Twitter ettiquette — twettiquette
Lately I’ve been developing a bit of a sore spot on my fingertips for many a twitter user. The purpose of twitter was to help build social community, connect with one another, make friends…but obviously the world tends to twist original intent around and make it ugly.
I have nearly 2,000 followers on Twitter. It’s not much, but I’ve been building it for a couple of years now. I would say half of my followers follow me for my tech writing and the other half follow me for my fiction. There might be a few stalkers sprinkled in there for good measure and some might cross over. Making those different types of followers is not an easy task…but there’s one rule I try to adhere to as much as possible:
Tweet with respect…twespect (as it were).
That doesn’t just mean to be nice. That means be respectful with other’s time, bandwidth, and generosity. If someone mentions me in a tweet, I’ll repay in kind. If someone sends me a message, you can be sure I will reply to personal messages and tweet (although every now and again they do slip by my notice) and to those people I have developed twitter friendships (twindships?) I will continue to cultivate those.
But my real problem is this:
- #WW
- #FF
- #SS
What are these? These are hashtags created so people can shout out to the twitterverse (can I copy-write that?) those tweeps they follow, like, find interesting, etc. I try very hard not to abuse this. In fact, I try to go so far as to let the ‘verse know why they should like, follow, or stalk those particular tweeps I find stalkable.
What most users do is this:
#FF @a @bunch @of @names @that @means @nothing @to @me.
Why does that mean nothing to me? Because that is just a list of names — I don’t know why they are stalkable or why I should care about them. And it seems the tweeter put next to no effort in the effort. But then, some take this a step farther and just retweet someone’s effortless tweet. That’s like, in the wonderful memory of Mitch Hedberg, when he said:
When someone hands you a flyer, it’s like they’re saying here you throw this away.
I don’t want to come off as seeming like my method of tweeting (twethod — are you sick of these yet?) is any better than any other method. But think about it, we’re all trying to do the same thing — sell our work. Only thing is, we’re trying selling our work on Twitter to people who are also trying to sell their work on Twitter. That’s like an island full of girl scouts trying to sell their cookies to one another.
So instead of wasting so much time and concern on twitter trying to boost sales, use it to boost your brand. Make other writers want to get to know you and then want to spread the word about you. And those few followers you have that aren’t fellow writers just might be the one’s to catch the “you fever” and start spreading it like wild!
In the meantime, a bit of sincerity will go a long, long way in the ‘verse to help build that brand and community each of us so desperately needs.
That brand and community will speak, quite well, for itself. Sales will soon follow.
Email Post| Print article | This entry was posted by jlwallen on June 24, 2011 at 4:08 pm, and is filed under News. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |
Gah, so true, Jack! Personally, I loathe the #FF’s and the like. One every now and again is great, but I’ve actually started unfollowing those who abuse these hashtags. I can’t tell you how many times I look up to see someone firing off scheduled #FF’s, one after the other, like they’re full-tilt with a semi-automatic. Freaking 10-15 #FF’s in a ROW… in 5 seconds? If that’s the way they want to tweet, well, I have no interest in hearing what they have to say.
Twitter is a hell of a powerful tool, but there are a lot of clowns who abuse it. Unfortunately, we just have to sift through our own followers and weed them out.
Hmm, I’m going to respectfully disagree. I’ve been using Twitter since almost day one (not my writing name, I’ve got multiple accounts).
I’m not so black and white as you two
I see #ff and #ww as a weekly opportunity to recognize my friends who have mentioned me in the past or who I would like to recognize. It’s the virtual fist bump
With that said, I NEVER automate these and try and spread them out so they don’t happen too many in a row like Ania said.
If you were following me, Jack, you’d know that every #FF was somebody that is either cross following me and/or has mentioned me. This means the chances are good that they are an active Tweeter. Many of these folks are interested in the same genre as Ania, you and I. There are potential readers for your book here
I’ve got about the same number of followers as you, Jack and we’re both into horror, perhaps you once followed and I burned you out with my #ww and #ff? If so, sorry it bother you. I’m just bumping fists
Have a nice day
Todd,
I am stalking, er following, you on twitter — at least I am now.
don’t get me wrong…some good “fist bumping” on twitter is good. I don’t want to come off as “holier than thou”, because I am certainly not that.
Anyway — Nice to meet you Todd!
Thanks for following, Jack. I followed you back. Let’s see if we can have some intriguing exchanges about the horror genre from time to time. I’m interested in all things horror. You’ll find that fills the bulk of my Tweets.
Like did you know that a little over a week ago was the 51st anniversary of Psycho?!?! There has never been a more frightening shower scene. The drain, the drain! Water in black and white creeps me out.
Hey… long time stalker, first time commenter… (Kidding. I know I’m a dork.).
I have been guilty in the past of the #FF @a @bunch @of @names @that @means @nothing @to @me tweet.
In my defense… total newb. But I read a similar post on Kristen Lamb’s blog about effective Tweeting (and not being a Tweet Hog – my words not hers). So, I changed how I approached it. It’s less stressful for me and (hopefully) less annoying for my tweeps.