Proper Twitter Netiquette

Dos and Don’ts in the Tweeting Social Network

When developers first opened Twitter to the public, there were various reactions from delighted to displeased. There were users who couldn’t make sense of the 140-character limit and declared it didn’t make sense to tweet something that short. Time passed and users got used to Twitter’s unique platform. Users have come to love Twitter’s unique dashboard and posting rules. Rules have been revised to accommodate the growing number of users and differentiate between good and bad Twitter behavior.

On Twitter, you have to follow the 140-character limit. Go over, and your tweet will not be posted. The usual no-no’s in social networks are not allowed: cursing, hacking, impersonation of other people, posting pornographic content, and the like. Tweeting your opinions, especially in thorny issues like religion and politics, are all right, provided they are not incendiary. Posts that promote inflammatory content are frowned upon. Violate this and other rules, and your account will be banned.

Getting over-excited to tweet can cause you harm as well. It is advised to tweet only four times a day, with two posts every two hours. Posting more than four tweets can annoy your followers and make them unsubscribe from your tweet updates.

When tweeting, leave some space for your followers to add ‘RT’ or ‘Retweet.’ Consuming all 140 characters can deter your followers from promoting your tweets. As much as possible, phrase your tweets in less than 100 characters. This is the optimal tweet length to catch the attention of your followers, add a hashtag or two, and promote your tweets with ‘RT.’

Posts that are too personal should be sent over the direct messaging feature. Tweeting personal concerns, especially in a public profile, can endanger your safety and expose you to stalkers. Take care in posting your tweets and think whether you need to send a message to the recipient instead. This might save you from a lot of trouble.

If in doubt, read Twitter’s help center to clarify the regulations before you post. Be careful, too, on posting information that might be used to cause you harm. If you think it’s better to send that message as a private message, do so instead of tweeting.

 

Reference: NetworkEtiquette.net