Twitter Etiquette Tips
Tags: Business, Social Media, Social Networking, The Work at Home Woman, Twitter Etiquette
Posted in Social Networking 
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By Holly Reisem Hanna
With people using it to promote their brands, search for jobs and to provide customer relations, it’s no wonder that the number of people using Twitter each day now ranks in the millions, with thousands more signing up each and everyday.
But with this said, there is a right way and a wrong way to use Twitter to promote your business. Do it the wrong way and it can be a PR disaster; but if you treat Twitter with a kinder more personal approach you’ll be able to harness the power that Twitter enables and you’ll be able to meet some really great people along the way!
Whether you’re a business owner, job seeker, or Twitter newbie, follow these Twitter Etiquette Tips to help you navigate your way.
1. Be Polite!
Remember that there is a real person behind each tweet! Treat others as you would treat them in person. Recently, celebrity Alyssa_Milano replied to rude woman on Twitter that made an all too public and distasteful remark about her absolutely gorgeous wedding dress, “Shame that people take advantage of the anonymity they think the Internet affords them. People forget the human on the other side”. Very true – treat others how you want to be treated!
2. Don’t Air Your Dirty Laundry!
Are you angry at your company, boss or co-worker? Don’t tweet about it! Heather Armstrong of Dooce knows this all too well, after she was fired for blogging about co-workers. Vent your frustrations privately to a friend or family member… because you never know who will read your tweet!
3. Take a Breather.
Maybe you have a lot to say, but tweeting 30 times in less than a 60 seconds will turn people off, and eventually they will stop following you. If you are unable to manually stagger your tweets, use a tool like Hoot Suite or Tweet Later to schedule your tweets out. Provide quality over quantity.
4. Send Thank You Notes.
Do you like it when people send out re-tweets (RTs) and Follow Friday (#FF) mentions on your behalf? Then thank them! I believe it is perfectly fine to send out a mass thank you for RTs and #FF mentions, although, I do have one Twitter follower that disagrees with the mass thank you note, so for him I tweet an individual thank you for each RT and #FF mention. I also think it’s nice if someone sends out a special tweet on your behalf, to thank them in an individual tweet back.
5. Ask & Answer Questions.
When you meet someone for the first time, you undoubtedly will ask them questions about their professional and personal life. Twitter should be no different, start and engage in conversations, this is how to wisely network and build relationships.
6. Twitter is a Public Domain!
Watch what you tweet. If you are going to use Twitter to market your business, treat it in a professional manner. Think twice about what you are going to tweet, and if you wouldn’t say it to a boss, client or co-worker, maybe you should hold back.
7. Be Discreet.
If at any time you want to stop following someone on Twitter, go right ahead and un-follow them. There is absolutely no need or reason to send a public tweet letting that person and all of YOUR followers know that you are un-following this person. This act makes you look petty and childish, and it will most likely hurt that person’s feelings – just cut the cord discreetly.
8. Promote Moderately.
Feel free to promote your business, blog, product or service but do it in moderation. Include lots of value in your tweets, from good articles, quotes, news to personal tidbits. Don’t just promote the day’s new blog post over and over again, you will lose followers and potentially be tagged as a spammer.
9. Disclose.
Whether it’s blogging with integrity or tweeting with integrity, if you are going to send out tweets that are paid for, to remain transparent to your audience you will need to clearly tag your tweets with the sponsor hashtag (#spon).
10. To Follow or Not To Follow?
When I first started using Twitter, I took Guy Kawasaki’s advice and followed everyone who followed me. Since then I have learned that following everyone only encourages more SPAM and porn. I now manually look at the people who are following me and I follow the majority of them who share in my same interests. On a daily basis I block spammers and porn promoters, and if I find someone’s tweets to be offensive, I will stop following and block them too. I truly believe in cultivating quality relationships and to do this I feel that spammers and porn promoters must be blocked. If everyone would take the time to do this, I believe we would have much less garbage floating around on Twitter.
What rules and etiquette would you like to share with other Twitter users? Do you disagree or agree with my Twitter Etiquette Tips? Who do you follow on Twitter?
I invite you to share your thoughts below.
2 Responses to “Twitter Etiquette Tips”
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September 9th, 2009 at 6:44 am
I think “remember the human” is the best tip of the above…always treat others as you’d like to be treated yourself.
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October 20th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Thanks for sharing this, it will really improve my use of twitter.