Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2011 > July > 28 > Entry
Take your Tweets to the next level, part 3: best practices
Two good examples of “Follow Friday” Tweets that actually tell you why you should follow someone rather than just rattling off a list of Twitter handles.
By now, you’re two-thirds of the way through being more amazing on Twitter. Yesterday, we talked about some general tips for posting better Tweets. Earlier today, we discussed ways to improve replies and retweets. And now, some final tips to make life better for your Twitter followers.
Follow Friday foibles — If you post a Follow Friday message advising your Twitter buddies on new people to follow, use the hashtag “#FF” and give reasons why you like them. A #FF Tweet with just a list of handles isn’t very convincing.
Don’t self-promote to excess — Your Twitter followers care to know about you, but they’ll stop caring if all you Tweet are links to your blog or business. Hey, here’s a crazy idea: Link to or Tweet about other things you like, not just your own stuff.
Repeat offender — And on that note, don’t repost the same link or information over and over, especially if it’s to your own website.
Don’t auto-DM — There are tools that allow you to automatically send a direct message whenever someone new follows your Twitter account. Don’t use these tools. Auto DMs are annoying, impersonal and the quickest, most efficient way to make someone unfollow you.
Post good stuff — The single best advice I can give about Twitter is to post good, interesting, relevant stuff, even if you think it might only be entertaining or fascinating to you. There’s an awful lot of bad Tweeting going on; post anything remotely decent, be polite and use common sense and you’ll already be ahead of the game.
Thanks to everyone who offered thoughts and suggestions for these blog posts over Twitter, Facebook and Google+. I really appreciate the help.
Got more tips? Post them in the comments.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Applications, Internet
Comments
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By lynda rutledge
August 2, 2011 10:07 AM | Link to this
Digital Savant--you are a jewel. As a twitterer-in-training, and more idiot than savant on it so far, this 3-parter is golden! Thank you.
By Jeff Dorsch
July 29, 2011 10:32 AM | Link to this
Good series -- thanks for the tips!