A good friend of mine just asked that I post up a quick list of basic Twitter etiquette (Twettiquette, in the vernacular). We’ve all run across that person who seems to be a little slow to pick up on some of the more subtle aspects of the Twitterverse (many of us were that person…). So here are some basics for the newly Twenabled:
#1) First and foremost, Twitter is a community. Like any other community, it has its own language, customs, idiosyncrasies, and etiquette. In fact, Twitter is now so large that it really is a community of communities.
#2) Because of #1, above, its important to listen before you speak. Good conversationalists (in cyberspace or meatspace) recognize and practice the art of listening. Watch the people that you are following and try to tune in to a few things:
- How frequently do they post
- What are the common acronyms, contractions, and phrases
- What is the tone of the conversation
#3) Remember that your tweets are in the public domain, and visible to all (unless you’ve protected your updates, under your settings tab). They are also searchable, linkable, and copy-and-pasteable.
#4) Give credit to others. When you like what someone says, be sure to include RT (for ReTweet) and their @username so that others who also like the original quote can go to the original source. This is a part of building social capital on Twitter. Failing to give credit for a quote will take away from your reputation in the community.
#5) When someone ReTweets you, thank them publicly. A simple “Thanks for the RT, @username” is a good place to start.
#6) Be very cautious about criticizing someone publicly. Public criticism of a user can quickly sour a relationship. Sometimes we are emboldened by the anonymity of the internetz and can speak (or tweet) before thinking through the ramifications on the feelings of another. You know, kind of like in real life.
#7) Be very cautious about criticizing someone privately. See above…
#8) Following those who follow you is not a requirement, but it is a recommended courtesy, especially if you have a relationship with that person. However, don’t feel obligated to follow sexy_blonde43562, ’cause he probably isn’t blonde, or sexy.
This author has, at some point, violated every one of these points. Hopefully you will be able to take away something from this post and learn a little quicker than I did.
What do you think? What did I miss? What tips would you give to either a new Twitter user, or a repeat offender?
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Nice post! Although, I would add:
#9 Make sure your tweet is ADDING something to the community.
RTing someone interesting will help more ppl find that person
Giving tips on great restaurants is ok – saying you just had a banana is not!
This is not your broadcast channel – self promoting is great but not when that’s ALL you have to say
I would also say:
#5 – If you retweet/get retweeted a lot – that get pretty annoying. Try to comment on an original thought of theirs instead – or pay back with another RT
#8 – Noo, block ppl called “sexy-random-number” and only follow ppl that interest you, (unless you’re a company, then you want to follow most ppl that could possibly tweet about your brand) – and also make sure you follow people before they start following you, be active
Thanks for the add-on thoughts, DD. For #8, I like this tweet from @unmarketing “Following-back is not a courtesy or an obligation. It’s a choice. Follow without expectations.” http://bit.ly/geV1b
Yes that was a good tweet!! =)
I like your post and this is some good advice for newbs. I have to agree with DangerousDolly and @unmarketing about following your followers. I’m already following more people than I can keep up with and if I followed all of my followers, the tweets I would really care to read (from people I know) would surely get lost in the stream of real-time tweets. Wait – that kind of happens already.
Hi Stephanie. Thanks for your note. If you are using a Twitter client (like Tweetdeck) you can create a groups to help track your Tweeps. That way you can have the deeper, faster stream of “all friends” seperated from the more intimate group of, say “close friends”. I use this technique extensively and fluidly, changing, adding and deleting groups and search terms as circumstances change. How do you usually read your tweets?
I LOVE TweetDeck and so I use that sometimes, but I also like having a browser open so I can search for people, add them, and see profiles. I only have lists of saved searches in TD and haven’t customized it with friend lists. That’s COOL! Thanks for sharing that – I will customize it and make my TD experience better. Sometimes there are so many cool new techy things to learn that I just jump in and figure them out before reading the instructions…. I miss out on cool features by doing that, though.