Twitter sometimes feels like a spectator sport. You sit on the sidelines and watch the passing parade with bemusement, interest and often amazement.
The torrent of tweets and interactions vary from hard sell, links to valuable content and humor all the way to inspirational quotes. It is nothing more than a snapshot of humanity in 140 characters. It is the good, the bad and the ugly.
Despite its simplicity it has nuanced customs that people who are new to Twitter need to understand. Good habits always go a long way in any society and correct Twitter manners are important if you want to impress the citizens of the online equivalent of texting on steroids.
When on a date, one should have proper etiquette not only that but anywhere in public and this applies to Twitter too. When you are tweeting away, one should also have proper etiquette. It can just be TWITIQUETTE, what is a tinsy new word to your vocabulary?!
So how does one have awesome Twitiquette? There are rules to everything in life and much as we ignore some, they can be vital, Twitter has its own rules and when you follow them well enough, things might look out for you on there.
Rule #1
Don’t start a tweet with a hashtag. Let us see your thought, idea, comment, or story first.
Rule #2
Please, please don’t use more than 3 hashtags in a tweet. If you do use three hashtags, do it sparingly. It’s just annoying.
Rule #3
This rule is going to go against what most “tweeps” believe: Don’t strive for followers, strive for engagement. Ask people questions and engage with them because we all like interest from other people in our online communities and in the long run, you’ll get more followers this way.
Rule #4
Some people just don’t follow back and they are all not “bigwigs” but that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t interact with you! Tweet them a question, idea, or story.
Rule #5
Even though you have a maximum of 140 characters, you don’t have to use all 140 characters, try using around 120 characters. This will give other tweeps the chance to retweet you or quote retweet.
Rule #6
Add a profile picture, no one wants to talk or even follow an “Egg” you have to hatch out of that default profile pic sometime and you’d be surprised at how many people on Twitter don’t add a profile picture.
Rule #7
If you were selling your house, would you make it look nice for an open house or showing? Absolutely, same applies for your twitter profile: Add a background to make it look nice.
Rule #8
Should you come across a spam account (and you will) please report them. The less spam accounts
there are on twitter, the better it will be for all of us.
Rule #9
Add a description: By looking at some of your information, Tweeps who don’t know you will be able to find out what to Tweet with you about?
Rule #10
If you’re struggling on determining how long your tweet should be, what it should contain, hashtags, etc. remember to K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple silly).
Rule #11
Do not suck up to everyone, yes you want followers but you do not want to look back and cringe about how much you sucked up to every tweep or bigwig for follow backs, nobody likes needy tweeps.
Rule #12
AND PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS SANE, DO NOT TWEET IN ALL CAPS!
Rule #13
In the end, just be yourself, be authentic, create value and enrich people’s tweets with great content!