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Twitter 101: Tips and Tricks

by Thomas Houston on March 26, 2009 at 01:59 PM


What should I not do on Twitter?

Much like any form of conversation, there are things you should do on Twitter and things you should refrain from doing. First up, don't tweet everything you think; sure, it might be funny to write about your refrigerator being empty once or twice, but we can't think of too many people, even friends and family, interested in those types of messages. Take some advice from Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Angwin; take the time to self-edit your posts before hitting send, instead of blasting out everything on your mind. Also, take it easy with the twittering and try not to get obsessed. Otherwise, you might end up breaking up relationships like John Mayer.

If you start having a conversation with someone by using @replies, we recommend taking it to IM or e-mail, or (GASP!) face-to-face. Twitter is great for sharing thoughts and links, but doesn't work so well as a medium for one-on-one conversations. Much like Facebook and other social networks, Twitter can only be so useful if you add tons of friends. Sure, there are probably some social marketing extraordinaires (don't label yourself that) out there following 20,000 friends, but we recommend keeping your following list small; we've found a well-curated 200 to be a sweet spot, but your results may vary.

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