How to use Twitter Effectively
Top Twitter Dos and Don’ts
At the moment it seems that you can't escape stories about 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 self censor.Unless your updates are protected, anyone can see what you are currently Tweeting.Bear in mind the story of the girl who managed to Tweet her way out of a new job because a hiring manager read her thoughts on the position she interviewed for.
DON'T use Twitter as a chat client. No one wants to their screen full of irrelevant Tweets from a conversation they're forced to eavesdrop on.
DO retweet others. This can be a good way to build up a following of likeminded Twitterers.
DON'T endlessly try to sell things.Okay, we get it - you have your own blog.Twitter isn't a one way street - interact!
DO follow back, but….
DON'T be offended if someone doesn't follow you back. Users with thousands of followers are unlikely to see your Tweet through the noise anyway.
DO try to be funny, entertaining, informative and creative.
DON’T auto-DM.This is the Twittering equivalent of spam and a faceless “hi – thanks for following” is impersonal and can be off-putting.
DO use it to get help.Once you have built up a reasonable following you’ll find it easy to find answers to your questions in no time.
DON’T tweet if your message is likely to go over the 140 character limitation.Spreading messages over multiple tweets is just going to confuse and annoy the people following you.
These handy hints should be enough to 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.
