When you first start using Twitter, you’ll most probably follow and engage with your off-line contacts and those whom you know from other social media platforms.

As your followers grow you may not know many of them and if your tweets and manners are the only elements available to them to know more about you.

I suggest you make a great first impression and follow it up with real interaction. Twitter connects the global village and you certainly want to be part of it.

5 branding tips to remember before you engage on Twitter

Way back in February 2013, I wrote about experiencing the power of a tweet sharing how Twittersphere helped me reach and engage with a wider audience that voted to make my barely 1 year old blog the winner of a best Coaching Blog contest. It has tips for enhancing the Twitter experience which hold, even today.

I continue to engage on Twitter with clients, colleagues, make new acquaintances and stay connected to a network of like-minded professionals.

I mentioned some of these points and more in my earlier post on Twitter. Here’s a recap from a branding perspective to help you get off to a good start below.

The Karmic Ally Coaching perspective on Twitter etiquette that matters

As with all social media platforms, there are certain basic rules of etiquette that make a difference to our experience.

Here’s my list of 5 manners that matter (in no particular order) based on my own user perspective and I am sure some, if not all of this will sound familiar.

Steer clear of tweeting confidential stuff

Apart from the fact that tweets are searchable, you don’t want to compromise your privacy. If the conversation is confidential or personal, shift to direct messaging or let the other person know that you are taking the conversation offline or at least “off-Twitter”.

In any case, make sure that only those people who follow both of you can see it and if they want, follow along. To do this, don’t move their name to the middle or end of the tweet with every reply.

Acknowledge others

If someone mentions your or retweets your post, thank them – people like to have their efforts appreciated and it can lead to a meaningful conversation.

On the flip side, if you are sharing others content acknowledge them and let them know that you appreciate their content.

Did someone follow you? You could tweet them a thank you but make it natural by adding to the conversation. One way that I do it is to visit their profile to check if I want to follow them back while learning more about them. Then I compose a tweet on an area of mutual interest or ask something about their field that interests me.

Discretion is the better part of valor when using Direct Message (DM)

This is one area where you can commit a social faux pas or get misunderstood if you are not careful. Think of it this way, just as advertising text messages on your mobile irritate you, a person who receives a DM from you shortly after they follow you with a sales pitch may decide the DM is noise or spam. There should be a pertinent reason for the DM.

Many of the DMs that I receive and ignore are actually automated messages that point to a website, some product or just plain self-promotion. I prefer the DMs that prove I am following a living, breathing person and that has always been the beginning of a great relationship that has flowed onto Facebook and my ultimate favorite platform, LinkedIn.

Use DMs to start a conversation on a subject that is of mutual interest or to compliment them (sincerely of course). If in doubt, don’t DM!

Should you follow the follower?

My rule of thumb for following is:

1. Check out the profiles and tweets of those who follow you to determine if you should follow back. Remember, you are not obliged to follow back everyone who follows you. You are in control of your twitter experience, no one else.
2. If you follow someone and they do not follow you back, don’t get upset. You may not be part of their chosen experience.
3. Instead of tweeting to people to follow you or publicly make them an offer that everyone can see, engage with them in a meaningful manner. If someone wants to follow you, they will. I’ve followed many authorities for quite a few years with no expectation of being followed back and then one fine morning, I get a Twitter notification that someone I admire has followed me back or put me on a list to be followed.  It happens!

A word about unfollowing – do not follow someone and unfollow them after they follow you.  It is bad manners. Sooner or later they will find out and unfollow you as well not to mention the damage you inflict on your image and the impression you create.

In the same vein, don’t call someone out for unfollowing you. They may have their own reason or their Twitter strategy may have changed. Sometimes, people get unfollowed accidentally or because of a bug in the system. Maintain your dignity – don’t get upset!

Wondering how much and what content to tweet?

Different experts offer different advice about the number of tweets in a day and their spacing. I’ll offer just one suggestion – avoid spam and tweeting too often. The last thing you want to do is to irritate your followers or give the impression that you are fully automated.

Content wise, here are a few tips:

Post useful, interesting, relevant and original content. Use the Litmus test, “If I were a follower, would I care about this?”

Don’t tweet your rants. If you are having a problem with a service provider, tweet them a request for help and take the conversation off-line. If the dialogue continues on Twitter, make sure that you are polite, firm and professional.

Tweet positive, useful messages and content. Tweeters tend to share positive messages.

Make it more than just tweets about your blog post. Share other content that you know your tribe and followers would like to read. Stay clear of tweets that only promote your products and look like you are hawking your goods and nothing else.

One good rule that I picked up some time back was the 70/20/10 rule.

70% of tweets should be sharing or curate information that could be helpful to your followers, 20% should be human engagement & conversational and only 10% of your tweets should be selling your product or service.

If you’re not a business person, then I suggest using that 10% to engage and get to know others on Twitter.

Avoid hashtagging the entire tweet. Hashtags are great to encourage participation but can you actually read a tweet which has a hashtag after every word? I can’t. Consider maximum 2 hashtags and make them relevant.

Twitter Etiquette in a nutshell…..

Your twitter experience depends a lot on how you show up and engage. It takes just one tweet to ruin your reputation on Twittersphere. On the other hand, you can meet some wonderful people who can help in promoting your goals and desires, whether you are a job seeker or a businessperson wanting more qualified leads.

The bottom line is that Twitter is a social media platform and meant to be social with human beings interacting and engaging with each other, not a set of automated tweets and messages that annoy rather than add value.

