We’ve all seen and heard those stories of people getting their Twitter accounts suspended for one reason or another. Twitter does impose certain guidelines and restrictions when it comes to propriety and courtesy and in some cases, accounts become suspended when users step over the line.
If you are new to Twitter, there are guidelines that you simply cannot cross. However, there’s also a number of things you’d rather not do if you want to be taken seriously and gain a respectable following in this platform. Start off with these 5 tips for proper etiquette on Twitter.
Do not overshare.
While Twitter is not likely to suspend a person’s account for regular posts about driving home from work or getting that second order of iced mocha venti for the day, oversharing is something that a lot of users shake their heads at. If you are doing this, you are likely to turn off a lot of potential followers. If you are using Twitter for personal reasons like getting in touch with family or friends, stick to information that these people will find useful or helpful. If you are using Twitter as a social media extension of your business marketing, limit business posts to information either related to your service or product, or related information that potential consumers and clients will find useful.
Avoid Twitter wars.
Unpleasant social interactions with other netizens are never good, especially when they can be viewed by hundreds of other people. While most stars can get away with Twitter feuds, it’s unlikely that you are, so stick to fighting and resolving your battles by email or better yet, in person.
Stick to three hashtags or less.
Hashtags are essential but they can do the job even when used in threes or less. Peppering a tweet with hashtags so that they end up taking the most out of your post is just plain tacky, sales-pitchy and will make you look like a spammer.
Follow as a courtesy.
While you have no absolute obligation to follow anyone who follows you, it is good social media practice to follow someone who followed you first. This is like saying that you acknowledge that the person is interested enough in what you have to say that he or she decided to follow you, and you have no problems doing the same. If you have to follow as a courtesy but don’t really have much use for the other user’s posts, you can create a private list of curated users that you follow and leave him out of it. Never, ever resort to doing the Twitter one night stand, where you follow a person to get him or her to follow you, and clicking that Unfollow button once he or she followed you back. This is a rude and underhanded way of gaining followers.
Be respectful.
At the end of the day, real-life rules apply online. Be thoughtful about what you post, do not overshare, give credit where it is due, and do not be rude or disrespectful if you want to create a Twitter presence worthy of your following.
