Twelve Twitter Tips For New Users

by: George Bounacos Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Image via CrunchBase

Welcome to Twitter. Glad you made it. The site is fun to use, often informative and can be a great way to learn about breaking news.

I started writing something to a friend in email and realized this was a perfect blog for those new to Twitter. So in the interest of alliteration, here are Twelve Twitter Tips for New Users.

To round out a baker’s dozen, here is a bonus tip. Throw out the nonsense you’ve heard about Twitter being a “microblogging platform”. What did you expect the team who created Blogger to call the thing? Twitter is the world’s biggest chat room with the extra benefit/curse of being seen by tens of million of people forever, not just in real time, and maybe even indexed in a search engine. One step further: Twitter is an ideal research tool for those checking out someone. What you say on Twitter will follow you for some time.

Twelve Twitter Tips

1. Don’t follow hundreds of people if you just joined. It’s not a race.

2. A profile picture helps. Make it your picture. I already know what that cartoon/movie star/singer looks like.

3. If you’re an organization, a Twitter landing page is really helpful. Tell us what you want and why we should follow back. If we’re only going to hear pitches (yes, news orgs, you too) then go back to the 1990s.

4. Using automated tools? Good. Manage them. Don’t manage them and get blocked.

5. If you see-saw through my followers, joining and dropping every couple of days, blocking is the least of your worries. Enjoy the time share calls on your 800 number.

6. Build your Twitter capital like you would in any online or off-line community. I use a tool that emails me your last 5 tweets when you start following me. If at least one isn’t relevant to me, my life or at least interesting to read, I’ll bet you can guess what happens.

7. Pitching is fine on Twitter. I know I differ from many other, but we live in a marketing-driven society so hopefully they’ll learn to cope soon. Pitch once though, and don’t pitch blindly.

8. Once you’re having a conversation with another person, take the talk to direct messages. Here’s another thought: pick up the phone and interact another way. You’re not really multitasking anyway.

9. Don’t retweet without first reading the link. If I decided to follow you and you retweet because you got taken in too, you’re history.

10. It’s okay to direct link if you’re an affiliate and your program allows it. Just tell me you’re doing that, and we’re cool. Give me a shortened link that dumps me off on a manufacturer’s page, and you’ll soon be enjoying many magazine trials.

11. If you post a link that’s NSFW (or kids) and don’t mark it as such, you’re a thoughtless person. Wonder how hard it would be to outrank you for your key terms in the job that pays your bill? Show me the wrong thing in the wrong setting and perhaps that’s what I’ll do tonight.

12. You don’t have to post every day about everything. Quality, not quantity.

Look, have a good time. Enjoy Twitter for personal use, promote your company appropriately and treat Twitter like more than your personal billboard. Wh0 knew the chatroom would become ubiquitous?