twitter

With everyone and their dog jumping on Twitter and trying to promote themselves it’s not hard to spot those that are doing it wrong. You guys stand out like a sore thumb. What are you doing wrong? I’m not only going to tell you what you’re doing wrong but I’m going to tell you how to fix the problem.

The “It’s All About Me!” User

The most frustrating and annoying people on Twitter are the ones that are into shameless self promotion. They’re the ones that get on there and Tweet a million and one times a day about themselves and nothing more. They’re Tweeting about their blog, their website, their company, their promotions but never about anyone else. If you want to lose followers then this is a perfect way to do it. Stop it.

The “Link Farmer”

Who are these people? They’re the ones that post nothing but links to other people’s material and don’t actually say anything for themselves. While it’s great that they’re out there promoting others, it’s beyond annoying to the rest of us when you flood our news feeds with links to random articles every few minutes. It’s a sure fire way to have people stop following you.

The “OMGLOLWTFBBQ” User

I know that Twitter limits you to 140 characters but honestly, use real words. Shortening some words is fine but really there’s no need to have a sentence like “Prfkt. Thx 4 L th advyc evry1. This s a way ezr way 2 cmuNik8. Un42n8ly, itz takn me 3 hrz 2 ryt, but itz much pre4d 2 gtn cut off lyk i u” (Thanks @ActuallyNPH for that jewel). There’s absolutely nothing worse than having to spend 140 seconds to try and decipher what you typed in your 140 characters. English motherf*cker, do you speak it? This is a great segue into the next one…

The “Spelling Bee Champs”

Call me crazy but Twitter has turned people into piss poor spellers. Take the time to spell things correctly. It’s always fun to try and figure out what you just typed because you don’t know how to spell. Not everyone is a great speller, I can accept that but knowing the difference between there, they’re and their is elementary… literally.

What Can You Do To Fix This?

What can you do to fix this? It’s beyond simple. Take the time to engage others in conversations. Comment on their Tweets or Retweet what they’ve said. To “succeed” at Twitter you should really aim for a ratio of about 3:1. That’s three Tweets NOT about yourself for every one shameless self promotional Tweet.

Limit the truncated words to a minimum. Not every word needs to be shortened. If your Tweet is too long then spread it out over two. There’s no harm in that. And while you’re at it, check your spelling.

Now that I’m done and you’re done reading this. Check me out on Twitter @robbclarke and while you’re at it, spread the word about this article by hitting the Retweet button.