As many of you know, I’ve been experimenting on Twitter: checking out what the PLM companies are doing (not much) and trying to figure out who is doing Twitter well, with a view to getting that out there so that everyone can start off strong. Here are my top 10 dos and don’ts — so far. The Twitter platform keeps changing (I don’t like the new retweet feature, for example), so this list is likely to evolve. But Twitter is fun, exposes me to things I might not otherwise have seen and enables me to waste endless time that could otherwise be productive — what’s not to love?
DON’T:
• DON’T only post content that’s self-aggrandizing (links to your own work, for example). It’s bad etiquette and can be dull. Tweet about what matters to you: links to things you’ve read/seen that are interesting, retweet something that resonates with you, tweet an observation about something going on around you, and so on.
• DON’T post 10 things at once – too easy to skim over and makes it likelier that your tweets will be skimmed over (or not read) in the future. If you use a batching mechanism like twitterfeed, try to schedule gaps in your postings.
• DON’T publish private info if you want it to remain private. Remember that anyone, anywhere can see the tweet. You can privately tweet someone (meaning that it only shows up for them, in their timeline), but I’m not sure how “private” that really is.
• DON’T let it overwhelm you. Between RSS feeds, tweets and emails, I drown in digital info most days. If you really, really need to know about something, you’ll find out — it’s OK to ignore tweets for hours on end.
• DON’T obsess over follower numbers. Yes, Stephen Fry (British comedian) has over a million followers; but he’s famous and tweets about football, darts, comedy and all sorts of stuff. Follower numbers go up and down as bots sign on, hoping you’ll follow them back (don’t) and then ditch you when you don’t. Does the sheer number matter more than the quality of the readers? Not to me.
DO:
• DO lurk for a while before you start tweeting. Twitter allows you to open an account and follow people so you can get to understand the etiquette and figure out what to post.
• DO stay within the 140 characters. I’ve never actually followed the link that some Twitter clients create if your message is longer than 140 characters. I do, however, struggle with getting something meaningful into those 140 characters.
• DO use a Twitter client (Tweetdeck, Tweetie, Seesmic are all desktop apps, none is perfect) to automate link shortening, keep you within 140 characters, manage lists and handle the vast number of daily tweets in your timeline. Twitter.com’s user interface is getting better but it’s easier if you use a client.
• DO start storing up tidbits for later posting. Quotes, links, retweets all help you come up with something to tweet when the well is dry. Some experts suggest that 1/3 to 1/2 of your tweets should be retweets or replies to keep things conversational, but I find that nearly impossible to do.
• DO realize that tweets, like emails, are easily misunderstood: you can’t see the wink or smile or hear the tone of voice of the writer. Don’t react too quickly to something you read and do watch what you say. It might not be amusing to all.
The best tweet I’ve seen so far: @stephenfry “A dream evening. Watching grand slam darts and popping bubblewrap. What more could life offer?” I don’t get darts, but like the idea of bubble wrap!
