Dear fellow Tweeters: Here’s a list of Twitter Don’ts. If you find you can’t help yourself, or if you actually prefer to keep these on your Do list, please at least do your followers a favor by adhering to “moderation in all things.”
Yes, I know the ego is tough to keep in check; so just consider this a helpful “check” list:
1. Don’t use Twitter as a replacement for Google
“Does anyone know what time Lost starts?”
2. Don’t constantly ask people to digg, stumble and vote
“Please, I hardly ever ask…can you digg this article?”
3. Don’t feel compelled to report on the number of followers you have (yes, we know where to find the number if we are curious)
“In honor, of my 1700th follower, I am going to kiss my Chia Pet.”
4. Don’t abuse the requests to retweet (unless it’s an emergency like an Amber Alert)
8 am: “Please retweet…” 11 am: “Please retweet…” 1 pm: “Please retweet…”
5. Don’t take an Unfollow personally and don’t report on your Unfollows
Why do you think anyone cares?
6. Don’t threaten to Unfollow your followers if they don’t start answering your questions and engaging with you as often as you want
Now that’s what I call “social.”
7. Don’t just follow people who share your exact interests and beliefs. Mix it up a bit. Follow people you disagree with
You may learn something new or gain a new perspective (or, at a minimum, become tolerant – now THAT’S what I call “social!”)
8. Don’t report your Twitter rankings
Again, who cares? Actually, some people might (like people who aren’t on Twitter – heh)…I don’t.
9. Don’t abuse Twitter as a primary tool to promote your events and products
As a marketer, I can tell when this happens. For those with a following, it is called “lazy marketing.” For those without a following, it’s called “stupid marketing.”
10. Don’t announce who you’re unfollowing
One more time: Who cares?
11. Don’t tweet your rules for following and unfollowing (if you must have these rules, maybe you can put a link to them in your bio?)
This takes away from the spontaneity and beauty of that whole “social” thing.
12. Don’t announce your Twitter Update milestones
“For my 10,000th update on Twitter, I wanted to hang a Disco Ball – but this is actually the 10,000th update. Does it still count? Maybe I’ll do something for the 11,000th update then.”
Anyone care to make this list a “baker’s dozen?” What are your thoughts?
UPDATES for 9 March 2009:
- Don’t live-blog (on Twitter) about ongoing secret negotiations
- A Completely Unscientific (Yet Accurate) Look at Social Sites [this is good fun!]
- Are You a Twitter ReTweet Thief?
- Twitter Throttle [Tweak tweet flow from certain Tweeps using this handy Script]