Twitter Style Manual
Remember the days we used Twitter to answer the question “What are you doing?” I still do on occasion, but over time, Twitter has become much more than that. Now it’s a conversation, a sounding board, a think tank, and a place to broadcast my work.
There is no question that Twitter is a powerful tool. And as with most powerful tools, over time we have figured out what works and what doesn’t. Over at Social Media Today, Sherry Main has drafted a Twitter style-guide to summarize some key things we’ve discovered about using Twitter most effectively:
- Observe proper spelling, grammar and case. “Typing in all lower case doesn’t gain you any extra characters,” writes Main. “Unless you’re fighting for space, use proper grammar.”
- Links are great, but take the time to give a good description of what you’re sharing. “Think of it as a movie trailer,” Main says. “Don’t just post a link.” And please remember to mention whether something is work safe or not. A lot of people are using Twitter for business purposes and checking from their offices and they deserve the right to know what’s hiding inside that bit.ly.
- Don’t just retweet everything that people are asking you to retweet, or assume that you know what a link is about without clicking through yourself. Take the time to make sure that what you’re putting out there has value–for your audience.
- When you’re retweeting, keep the list of names short. You don’t have to link all the people it took for you to get a link, listing the person you source is enough. “If someone is interested in seeing who the original source is, they can click on to the person you retweeted, or do a Twitter Search of the phrase or link,” says Main. “Too many @usernames in a single tweet just becomes name-dropping.” And takes up the space people could use to retweet.
- Don’t retweet everything. Change it up a bit–offer your own summary or take on a link and include a “via @username” at the end. That format still gives credit but allows you to share your own words so you’re not just parroting content in your stream. Your own ideas keep your stream original, even if you are passing a link that other people have already tweeted.
- “Use hashtags (#) appropriately, and sparingly,” writes Main. Hashtags enable other Twitter users to search topics and engage in open conversation around them using Twitter Search. The danger of hashtags is that they can clutter your messages, so choose wisely.
- Leave room for people to retweet you. The standard is 20 characters. I’ve worked with less and personally, I prefer to rewrite than simply retweet, but a lot of people don’t have that kind of time. Be good to them. Leave them some room.
I have a few more to add to this, and it’s about conversation. Twitter is a conversation, yes. But that doesn’t mean it should be used regularly as an instant messaging platform. If you feel some conversations fit your brand and the general discussion is useful to your followers, they should be had publicly. But if the subject matter isn’t a topic you think will benefit your users, the best option is to take it to direct message.
Messages like “LOL!” and “that’s interesting,” definitely fit into that category.
MORE
10 Basic Rules Of Twitter (And How To Avoid Being A Twanker) by Rohit Bhargava
Social Media isn’t going away, either get on the bus, or get left behind by MackCollier
Four-Step Plan for Getting Started in Social Media by David B. Thomas
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August 27th, 2009 at 1:47 am
Definitely like point number (3) three: “Don’t just retweet everything…” As mentioned, I wonder how many people ACTUALLY read the article they’re retweeting. Personally, I at least *skim* through the article before offering up a retweet.
Re: “But that doesn’t mean it should be used regularly as an instant messaging platform…”
I agree here as well. I don’t let *every* conversation carry on out in the open. There comes a point where you have to take it offline (sorta). Extend it via phone or via email… (Ex. I don’t have open conversations with clients on Twitter. I’ve learned that the competition starts to harass my clients via DM and such)…
Ricardo Bueno´s last blog ..Bobby Mcferrin Show Us How To Engage With An Audience
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August 27th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I agree with most of these.
I’ll probably write a full post on other quirks I quibble with, but one of the biggest ideals for me is the self contained Tweet.
Each Tweet should be interesting and make sense all on its own without referring to Tweets from days (or minutes) of yore or whole conversations and rants with other Twitterers.
Gib Wallis´s last blog ..BONS MOTS: I never thought I’d use this class in real life
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August 29th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Some good, common sense stuff in there, but isn’t it amazing how so much of what we would consider to be common sense goes flying out the windows when it’s a ‘new technology’?
The bit about using hashtags sparingly is something that definitely resonates with me, and I have unfollowed people who seem to little their tweets with them – @Cody_K being someone who springs to mind, this being one of their tweets;
“Deficits Saved The World. But, It’s Only A Problem When Democrats Do The Spending http://is.gd/2Gwh0 #p2 #tcot #tlot #ocra #sgp #912″
It kind of reminds me of the good ole/bad ole days of ‘keyword stuffing’ that people used to indulge in to get people to their websites via search engines. Pamela Anderson anyone?
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September 9th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Thank you for incorporating my Twitter Style Guide into your post! Agreed with your thought on the art of conversation too…
@sherrymain
Sherry Main´s last blog ..POW #66 – Ninety Five
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