Today I thought I'd share some of my personal do's and don'ts for Twitter (what is proper grammar for do's and don'ts. Any clues?)
Do
- Be friendly
- Be yourself
- Be helpful
- Offer encouragement
- Connect with other writers
- Support non-spammy promotion efforts of writer friends
- Use and follow helpful hashtags like #amwriting #writing #writetip #mywana, etc. It's even fun to use pointless hashtags, #likethisone
- Use a personal profile picture. It doesn't have to be a photo of yourself, but it should be something that shows you're not a spam bot. FYI--I'm leery of tweets by the Twitter egg, and by scantily clad women :/
- Share good information. If you come across something cool that other writers would find helpful, use the handy "share" buttons found on most blogs. If someone else tweets something awesome, retweet it.
- Respond personally to mentions. I use Tweetdeck to organize my tweets, and I have a column set up where I can see when someone mentions my name (usually by retweeting a tweet). It's so kind of people to do this, so I make sure to thank them personally.
Don't
- Rant
- Spam followers
- Ignore those who reach out
- Click on suspicious links. A tweet that says, "Someone said bad things about you" is a scam.
- Require approval for followers. Most people won't bother.
- Use foul language
- Use Twitter only for promotion
These are my own personal rules for using Twitter. If you're on Twitter, are there any tips you'd like to add to the list? If you're new to Twitter, are there any questions you'd like to ask? And if you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm @juliemusil. See you there!
Thanks, Julie! I'm still getting the hang of twitter. This is a big help!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful week. :)
Great tips, Julie!! Twitter can be a great tool for so many reasons. The hashtags are great.
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks for the tips! I still need to get a hang of Twitter...I keep telling myself, when I have time...if I stick with that timeline it will probably be never:(
ReplyDeleteREally great Twitter tips! I've been doing less and less on Twitter but love it just the same.
ReplyDeleteAll great tips, Julie! It took me some time to get in to twitter, but now I love it! I've made some real great connections.
ReplyDeleteThere, found you!
ReplyDeleteGood rules! And I know many who break them. How about don't follow people to get them to follow back and then unfollow just so you can pad your follower count and look important?
ReplyDeleteWhat if we ARE scantily clad women? JUST KIDDING!!! :P I think these are great rules to follow.
ReplyDeleteNice to know these rules. I'm not much a twitter person. I still have no clue what hashtags are.
ReplyDeleteLove the rules. This is fantastic advice to follow.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips Julie! I love using tweetdeck too - I can't imagine trying to keep it all straight otherwise!
ReplyDeleteThanks especially for the 'don't use foul language'. I hate reading down the tweets and getting hit by the F word or something else offensive. No reason to expose everyone to that. Thanks, Julie
ReplyDeleteAwesome tips. I adore Twitter. Somehow, though, I wasn't following you. What??? I just fixed that though. : )
ReplyDeleteTick!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips... Now if only everyone followed those guidelines :)
Xx
Thanks for the tips, Julie. I check in as often as I can, but rarely get to sit in front of the Tweetdeck. Typically I scroll down and see what might be shaking in the last 30 minutes or so, periodically - but that's rare. Whenever I'm waiting for something I might see what's going on. Of course I'm usually very active on Wednesday and Friday, for obvious reasons. Speaking of #WW, I hope to see you then. *waves*
ReplyDelete-Jimmy
P.S.: How's this California heat treating you? :d
I love these tips. And make a point to support those starting out and trying to connect. Promote others.
ReplyDeleteAll great tips! My big pet peeve is people who don't respond. And I really don't understand people who follow a large number but only converse with those they know irl! Grr! Kinda missing the point and being a snob all at once! Text each other why dontcha! Wait...does this count as a rant? Oh well, blogger rants are different, right? Please say yes...
ReplyDeleteI have to get more organized. I know I'm missing some juicy tweets. I'm so glad you mentioned that "saying bad things about you" scam. I got one of those and totally stressed about it.
ReplyDeleteGood advice. Sometimes I worry I don't say enough on twitter. It's hard to find a balance between tweeting helpful writing tips, other author's books, and just chatting.
ReplyDeleteAll great advice! I use Twitter by order of my publisher, but I do not enjoy it very much. I tweet more for other writers than for myself and get the same in return. One thing I hate is when I connect with someone and they DM me, asking me to buy their book or read their chapters or what have you.
ReplyDeleteSpamming and constant retweeting drives me nuts!
ReplyDeleteJulie!
ReplyDeleteI tried twitter but was confused and I gave up. Maybe I'll give it another go.
I wanted to stop by and say hello.
Hello, friend!
:)
Personally, "no foul language" is one of those shady areas. First of all, what is considered "foul language"?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't really count more PG words like "crap" or "hell", but I would guess the Seven Dirty Words are ones that should be use with caution in the writing part of the blogosphere.
Of course, there's always #TheAwkwardMoment (pointless hashtag) when you're retweeting a link that has some language within the title, but that's the Internet to you.
Though I am not on Twitter, I will keep all these tips in mind when I and If I do join Twitter. Thanks, Julie.
ReplyDelete