Twitter Dos and Don’ts

Useful Tips for Twitter

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These days it seems that you can’t escape stories about the latest social networking phenomenon, Twitter.  With all the hype and celebrity endorsements, lots of people are asking “how do I use Twitter?”.

There are plenty of sites out there that will tell you how to use Twitter, but not so many to warn you of the pitfalls.  If you take a moment to learn from this list of DOs and DON’Ts then you’ll be Twittering away with the best of them.

DO hold your tongue.  Unless your updates are protected, anyone can see what you are Tweeting.Bear in mind the story of the girl who managed to Tweet her way out of a job just because a hiring manager read her thoughts on the position she interviewed for.

DON’T use Twitter for a chat client.No one wants to their screen full of irrelevant Tweets from a conversation that they’re forced to eavesdrop on.

DO remember to retweet other people.This can be a good way to build up a following of like minded Twitterers.

DON’T endlessly self promote yourself.  Okay, we get it – you have a blog.Twitter isn’t a one way street – interact!

DO follow back, but….

DON’T be offended if not everyone follows you back.Users with tens of thousands of followers are unlikely to see your Tweet through the noise anyway.

DO be funny, entertaining, informative and creative with your tweets.

DON’T automatically DM new followers.  This is the Twitter equivalent of spam and a faceless “hi – thanks for the follow” is impersonal and off-putting.

DO use it to get help from others.Once you have built up a reasonable following you’ll find it easy to find answers to your questions in no time.

DON’T twit if your message is likely to exceed 140 characters.Spreading messages over multiple tweets is just going to confuse and annoy the people who are following you.

These handy hints should get you started.  If you are likely to spend a significant proportion of your online time on Twitter then there are plenty of guides on the net telling you how to use Twitter effectively.

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May 16, 2009 | Filed Under Blogging, Twitter 

Comments

3 Responses to “Twitter Dos and Don’ts”

  1. David Walker on July 18th, 2009 4:31 pm

    Hi Tim,

    David here, a fellow student of Alex Jeffreys.

    I am a huge fan of Twitter and was keen to see your dos and don’ts.

    Unfortunately, I do some of the don’ts, such as occasionally using Twitter as a chat client (but, it is a communication tool after all!) and I auto DM new followers.

    However, I seem to be up to speed on the rest of the stuff on your list so quite happy overall :-)

    Keep in touch.

    David
    .-= David Walker´s last blog ..Six Ways To Get More Done in Less Time =-.

  2. Tim on July 19th, 2009 2:12 pm

    Great David, thanks for the read and comment.

    Twitter really is contributing to a fast moving evolution of social marketing, and of course each of us making use of it.

    Good to be sharing the evolution revolution with you!

    All the best.

  3. Julie Newman on July 30th, 2009 4:50 am

    Hi Tim,

    Thanks for the post. I need all the advice I can gather about Twitter. Is seems to be old hat for most in the Alex Jeffreys program! New for me and way out of my comfort zone, pushing forward.

    ~ Julie
    .-= Julie Newman´s last blog ..Marketing Newbie Checklist =-.

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