Did I miss out on any other important elements that enhance your Twitter experience or etiquette rules?

What about your observations on the Twittersphere? Please share in the comments box below!

PS. Let’s connect on Twitter! Tweet me at @karmically

Written By: Vatsala Shukla

If I were a bard of Shakespeare’s stature, I’d most probably have written a sonnet for good old Twitter or X by now.

It’s my go to platform to reach out to the social media teams of various services I use to get help when I experience a service glitch. Help is provided quickly.

Online eCommerce majors as well as those in banking and telecommunication services are aware of the power of this social media platform to trouble shoot for their customers.

It doesn’t surprise me that even Delhi Police uses it to let us know of traffic issues or alerts.

In recent times, during the second wave of COVID-19 in India, Twitter played a major role in getting medical assistance and help for those who needed it.

Until one knows of firsthand experiences, one would have dismissed the Reuters article Twitter becomes platform of hope amid the despair of India’s COVID crisis as another quick read.

But when one knows the names of people who have reached out on this platform for help, it becomes personal.

For me personally, it was upsetting to read that the son of the late sitarist, among India’s best known, Debu Chaudhuri, a Padma Vibhushan, Padma Shri and a family friend had to reach out on Twitter with an SOS message about his critical condition for an oxygen cylinder and then for an ICU bed but his condition worsened.

The story ended badly because the maestro succumbed to COVID-19. Less than a week later, his son Prateek, himself a musician who had yet to achieve his full potential succumbed to a cardiac arrest while recovering from COVID-19.

This story is personal, and I grieve. Yet there are other stories that are much happier with people getting timely help. Somebody saw the tweet and tapped into their network and arrange help.

During the pandemic, Twitter was no longer just a social media platform to hang out and write tweets or follow celebrities. It took on a wider communication role even if only in a few characters.

How I discovered the power of Twitter, now X

Believe it or not, I didn’t fully realize the power of Twitter until I entered the Best Coaching Blogs Competition in 2012.

I realized soon enough that simply getting friends and clients to vote was not going to be enough. I had to declare my existence to the world with the request to vote for me.

It was a challenge as my blog was barely a year old and I was a newbie compared to the other competitors.

My please vote and please RT requests did wonders.

The votes started coming in.  My vote requests were re-tweeted. Followers’ tweeted messages to me to keep the faith, things would work out for me!

I made it into the semi-finals and from there to the finals where my co-finalists crowned my blog Numero Uno and sent congratulatory tweets.

I felt connected.

A regular tweeter, I have discovered a whole new world out there.

So many wonderful twitter friends who write great content and share great news. I even get a chance to read opinions from other tweeters on issues of social and political importance. I love the Twitter experience.

How does one ensure a great personal Twitter experience?

The first and most important point to remember is that Twitter is public. Your tweets will be visible across the internet.

Locking your profile or pre-approving the follower limits your interactions.  Instead, I suggest that you abstain from tweeting confidential or very private matters.

Some things should not be aired in the public arena; whether it is your tweet or a response to a tweet you can easily send a direct message.

In the same vein, resist tweeting banal or superfluous tweets.

Do a self-check by asking, if I were a follower, would I like to read the tweet?

Also don’t spam your followers by tweeting too often. They might decide to un-follow you to avoid the ‘noise’ that you are creating in order to read more interesting tweets.

Always tweet a thank you if someone has re-tweeted you or mentioned you on Follow Friday. It is a simple but great way to acknowledge the other person and nurture the twitter relationship.

Sharing is caring.

If you see a great tweet or one that has a link to an article or item that you think your followers would find interesting, re-tweet it.

If you read a great story on the internet, share it with a tweet. It also helps to build your image as someone who knows good content when they read it.

If you want people to engage with you, put a nice, clear picture of yourself. People like to know who they are interacting with. If you intend to use Twitter for your business, use a professional picture and not a cutesy one.

Make full use of the bio section – write something interesting that captures your essence within the allotted characters. Think of it as a mini-elevator speech that would interest people to follow you and engage with you.

When publishing your tweets, be yourself.

Think of what you would say if you were meeting someone in person. One great tweet that gets my attention each time is from a fellow tweep who asks “Good morning, who’s awake?’” If I am online or see her tweet, I certainly wish her a great day – even though I am 10 hours ahead of her on the globe.

Want to get new followers or engage more? Participate in a Follow Friday by using #FF or #FollowFriday and mention some of the folks you follow. It is a great way to show appreciation and prove you are not a machine. I believe the word is ‘bot’.

If you start a conversation on Twitter with someone, make sure that you respond to them in a timely manner. One of the best responses I got was a thank you from a lady I endorsed on Follow Friday with an acknowledgement the following week and an apology for the late reply – she had a cold. No guessing who tweeted back a get well soon message!

In my early days of Twitter use, I noticed that there were those who followed me and then un-followed me once I followed back or un-followed me if I did not follow back immediately.

Twitter is not a popularity contest but a powerful social media tool and needs to be acknowledged as such without abuse.

My tip – be authentic, follow those you wish to and don’t get upset if they do not follow you back.

As you continue to use Twitter, you would see new people following you.

Some social media experts say you should do an automatic follow and then remove later on. Unless you have oodles of time on your hand, it is simpler to check out the profiles and tweets of those who follow you and take your own decision whether to follow back.

There is no written rule that you have to follow everyone who follows you. It all depends upon the type of experience you want to have on Twitter. One way would be to follow @karmically!

This post was originally written in February 2013 and has been updated for relevance.