Twitiquette: 10 Twitter Etiquette Tips to Get and Keep Followers

Twitter has revolutionized the concept of blogging by providing a fast, easy way to share thoughts, questions, opinions, links, and resources. Many companies now use Twitter as part of their online marketing strategies, and many individual users regularly "tweet" to a lengthy list of followers and friends. But just because this micro-blogging platform is quick and easy to use does not mean that anything goes. These ten tips of "twitiquette" can help users gain more followers and provide respectable, quality tweets to keep those followers reading.

1. Avoid Greetings and Farewells

Saying hello or goodbye on Twitter is not necessary. While the platform is designed to mimic conversation, adding this type of unnecessary minutia simply takes up space on followers' screens and does not add substance to the conversation.

2. Stick to the Topic

Everyone uses Twitter for different purposes, but stick to your purpose when you tweet. Company representatives, for example, should feel free to answer questions and offer advice relevant to their business, but including what's on the lunch menu or a list of favorite movies is inappropriate. Always consider who your followers are when you tweet: if most of your followers are family members and friends, discussing last night's prime time lineup and your favorite shows is fine, but if most of your followers are interested in your business expertise, keep your tweets more professional.

3. Be Original

The practice of "retweeting" someone else's interesting tweets - copying them word-for-word and prefacing them with that users name and the abbreviation "RT" - is fine for spreading the word about something relevant to your conversation or expertise, but avoiding having all your tweets be repeats of someone else's thoughts. Instead, add your own twist and don't be afraid to start new conversations.

4. Hold Your Tongue

Some people have more to say than others, and sending several tweets in a row may seem like the perfect way to share all your thoughts and responses. This practice, however, becomes burdensome on your followers when they must sort through a lengthy list of your tweets before reading messages from other individuals they are interested in. Limit yourself to no more than two or three tweets at a time, and wait a few minutes before sending more if you still have more to say.

5. Choose Your Follows Carefully

The best way to get new followers is to follow people yourself so you can connect with what they have to say. It is best, however, to limit your Twitter growth to a gradual pace. If you immediately follow 500 users, it will appear that you are seeking to spam users with irrelevant content or inappropriate advertisements instead of genuinely useful content. Ideally, limit yourself to only following a few new people each day, but feel free to reciprocate when someone new follows you.

6. Keep It Brief

Twitter's limitation of 140 characters per message is intended to keep thoughts and conversations brief and easy to read. Avoid using continued messages to express longer thoughts - on your followers' screens, those continued messages may be broken up by other users' tweets, making them even more difficult to read. As a rule of thumb, if you can't say it in 140 characters or less, Twitter may not be the right place to say it.

7. Limit Your Responses

If you're following dozens or hundreds of other users, it isn't necessary to respond to every single comment that is made on your update list. Certainly you'll want to respond to direct messages or questions where you can contribute a useful response, but just because someone else comments on an event or situation does not mean you have to share your unrelated two cents. Those types of extraneous comments will only encourage people to drop you from their following list.

8. Use Hashtags Sparingly

The use of hashtags (#) for keywords and specific topics is a good way to build a following about a certain subject, but only use them with great discretion. If most of your posts are about one type of topic, it will be obvious to your followers and no extra tags are necessary - adding them would only seem promotional. If, however, you have something more significant to share that may be of interest to readers who aren't directly connected to you, use a hashtag to catch their attention.

9. Minimize Abbreviations

A length of 140 characters is more generous than you think. If you find yourself need to abbreviate every other word in a post just to make it under that limit, you should be trimming your post more effectively. Too many abbreviations will make your post difficult and annoying to read.

10. Be Conversational

Twitter is a conversation tool. While it can be useful for promoting your business or sending out announcements, be sure that you're using it as both a give and take device. Asking questions of your followers and responding to the questions they may have will keep your contributions fluid and show everyone the real you behind the tweets. By sharing a bit of your personality on Twitter, you will gain more followers who are interested in not only what you're writing about, but who are interested in you.

Twitter may be quick and to the point, but proper etiquette for the use of any social networking media can help you be a viable and valuable part of the online community.