Comments on: Ten do's and don'ts for better Twittering

By: a.don.is

a.don.is — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:22:53 +0000

I look at Twitter as an aggregate information source mainly. It has its social aspects but mostly I see it as an info exchange medium. I text and Facebook to be social. So I pretty much agree with you Mark. I have a hard enough time (lol) keeping up with the interesting Tweets without having to weed through the “Hi. I’m bored!” types too. But, as always, to each his own

By: Mark Tosczak

Mark Tosczak — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:49:42 +0000

@Twitterer Well, you’re right that I wasn’t trying to be dogmatic.

And your point is valid — for some. If you want to use Twitter to maintain close relationships to a small number of people, go for it. And you’re right, in that case you don’t need these do’s and don’ts.

However, the reality is that many Twitter users are following a lot of people, and many Twitter users would like to have a lot of people follow them (and do). It’s not necessarily about close personal relationships, but it is networking, and it is social. And for that kind of scaled social networking the quality and value of your communications does make a difference.

This post, about why I’m “promiscuous online,” is related to this idea of scaling social networks, by the way.

Does that have “zero appeal in the long term?” Only time will tell, I guess. But people seem to like it on Digg and del.icio.us.

But I do appreciate your comment. The way you approach things is different, but it’s still a perfectly fine way of using tools like Twitter. So more power to you and your relationships.

By: Twitterer

Twitterer — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:20:02 +0000

What’s great about twitter is that it isn’t what you are recommending. You clearly wish to use twitter as a vector for marketing, fine. Others want to use it to simply share what they are thinking, which includes ‘Good Morning’, and “me too!”, which is the SOCIAL nature of SOCIAL NETWORKING.
Although I realize that you are not trying to be dogmatic, I think you may be revealing that you don’t really grok SOCIAL NETWORKING. Your definition of “Do’s” and “Don’ts” turns twitter into a bland collection of homogenous generic news and info snippets…..which has zero appeal in the long term, and is already largely available on Digg and De.Lic.io.us.
You basically seem to be wanting to get your subscribers to modify their tweets so that you don’t have to read what you call ‘noise’. The ‘noise’, my friend, is the point. Social relationships are not SUPPOSED to scale.
When people try to scale social relationships, they quit being social relationships, and become completely artificial and superficial….like the ‘sincere’ smile of the highschool beauty queen who has 1000 friends, or the hearty handshake of a politician at a rally, or the generic tweets of an online marketing ‘expert’ who posts generic links to information already available to those who know how to effectively use Google.

By: Arun Agrawal

Arun Agrawal — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:31:11 +0000

I generally tweet only when I see some interesting resource or breaking news (good reminder Mark) or when I embark on an interesting project (to share the news with my friends and followers).

Also I reply when I have some useful information to share about a previous tweet by someone.

I have used Twitter to alert some people about a problem with their site at times. If I fid it may be embarrssing for them, I use DM, else if it may be useful to otehrs also, I post a public tweet.

Arun Agrawal
http://www.twitter.com/ebizindia

By: Mark Tosczak

Mark Tosczak — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:08:38 +0000

@Neil Thanks for sharing where you found the link. That’s a great point about not going crazy with @replies.

By: Scott Fox, Author of Internet Riches

Scott Fox, Author of Internet Riches — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:47:41 +0000

Nice collection of tweet guidelines. Just found you and am following now. Your tweet history looks like you are doing a pretty good job of staying helpful and on point as you suggest above. Thanks.

By: Neil Shearing

Neil Shearing — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:32:14 +0000

Excellent tips. Thanks to Dr Mani for Twittering your post.
http://twitter.com/drmani

Would like to add, don’t go mad with @replies… unless they’re useful to others who follow you.

Neil
http://twitter.com/NeilShearing/

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:11:04 +0000

Excellent set of don’t and do’s which will make for an enhanced Twitter experience for us all. It can be a challenge writing something meaningful in just 140 characters but it does hone your summary skills!
Thanks for the post – Jason

By: Mark Tosczak

Mark Tosczak — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:51:26 +0000

@BarbaraKB — Oh, that’s a good one.

My Twitter ID is over on the left side of the blog — that’s what the TwitterCounter chicklet links to. But it’s not obvious. I’m on Twitter at MarkTzk.

Thanks for your comments. My main point is that I think the quality of your friendships and contacts on Twitter (especially if they are only or primarily on Twitter) is going to be closely related to how you contribute to the Twitter stream.

I’m not trying to be dogmatic about this, just trying to suggest some ways to think about what’s worth Twittering.

By: BarbaraKB

BarbaraKB — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:43:28 +0000

Always post your Twitter handle in your blog post about Twitter… where’s yours, Mark? I would suggest in your Twitter link in the first sentence. Here’s mine:

http://twitter.com/BarbaraKB

BTW, I have broken all these rules. Why? I’ve been @ Twitter since March 2007. I have learned friendships and contacts there are far more important than what folks think about what I tweet. Perhaps that’s why I am still there..!

Thanks for letting me post here, Mark. Peace!