The Geeky Hostess is gonna help you get your manners on! Each Monday, we’ll focus on a topic of etiquette. We’ll take a look at the classic rules (using Emily Post as a guide), and then evaluate the rules for our daily lives, creating a guide to “Geek Etiquette.” Have an etiquette question or topic suggestion? Email tara@geekyhostess.com!
Twitter is an amazing social networking tool that can serve as a replacement to your RSS feed, a way of communicating with your friends, favorite companies, and celebrities at the same time, a promotional tool, and a way to spread news. (People have heard about earthquakes occurring before they felt it themselves, thanks to Twitter!) However, tweeting too much or tweeting incorrectly can get you unfollowed or blocked faster than you can tweet an apology. Here are some tips on how to be a mindful tweeter from myself and my followers!
- “Be interesting but don’t take yourself too seriously.” –imkyleoneill
- Keep an eye on your following to followers ratio. If you’re following thousands of people, it will be hard to keep up with your twitter feed, and people won’t think you’re interested in making genuine connections.
- If you need to make any changes to a RT (to accommodate space, for instance), then it is a modified tweet (or MT). Please label it accordingly.
- “People might actually be interested in what you have to say. Not what you RT. Too many people RT too many things.” –michaelrobles
- “Having auto-tweet on whenever you like, comment or favorite a video on YouTube is extremely annoying. <3.” –Britt5091 (KristinaHorner said the same thing about Tumblr, and I feel the same way about blogs, Pinterest, and Facebook. Autotweeting is no fun for anyone! Be more authentic with your tweets.)
- “Always keep your privacy settings in mind when you post, if you don’t want a future employer to see it, don’t post it!” –Alice_Wakefield (Same could be said about brands, friends, and anyone you may be talking about.)
- See people on Twitter talking about something that seems a bit more private, or referencing an event you haven’t been invited to? Don’t assume the conversation is an open invitation. Respect their space, even if they’re not smart enough to take it offline.
- “No more than 1-2 hashtags in a tweet. Sitting on the couch? Probably don’t need to hashtag couch.” –GeekyLyndsay
- Want to become BFFs with a celebrity on Twitter? Treat them like a normal person! Tweet at them when their conversation or questions apply to you, and/or if you have something of substance to say. Don’t bombard them with tweets or get offended if they don’t respond to you.
- shnoobles breaks it down for us: “people are reading what you’re saying! don’t be a jerk.”
What piece of twittiquette is this list missing? Let us know in the comments! On Twitter? Follow https://twitter.com/#!/GeekyHostess!
My tip would be:
Don’t tweet something, you wouldn’t say to a person’s face.
Read (and in some cases, reread) before you post. Remember: this is a public forum – all of your followers can read what you’re posting.
And – for better or worse – they can retweet what you’ve said, so what you’re putting out there can reach a much larger audience than you’re instinctively talking to.
The internet is everywhere and forever, so to speak: is this how you want the world to see you?
So think (and proof) before you tweet.
Using proper grammar in tweets makes you sound educated and is also wonderfully refreshing to read. I recommend it!