Twitter has hit the mainstream, and that means there is an influx of Twitter rookies. If you are new to Twitter, check over this list before you tweet. These are the top 10 signs someone is a Twitter rookie, including hints on how to not look like a newbie instead.
- They reply to people without actually using the proper format. (Hint: you want to use the person who you are replying to’s name, for example @username at beginning of tweet).
- They complain about people who tweet too much. (Hint: when you’re new and only follow a few people, the really active and influential tweeters will dominate your stream. Instead of complaining and alienating people who can help you the most, get to know Twitter better and follow more people who are a good match for you topic or interest-wise.)
- They automate their Twitter stream with their RSS feed, look at their stats, see no clicks to their blog, and determine Twitter isn’t useful. (Hint: an RSS feed isn’t a conversation.)
- They interrupt Twitter news, parties or events to ask, “What is #inserttaghere about? (Hint: hashtags, or words/terms with the number symbol at the beginning, are conversations on one topic. You can often find out what they are about with a Google search of the tag. You can also search the tag to see the whole conversation.)
- They don’t have a bio or avatar, or even a personalized background for that matter. (Hint: you should use a clear headshot, use your real name in the name entry and not a company name even if your handle is your company name, and you should include a bio with keywords to help like-minded people find you.)
- They autoDM people who follow them. Yes, even with a thank you. Yes, it’s still annoying. Worse yet? AutoDMing with an offer to the follower to “feel free” to visit your blog or get your free email newsletter. Worst of all? AutoDM someone with tips on how to use Twitter, such as saying “to join the conversation @me or d me.” You just might send it to followers who know far better than you how to use Twitter. (Hint: you don’t need to automatically thank everyone. When someone interesting follows you, jump in the conversation and @them in reply to something they tweeted. Better yet, retweet them by quoting their quote with RT @theirname at the beginning.)
- They use Twitter only to self-promote. All of their posts are about their business of blog. (Hint: Twitter is like a big networking event. You wouldn’t go around shoving your business card in people’s faces at a dinner party, would you? Then don’t do that online either. Mingle, get to know people, have some conversations.)
- They tweet in all capital letters. (Hint: that is shouting, and very annoying. Tone it down!)
- They get on Twitter to self-promote, and then protect their updates. And then follow people. (Hint: unless you have a major reason to protect your updates, keep it open. It’s a really odd experience to be followed by someone, only to ask permission to follow the person back. This is a social network, not an anti-social network.)
- Tweeting non-stop minutia. It’s OK to tweet something silly or an odd observation, but people don’t need to know about every small detail of your life. (Hint: ask yourself if this might actually interest your followers. If you aren’t sure, some little details of life do really engage followers. See which ones get lots of replies, and that will help you determine which minutia is quirky and engaging, and which is just minute.)
The great thing about Twitter? It helped me write this article! Special thanks to @prCarrS, iFroggy, DougPiranha, goodlifediva, notdiyHeather, MomsWhoSave, and many others who provided feedback for this article. That is yet another hint for those new to Twitter. If you aren’t sure, ask. There are many on Twitter who are savvy at using it and happy to offer help and advice.
Photo of keyboard, © Nintaro at sxc.hu
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Kelby Carr
Kelby Carr is the founder and publisher of Type-A Parent. She also is the organizer of the Type-A Parent Conference. She is the author of the soon-to-be-published Pinterest For Dummies, Portable Edition. You can follow her on Twitter at @typeamom and circle her on Google+.
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13 Responses to How to Look Like a Twitter Rookie
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Great article. I’m going to forward the link to some friends who are new to Twitter. I don’t necessarily think they’re making these mistakes, but I know I was worried about “offending” when I first started Tweeting and articles like this one really helped give me confidence. Good job!
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Great post!
I have to admit as a former newbie and now as a prolific tweeter, number 2 is the one I struggle with the most.
I remember being annoyed by one tweeter who completely dominated my twitter stream when I was still at the point of trying to read every single tweet that anyone wrote. I saw it as her invading my day constantly with things that weren’t really that important. I didn’t need to know where she was having lunch.
And now I have a lot of followers, a lot of them that don’t read every single tweet, so I struggle with when/how often to repeat myself if there is an important message I want to get across. Sometimes I will tweet the same thing 3 or 4 times in the course of a day and worry that I’m annoying those that are only following a few dozen people.
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[...] morning, I stumbled upon – via a re-tweet – a blog post called “How to look like a Twitter rookie” by social media consultant Kelby Carr that [...]
One other thing I wish even long-term twitter users would do:
If you want your tweets to be retweeted, limit your tweet to about 120 characters so we don’t have to butcher it to get the retweet under 140.
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Great post, Kelly. I am speaking about social media at a conference in July, and I would like permission to share this. Please advise. Thanks for a chuckle and great content.
This is great and I will retweet it. Probably sticking with my company handle on Twitter though, even though I’ve considered using my name from time to time, and I will try unlocking my Twitter updates again, but I was getting about 20 follows a day with profile pictures of male genitalia and a woman’s mouth…….so, until Twitter can manage that issue, then many people who have experienced the same problems will continue to lock their updates. Until I experienced this disgusting phenomenon for myself, I didn’t understand why folks had locked accounts either.
Excellent pointers. I feel that I am still a newbie and fell short on one of them so I will definitely take heed. I will also be sure to pass this on to other newbies as well.
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[...] Kelby Carr: How to Look Like a Twitter Rookie [...]
Nice list. I do find it funny how some people use Twitter only for marketing purpose.
I have a blog and a company, and my tweets related to them are less than 1% at present.
Personally I think Twitter is something to interact with friends. Fine if you want to promote some stuff once in a while but to use it for marketing / promotion more than 50% of the time? I think that pretty much defeats the purpose of Twitter.
On the other hand I see people who tweet just because they just need to tweet. Everywhere they go, what they eat, arrgghh. Some even spam tweets on what they’re listening to! Sheeesh, it’s as if a live-broadcast of their day-to-day activity.
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This is great. I am actually a new twitter member and this article is very informative. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for this info Kelby, I have not started using twitter yet, i have heard a lot of things about it and I am very much interested, I also read some article that you can earn money from twitter, is this true and if it is how can I possible do that…thank you…
Excellent Post!
I am a business owner that has a Twitter account, but I have never even tweeted as of yet. I was previously lost prior to reading this post. I think that most business owners tend to break rule #7 often.
Thanks,
David Williams
Very excellent! Instructions are well said and definitely people will look you as a twitter rookie if you follow all the steps.