As I said in my last blog, we understand that social media is time consuming and at times difficult. However, if you’re going to do it, there are some rules to doing it right.
Twitter is one of the most popular of the social media platforms, with over 141.8 million accounts in the U.S. Here’s what never to do.
Stop Bombarding Your Followers
If you’re going to retweet one of your previous tweets that’s fine, but make sure to spread it out over a decent period of time. It is never acceptable to tweet the same content over and over.
Another annoyance on Twitter is that sometimes conversations happen between just two people that everyone has to see. If you’re going to have a lengthy conversation with a follower, take it to your direct message inbox. After three or four exchanges with one individual, your other followers are going to lose interest, (unless of course you’re having a heated and juicy discussion, which is another topic entirely).
Don’t Tweet Just Links
If you’re trying to generate interest, conversations and clicks, one of the worst ways to do so is by tweeting links without including any explanation or relevant summary. They often look spammy and most people will skip right over them. Plus, isn’t the purpose of social media to be social? How can you engage in a conversation without posing a question or statement for others to comment on?
Purge the Spam Bots
It makes you look bad to people when they go through your follower list and see a bunch of pornographic avatars. Although, yes, they are harmless, it projects the message: “I never look at who’s actually following me, or care” and this is not going to help generate new followers. Besides, hopefully you’re looking to spark conversations and dialogue as well as network with others in your field. Spam bots are not doing you any favors, except giving you an inflated “follower” count.
No Egg Heads
The Twitter egg avatar is meant to be a placeholder in the first hour or so after you create your account. Having an actual picture of yourself (yes, a real picture of you not one of your pet) helps people associate with your account and also makes you seem active and authentic. Egg heads are for the spam bots.
Having and updating a Twitter presence can be time consuming. Ensure you are making the most of your time spent on social media. Avoiding these four Twitter faux pas will help you gain (and keep) a Twitter following and more readily engage with your audience.
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Caia Caldwell is an intern at WordWrite Communications.
You can find her on Twitter at @CaiaMaria
