So far, we’ve looked at several tips to build your Twitter strategy. First we used 10 Quick Twitter Tips to get you on the right track to building a Twitter profile and network. Next, we learned a few easy ways to build your Twitter following.
So here’s my thought: Instead of providing more tips of what to do, how about I switch it up and give you a few suggestions of what NOT to do on Twitter?
The don’ts of Twitter are just as important as the do’s of Twitter.
7 Mistakes Twitter Users Should Avoid
- Don’t include a link with every single tweet. You can say something thought-provoking, ask a question or make a statement without a link. It’s ok. Your followers won’t click all those links anyway.
- Don’t go on a personal several-tweet rant. You just might irk me or someone else and get unfollowed. By the same token, don’t get into the habit of having a 30-tweet conversation with one person over Twitter. Call or DM that person.
- Don’t send several tweets in succession. You’re not helping yourself with exposure at all. Spreading them out increases the likelihood your followers will see your tweets. In other words, if you send out 7 tweets in a row over the course of 3 minutes and I’m not on Twitter at that time, I’ll miss your content. If you spread those 7 tweets out, there’s a better chance you’ll catch me on Twitter and I can see your content.
- Don’t be so concerned with the numbers. Spammers will come and go all the time, which will make your numbers change daily. By the way, you can’t always tell a spambot by their profile. People follow and unfollow all the time with no reason whatsoever. Therefore, you should be more concerned with the quality of your followers.
- Don’t constantly sales pitch yourself. That’s a quick way to get unfollowed. You will definitely get on people’s nerves. Twitter is not all about you.
- Don’t tweet at everyone you follow to follow you back. It’s just tacky. Yup, I said it, T-A-C-K-Y.
- Don’t abuse the auto DM. I have received the same auto DM more than once from a person I followed, and you know what that tells me? They’re not paying enough attention to their followers, and they haven’t updated their auto-DM use. This gets on my nerves, and I guarantee I’m not the only one annoyed.
Don’t assume you will become famous on Twitter simply because you’re active every day. The value in Twitter lies not only in frequency, but with content and engagement. I just had to throw that bonus tip in to keep you sane.
If you’re active on Twitter I bet you’ve seen several of these missteps made and they might have made you cringe. So now you know what NOT to do on Twitter. This list should help prevent you from looking like you don’t know what you’re doing. Just keep in mind, we’re here to socially engage AND HAVE FUN.
Do you have any more Twitter don’ts to add to the list? Comment and share your Twitter peeves!
Miss Kemya
[…] 7 Mistakes Twitter Users Should Avoid […]
[Reading through quickly to make sure I’m not doing any of these things–nope, whew!] Lol, seriously, though–I used to make all kinds of mistakes on Twitter, and then would run into posts like yours. Appreciate your reminding the newbies and the experienced. About those personal rants, I never know whether to ask “Are you okay…?”
Good Shakirah, I’m glad you’re not making any of these mistakes! I think we all learn from these types of posts don’t we? Most of us have committed at least one of these mistakes on Twitter before we learned the ropes, me included. I’m happy you found this helpful. And you know, some of those rants make me laugh, I often want to ask “do you realize we can hear your thoughts?”
One of my “pet peeves”, responding to a person’s tweets and they never respond to my tweets! NOT ENGAGEMENT! ONE SIDED conversation!
You said something so critical, “one sided conversation”. I find the best hello/thank you exchange is to respond to a person’s tweets. Clearly we don’t all think like this, but hopefully those people respond in some way to your comments. Engagement does mean exchanging tweets doesn’t it?!