Twitter: Mixing Business with Real Life
A Twitter addiction is nothing to be ashamed of. However, in the past nine months, I have come to appreciate how Twitter can be both a phenomenal social venue that evolves into a great business or marketing assistant. There are no rules when it comes to Twitter, or at least I don’t limit myself that way. It’s the biggest party you’ll ever get a free invitation to and how you use it…well, that’s up to you.
Sure, I have my pet peeves. They aren’t just limited to the Britney Sex Video scammers either.
What really gets me going are the Direct Messages (if you’re an true Tweeter, you know these as DMs) that are automated. Automated is fine if you get your message across without sounding like a hokey salesman in a cheap suit. This is when I start to realize I need to weed out my garden of tweeters. Some people are just clueless when it comes to “Social Networking”. Here are a few examples:
Thank you for following me. Google my name and find out everything you want to know about me. Oh NO, thank YOU! I’ve been holding my breath…waiting for the day I could Google you and find out more.
Hi! Since you decided to follow me, I’m following YOU back! Actually, you followed me first, but I’ll let your incorrect statement slide because you are using an automated greeting that’s about as warm as being naked in the snow.
Hope you find my tweets interesting! So far I’m really thrilled. Can they GET any better??
Thanks for following me. Feel free to connect and use my tool. What? This is very forward of you.
So, how do we decide who we should un-follow or are some “tweeters” just in it for the numbers? Personally, I am bored to tears by the all-business-no-pleasure tweeters. (Well, except for the guy who wants me to connect with him and use his tool. For free, no less!) I also don’t care if I have 20 followers or 20,000 as long as they are great people who I can connect with.
It all comes down to this:
I am a Gemini. I bore easily. Say something. If you’re silent, how can I hear you? But please, say something other than “triple your followers in one day”. I can’t continue to follow you if your idea of being social is shoving your million dollar money making scheme (which doesn’t work) down my throat. I’d rather choke on out-dated milk.
Have a picture. I don’t know why you want to look like this:
If you can get on the computer, you can upload a picture of yourself. At least post a picture of a donkey or something. Anything but the dreaded…and creepy…brown box. I don’t follow creepy brown boxes.
Update. This is Twitter, not the dome of silence. However, don’t Tweet link after link after link withzero conversation. I will then call you a link whore and stop following you.
Put a shirt on. You heard me. I know you’ve got great abs (or someone else’s because Photoshop is relatively easy to use) or a big set of hooters, but I’m not impressed. Especially since your only updates say, “I’m on my way to the gym“. I don’t believe you because fifteen minutes later, you tweet the same thing. So, stay in your basement eating chips and show me a real picture. Or make your avatar a bag of chips. I like Fritos.
Let me know you’re human. I’m positive you have a life outside of being a brilliant Social Media Expert. The key to keeping it “real” in social media is to be diverse. No one wants to listen to your business shit all day long.
On the topic of “keeping it real”…it’s OK not to be perky 24/7 on Twitter. If your day just absolutely blows, chances are there are 200 other people following you who had a crappy day. Not that we want to be negative all day, but it’s amazing the moral support that’s out there on Twitter. I don’t believe for one second that you have your “warm smile” on every minute of the day. Positive is good. Overdoing it is nauseating.
Hashtag Overload: I know you’re #goodinbed and goodness there certainly can’t be enough #swineflu to go around. I really, really dig the people who go the distance and use multiple hashtags in one tweet. I start to #losesightofwhattheheckyouaretweetingabout. Use a hashtag here and there, but you don’t have to categorize every tweet. After awhile you look like a #spammer.
I’m positive people weed me out on Twitter because I’m a constant source of nothing. Sometimes good cheer, sometimes a crappy day. I also use Twitter to give kudos to the incredible small business owners who advertise on my blog. I like to mix a little business with real life.
I am just a real chick living life with both a smile and a smirk. I want to follow real people…not robots. I like to walk away from Twitter each day knowing that I learned something new, found a new site, engaged in a conversation about a new business and had some fun. The mix is important.
So, maybe it’s time to start weeding out your followers and introducing yourself to some new ones? Or maybe you’re lucky enough, like me, to have have the best followers out there. That is simply because I read bio’s, say hello and don’t follow people who look like they aren’t going to enhance this social media life we all seem to be involved in.
(PS…maybe you need a quick check on your Twitter personality? What’s YOUR Twitter Mojo?
