Ah, the joys of Twitter. Some days, Twitter can be a great place for information and conversation. On other days, it’s damn annoying. It’s amazing to me how so many people haven’t picked up on what works and what doesn’t work on this social network. As for what doesn’t work, well, here are 10 easy ways to piss off your Twitter followers:
- Auto DMs. That’s all I’m going to say.
- Only retweeting other people’s tweets. C’mon. Say something! Anything!
- Never following anyone back because you a.) don’t know how to use Twitter or b.) are a snob.
- Include the words “guru” or “expert” in your bio.
- Leave your default user picture as an egg.
- Tweet the same message on 6 different accounts.
- Make three tweets a year.
- Tweet only links. All day, every day.
- Retweet something without actually opening the link, watching the video, reading the post, etc.
- Only tweet about yourself, your work, your achievements, you, you, and more you.
Now, we’re all not perfect. In fact, I bet all of us have done at least one of these things at one time or another – especially retweeting without reading or only making time to retweet without adding to the conversation.
Forget about the Klout score and what the “experts” are telling you to do.The easiest way to succeed (and enjoy yourself) on Twitter is to not over think everything. Just be yourself, have some fun, and actually join in on the conversation. Share things of value. Respond to other people. Ask questions. Take a step into the stream.
Treat Twitter like a party. Don’t be the drunk girl that falls down stairs. Don’t be the guy that tries to sell you something as soon as the handshake is over. Don’t be the person who stands in the corner staring at the punch bowl all night long. I can’t promise that it’ll be a great experience every time, but I can promise that you’ll feel better about Twitter if you make yourself more of a party guest (or a party host) instead of someone who becomes the uninvited later on.
Related articles
- 10 ways to be grateful on Twitter (creativeramblings.com)
- 5 Ways To Get More Retweets on Twitter (mindsproutmarketing.com)
- Don’t Just Tweet – Consider the HOW and WHY (lizkingevents.com)
” 4. Include the words “guru” or “expert” in your bio.”
U missed “evangelist” here :)
Thank you for including my article in your related articles section!
You’re welcome!
Good point!
Mandy,
Good list. I would note that on #4 there is empirical evidence that those with such egotistical self-affixed monikers do in fact aid in attracting followers according to Dan Zarrella. My biggest pet peeve is people who post mostly platitudes and inspirational quotes from others as the bulk of their output. My other pet peeve is people who don’t reply -ever. And I don’t get protected twitter accounts. If you have something to hide, don’t use Twitter, use IM. Twitter is an experience for sharing and expanding our social world not keeping it closed off.