The Do’s and Don’ts of Managing Your Twitter

Social media websites, such as Twitter, have become exceedingly popular in the past few years, with millions of users using the sites on a daily basis.

Whether using it as an individual or a business, Twitter is a great way to socialise, advertise and stay connected to various users, companies and charities online, and can often be used for reputation management. However, it can be easy to sometimes get a little carried away with your tweets, and it is important to realise that the whole world can see what messages you are posting. With that in mind, here are a few tips on how to effectively use Twitter.

How frequently do you Tweet? Is it daily, or perhaps multiple times a day? Do you sometimes find yourself Tweeting too much? It is a good idea to set a limit on how much you Tweet in one day, as posting too much could mean that people pay less attention to what you have to say, or make them simply ‘unfollow’ you. So what limit should you set yourself when posting Tweets? Unless you are actively replying to people, a good general time frame for tweeting is no more than one per hour. It is of course possible with some online tools to schedule tweets in advance, so you can concentrate on any mentions, followers or replies. When following other users, don’t just follow as many as possible hoping that they will follow back. Follow those that are appropriate to you interests as an individual, or your company if it is a business profile.

When sharing information, ask yourself if it is useful, or entertaining. If you don’t think the content is as engaging as it could be, then perhaps it’s better not to post it. This also goes for self-advertising, either if you have a website or a press release. Try to avoid always linking to this source, and actually engage with the other users. You’ll get more genuine interest that way.

Always stay professional, and make sure to use correct spelling and grammar where possible. Your followers might not want to read everything in text speak, so if you find yourself low on characters think of alternative ways of wording it first. Twitter can be used as part of a reputation management plan, both for individuals or businesses.