Twitter Tips Countdown

A twitting we will go a twitting we will go...

Here is a slimmed down post from Jacqui Cheng Associate Editor
at arstechnica.com for the full unedited story please go to this link.

There are no explicit rules for how to use Twitter, of course, and ultimately, people are going to use it however they see fit; that's the beauty of such a flexible social platform. Still, if you follow these unspoken etiquette rules for being a good Twittizen, you should have no problems gaining followers the old-fashioned way.


Gaining more followers on Twitter
Here are six tips on how to win friends and influence Twitterers.

1) Fill out your bio
It doesn't matter if you're not someone "important"—think of a line or two that describes who you are and what you do and stick it in there. Be clear about it, at least from the casual observer's perspective.

2) Be yourself
Twitter users appreciate it when you simply say the things you want to say, the way you want to say them. Don't waste time trying to think of the funniest possible way to say something and don't try to make yourself sound smarter or wittier than you are. The Twitter community is largely made up of people who just like conversing with others; they want to follow real people, not the shell of the person you might awkwardly be trying to fake.

3) Engage in @ replies, but don't go overboard on @ replies
twitterfollowers.pngTwitter users love to feel like you're noticing what they say and find it compelling enough to engage in a brief back and forth every so often. If you come off as a friendly individual who chit-chats once in a while with followers, more people will feel like you're a welcoming person to follow. This is especially important as you gain more followers.

At the same time, don't @ reply to every single person on the face of the earth. If too much of your Twitter stream is made up of @ replies, new people have little motivation to follow you. Think of it this way: when strangers go to your Twitter page and see an entire page of @ replies about obscure stuff that they couldn't understand unless they followed all of those other people, why would they follow you?

4) Come to think of it, don't go overboard on anything
Tweeting about how your dog scared itself with its own fart is funny the first time, not the 62nd time.

5) If you have nothing to say, don't
No one expects you to force yourself to tweet just for the sake of tweeting if nothing is popping into your head naturally.

6) Don't give yourself an ulcer when followers leave
There are many reasons why someone might "unfollow" you. Sometimes, people realize that you don't talk about the stuff they expected you to talk about, or they thought you were someone else, or they simply feel like they follow too many people and have to start making cuts.

LINK: A couple of other cool twitter links:
6 Unique Twitter Visualizations
Top 10 Twitter Tips for Beginners