviews and pay."
Investor or analyst
- Before: "Markets. Macro. Not financial advice."
- After: "Former bank analyst. I explain earnings reports in plain English. Not financial advice."
Hobbyist
- Before: "Dog dad. Foodie. Living my best life."
- After: "Home baker and dog dad. Weekly sourdough tests, including the bad loaves."
Local business
- Before: "Your one-stop shop for all things coffee!"
- After: "Neighborhood roaster in Austin. New beans on Fridays. Posts on brewing and running a small shop."
New account, no proof yet
- Before: "Just getting started here!"
- After: "Junior accountant learning small business tax. Posting the rules that confused me, once I understand them."
Look at what changed. Each rewrite names a subject, and each one promises a kind of post. None of them needed a big title.
Rules that are easy to miss
A few facts come from X's help pages:
- The display name can run to 50 characters. Some people add a topic there. Keep your real name first if you have one.
- A bio over 160 characters won't save. The same page says a URL flagged for malware also blocks saving, and that angle brackets and quotation marks get accepted but won't display. So leave quote marks out.
The rest is opinion, so test it. People disagree on emoji and hashtags. Hootsuite says to use hashtags sparingly and emoji with a purpose, and a SuperX guide recommends a clear call to action. We'd leave out lists of job titles, since a stranger can't tell what they'd get from them.
Make the rest of the profile agree
Your bio makes a promise. Your recent posts need to back it up. Most bio guides stop at the text, but a visitor sees these too:
- Pinned post. Pin your best post on your main topic, or a short intro with one real example of what you post.
- Website field. Use it for one link.
- Recent posts and replies. If the bio says Postgres and the last ten posts are about football, people will believe the posts. Either change what you post or change the bio.
If your account is new, read how to get your first 1,000 followers for what to do once your profile is ready.
How to test a new bio
Change one thing at a time and leave it for a couple of weeks. Watch your new followers per week, and look at what you posted in that period, since a single popular post can swamp the effect. On a small account you won't get clean data, so also ask two people who don't know you what they think you post about. If they can't say, rewrite it.
Update it when your focus changes. Repli also writes bios in your voice, if you want a starting point.
Try the bio generator on our free tools page to get three versions to edit.