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If you’re new to Twitter, this article might answer some questions:
Great how to piece, thanks for the information!! It's just what I needed (and asked for)
The ones who make me laugh the most are those who print lists of twitter “rules.” There ARE no rules beyond “don’t steal someone’s identity” and “don’t spam.” So basically those people are really so full of it. There are tips you can follow and those might make sense, but nope. No. Blinking. Rules.
.-= Linda´s last blog ..30 days to freelancing part 25: Apply to jobs =-.
Hey Cheryl! Thanks for bringing some chuckles into my day:)) I’m still trying to find my ‘voice’ on Twitter but am finding it a lot more worth my time than I expected!! Or does that mean I have little else going on??
I agree about the DM’s…they make me crazy. I want to be able to use twitter from my cell phone but I hate getting the DM’s coming to my cell…especially at 2am when it’s one of those BS ‘make money online’ messages.
This was a great post! You really do a good job in getting all of your thoughts together in an entertaining way. I like!
.-= MakesNooSense´s last blog ..Gaycation at Hotel Max Seattle =-.
No, this is not real “Thanks for following me. Feel free to connect and use my tool.” This is killing me.
And then as if I weren’t already dying, you said “a link whore”. I almost fell of my chair.
So do you un-follow these people with their smartly done auto-DMs?
I look at all of my followers and I chant “I do not have to follow everyone that follows me” over and over as I don’t follow people that just don’t seem like they are my cup of tea. Link whores are not my cup of tea. Also people with no @ in their update stream. Are they not “talking” with people, just AT people? No thanks, I get enough of that . . . .
I love your tweets about cooking. You make me laugh. I love you posts. Thanks for saying what I was thinking.
DMs are tough. They have their place but I just don’t check them like I should because of the spam. I prefer an email instead!
I am constantly screening my followers. It’s really beginning to be a real BIG PIA!! I keep getting hit with spammers! And that WeFollow thing?? WTF?! I mean… cool… but in the last two days I had like 20 beauty-related things following me. I’m all for Beauty but I really prefer Marie Claire, Cosmo, or Glamour for my beauty tips… not an impersonal twit, I mean Tweet.
I hate DMs too. I only DM someone if I have to get a hold of them and I have no other way.
I love your “constant source of nothing”. That’s what makes Twitter so great. We can all be mundane together
I agree with you 100% on everything you mentioned in your article. Especially the spammers who use DM’s. I had to un-follow some due to that. Anyways, great article! Thanks for taking the time out to inform people out there some Twitter etiquette.
Kaylee
Ernie! Thanks so much! Time? I never sleep….
Heather….it’s all about real life I think. No one ever achieves much of anything being all business.
Theresa…I like that we can all have our own style on Twitter. For the most part, except for the pesky spammers, it’s nice to see people just be themselves!
I’m with you on put a shirt on! lol
.-= Fashiongrail´s last blog ..Understated =-.
All great points, Cheryl and fun to read. Isn’t that the point of Social Media? You can point out the obvious without sounding like a (insert inappropriate word here), and hopefully the ones who have no clue will realize it and go get one. Although because I suffer from conflicting opinion personality dis-order, I will say it’s intimidating to go out and “be yourself” because if someone doesn’t like “you”, it’s like high school all over again. Ugh! Who needs that? So try to be fair when judging someone’s inability to be “Social Media Cool”.
Great article! The DM’s have been really getting me down lately. My policy is to ignore them just as I do spam. But sometimes I’m not sure if it’s an auto-dm or a personally initiated one. I’d hate to ignore the latter, but I’d feel foolish replying to the former. Agh. So I just ignore them unless it’s blatantly clear that it’s not automatically generated.
I almost always follow everyone back. I check to see if people are just posting links and being well… boring… and then I give people a chance. I figure behind every account is a real person (is that true? lol) with something to say. At least the occasional tweet to reveal your true personality. Like you, those are the tweets I look forward to. I want to feel like we’re all in it together. Sharing our blogs and businesses, but talking about life as well.
I learn a lot in there and have a ton of fun, but I know I miss out on a lot of interesting tweets due to all the people I follow. It just seems unfair to let them follow you but not return the favor. I was told I’d get over that very fast, but so far I haven’t.
Just wanted to drop you a short note to thank you for your insightful postings. They are both informative and enjoyable. Where do you find the time and ideas?? Thanks.