The most basic rules for the novice Twitter user. Don’t annoy yourself or those around you with irritating tweets.
Okay,
so you jumped on the Twitwagon and decided to begin narrating your life
in 140-character blocks. That’s great (welcome to the 21st century),
and I’m sure your friends are champing at the bit - but that doesn’t
mean you can just Kutcher up the Twitterverse and expect to gain fame
and fortune.
The great thing about Twitter is that it can be
whatever you want it to be - a diary, a marketing platform, or just a
way to stay in touch throughout the day. You are late to the party
however, so there are certain unwritten rules established within the
community (who can be as unforgiving as the rest of the internet).
Breaking the rules doesn’t get you penalized in any official way, but it
makes you an annoying feed-clog that people will unfollow, fast.
Don't Tweet the Minutiae
Hold
the play-by-play. Nobody needs to know that you have a #headache, or
you’re drinking a venti latte at #Starbucks, or that you lost your
#keys. Your tweets should be interesting to others, so install a filter
between your brain and your Twitter finger. Process your thought for a
second - if somebody else tweeted this information, would you shrug and
move on, or would you retweet it? If it’s the shrug, don’t bother.
Don’t Flood Feeds
Just
as bad as tweeting things nobody cares about is the over-tweeter.
Nothing will get you unfollowed faster than sending several dozen tweets
per day. If you really have that much to say, Twitter isn’t the right
platform. Start a blog or at least a Tumblog and use that as a platform
for your expositions on the topic of the day. Hey - you could still use
Twitter to promote the blog.
Keep the Private Stuff Private
Again,
part of this rule falls under the minutiae bit (the TMI sub-clause) -
nobody needs to know the details of your tampon usage or just what was
in Junior’s diaper this morning. Ever. Unless they’re a doctor, and
you’re sitting on the exam table in front of them. There are things
though, that although not terribly disturbing, are not really for
everyone’s eyes. In these cases, use the Direct Message (DM) feature to
send a message to the one person your tweet concerns.
Don’t Steal Thoughts
Occasionally,
you will find humor, wit and wisdom on Twitter. Share it with your
friends by all means - but give the creator credit. Use the Retweet (RT)
function to quote verbatim, or paraphrase and acknowledge the source
with a via. While we’re on the subject of credit, if you tweet something
you heard somewhere, credit the source with a HT (Hat Tip) to lend
credibility (or not) to your statement.
Don’t Just Collect People
Sure,
you want to follow your favorite celebrities, and all your friends, and
your various Twitter-aware family members, and the strangers who have
recognized your brilliance and followed you (that’s only polite,
right?), but seriously. If you follow a thousand people, and each of
those people tweets only once every day, that’s a thousand tweets in
your feed. Every single day.
That’s a part-time job, and you
don’t get paid, and most of it is boring. Celebrities and companies who
have huge swathes of followers actually hire people whose only job is to
keep the Twitter thing going. Lots of those tweets are actually written
by some intern, not the actual person. So follow out of genuine
interest, not obligation - and don’t feel bad about unfollowing someone
who’s proven to be less interesting than your curiosity supposed.
Feeling
confident? These are only the very basic rules that keep Twitter from
being irritating - there are hundreds of tinier, stickier rules for the
various subsets of users. Get your feet wet before you scare yourself
off with the rigidity of this supposedly "anything goes" platform. Your
followers will let you know when it’s time to hone the focus
