How wrong I was.

It appears that Twitter is not going anywhere. So, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. I’ve discovered that Twitter is actually a useful tool that can be used in a multitude of ways. It’s perfect for building your own direct audience for your content. The quality of traffic you can get from your twitter followers is better than you can find almost anywhere else.

So, I’ve experimented with Twitter with gusto over the past year. I’ve learned a few things along the way and there are many things that people do on Twitter, that they wouldn’t or shouldn’t do in real life, that infuriate me. There needs to be come standard Twitter Etiquette. I’ve put together a list, modeled after the “Fight Club” rules that I’ll call the 8 Rules of Twitter Club.

The 8 Rules of Twitter Club – Twitter Etiquette for the Rest of Us

1. The First rule of Twitter Club is that you Don’t Spam

Look, we all know you have exciting content for all of us to share. But stop constantly bugging your followers about it.

2. The Second rule of Twitter Club is that you DO NOT Spam.

Let’s not turn this amazing medium into another venue for people to peddle their affiliate marketing products and latest MLM scams. The best way to get people to read your stuff is to create REAL compelling content for them to read, and sorry, they’re just not buying the latest get rich quick scheme that you’ve been duped into. Merely providing an RSS feed onto your twitter feed (check out TwitterFeed) is enough to let your network know about your latest posts.

3. The Third Rule of Twitter Club is to Provide Something People Want – Which means you shouldn’t have to spam

The theory behind Twitter is that you will connect and communicate with friends and people who share your interests or career fields. So, by default they are generally, if they’ve followed you they are already interested in what you have to say. Don’t abuse this trust. Provide them something they want, which is why they are following you to begin with.

4. The Fourth Rule of Twitter Club is Don’t use Bots and Tools to do all your interaction – actually interact

There’s a rash of Twitter zombies out there. The people using tools and bots to manage their massive feeds. This destroys the whole point of Twitter. It just creates more noise that people have to filter out. If you have 2000 followers or are following 2000 people, and you’ve had 10 updates, you’re not taking full advantage of the medium. The point of social networking is to participate. Engage your followers and they will engage you with mutual benefit in the long run. Don’t ever think for one minute that your followers are resources to be mined for revenue. It’s kind of annoying to follow someone and get the same canned DM response over and over. The worst offenders are the ones that try to sell you something or offer you a special deal simply for following you.

5. The Fifth Rule of Twitter Club is concentrate on One Account at a time

No one likes a schizophrenic. Unless your starting a separate twitter feed for a website or separate project (like I did for Webinar Central – @webinarcentral), there is no reason to have more than one personal twitter feed. You’ll just annoy your followers if you are obliging them to keep track of your multiple personalities. I suppose separate business and personal feeds would be all right, but with the lines between personal life and work life being blurred in the Web 2.0 realm, it may be a good idea to focus on one, your personal brand.

6. The Sixth rule of Twitter Club is to Speak as if you are in a public venue – not like you are with your closest friends.

Generally fellow tweeps are work colleagues or people you haven’t met in person in addition to your normal friends. They really don’t want to know about your morning dump or your wife’s monthly cycle. If you would talk about it with your boss or in a television interview, then that’s what is advisable for Twitter. There is such a thing as too much disclosure.

7. The Seventh Rule of Twitter Club is to Tiny URL Your Links but tell us what they are first

Tiny URL is a great tool to save characters and put links to share in your feed. But keep in mind you must actually tell people what they are clicking. Sorry, but “Check it out ____link” is not going to cut it. Who the heck knows what we are clicking and we have to be careful since a lot of people Tweet while at work.

8. And the Eighth Rule of Twitter Club is if this is your first time Twittering – you have to Tweet – consistently.

Zombie Twitterers suck. You’ve seen ‘em, they sign up and acquire a few followers and then disappear from the face of the Earth. Participate in the ‘great conversation’ don’t just fill it with more noise and then abandon it. Twitter can be great for networking with people in your field and help to build your career. I can also help you develop web projects you want to share with the world. Make use of it, don’t just say “Yeah, I’m Web 2.0 hip and understand social media, I’m on Twitter” but actually not participate.

Happy Tweeting!

If you’d like advice on how your company should make use of Twitter, feel free to contact us for a Social Media Consultation!