Twitetiquette - the etiquette of using Twitter

June 28th, 2009 Posted by Missie at 1:30 pm

Twitetiquette, it’s etiquette of using twitter right? Well it is, but we’re not about to tell you to tuck in your shirt, comb your hair and be a good tweeter. That’s not how we work. We’re about helping you make the most of your twitter experience with providing the information and tips you need to and want for twitter. So we’ve put together some helpful ‘etiquette’ tips for your twitter use, and how it can help your tweets, building relationships with other twitterers and helping you get that all-important followers figure on the rise.

Turn it down and don’t be Too Noisy

Building relationships with those you follow and who follow you can be difficult if your following thousands of people. It’s becomes a mammoth task to keep up with all the tweets and what’s going on in the world of twitter.

Keeping your incoming twitter noise to a minimum can benefit you in more ways than one, but what if you become a noisy person? Standing out from the crowd on twitter can be a difficult task, one which can easily turn into you becoming a serial tweeter, creating too much noise and loosing your followers. But being aware of this can help you not to be one of those noisy people and help to get your message across.

But what’s a good limit for tweets and at what point do you cross the line between tweeter and serial spammer? There is no number that you can follow but more it variers on your audience, those who are following you and wither your twitter profile is in a niche market.

You’ll be able to gauge if you’re becoming a noisy twitterer if you start to loose your followers. It could be for other reasons such as followers may not have the same niche interest as you, but your follower numbers can be a real indicator to helping you stay on track and keep your noise to a minimum.

But, don’t be Too Quiet!

But with saying that, don’t be too quiet. It’s all about a delicate balancing act. Twitters more than just a space where you float in the background. It’s microblogging platform is all about having something to say, participating in conversations and adding value to it. What you say in some ways need to provide some kind of value for those who follow you. Something interesting, entertaining, controversial or education, there has to be a reason why people would want to listen to you and ultimately follow you.

A tip to remember is that all your pervious tweets are available from your personal profile. So if it’s empty, or contains spamming links or only mundane updates every second week, there’s no reason for people to follow you. So remember when you starting up to add some value especially to those first tweets, so when your building you followers early on, you have a great base to start on.

Don’t be afraid to break all the Rules

Let your results dictate your actions. If your trailing new ways of engaging other and building your follower base it’s always best to trial it and integrate it slowly. Be aware of your followers and change your tweeting pattern for a short time and if your numbers of follower have changed. If the number goes down sustainably, you know your strategy isn’t working and it’s time to revert or try another.

But don’t be too worried about your numbers. Breaking the rules can be the light that stands you out fro the crowd. Just like Robert Scoble, who breaks ever rule in the twitter book and yet is one of the most followed twitter user out there. It’s all about being individual on twitter; it will be the only way to get noticed.

With anything, twitters all about a balancing act. You shouldn’t try to hard to be someone or something your not as it will be obvious to those who follow you. Be ware of the noise you create or even the noise you don’t. Understand you audience and those who are following you and don’t be afraid to break the rules. But measure it, and be aware of your surrounds, it will do you wonders.