What is a Twit? It's not the same as a tweet although it's sometimes referred to as one. Is it a person? Is it short for Twitter? Is it a tweet gone viral? Or a tweet gone bad. Or neither?
Here is a definition according to FreeDictionary.com
twit: twit·ted, twit·ting, twits To taunt, ridicule, or tease, especially for embarrassing mistakes or faults. See Synonyms at ridicule.
1. The act or an instance of twitting.
2. A reproach, gibe, or taunt.
For the purpose of this blog post we will use #3 above “a foolishly annoying person”. I am taking liberty to change it to “a foolishly annoying twitterer”. Not sure if “twitterer” is a word. However, for this post we'll assume it is. Heck, it's marketing. We make up words all the time, right?
33 Tips to NOT be a Twit on Twitter!
1. Do not send auto direct messages (DMs).
2. Don't invite me to your mafia family, farm, or ask me to buy your get rich quick scheme via auto DM. I already have a family, plenty of rugrats and a business that is running fine.
3. Wear clothes in your avatar pics. Naked photos are not going to get me to click the link to your mafia family.
4. Don't tweet like a sailor and drop the f-bomb in your tweets. If I want to be offended I'd rather be laying in the sun and listening to the local neighborhood teenage twits.
5. Don't join a Twitter chat about social media and complain the whole time about how much you miss the yellow pages or how terrible it is people are addicted to social media. We know we're addicted. Don't be a twit and remind us.
6. Don't auto tweet that I unfollowed you. It won't get me to follow you, sorry.
7. If you are interested enough to ask me out on a tweet date, please at least read my bio first & you'll see I am married.
8. Don't be tweet jerky (aka be a jerk).
9. Don't tweet mad.
10. Don't drink and tweet or tweet and drive. My car was totaled last week by a lady texting and driving. Not cool.
11. Don't tweet photos of every meal you eat. I am shocked how many people do this.
12. Don't tweet boring photos from every @FourSquare check-in. Do your followers really want to look at a table, sign or wall? Crazy how much I see these.
13. Don't send random tweets asking people to retweet unless it's for a good cause. If it's a link to your blog, don't do it.
14. Don't retweet yourself.
15. Don't send the same tweet over and over in one day. We know you need to increase blog readership. However, if you focus on good content and connecting with real people, the readership will organically increase more consistently.
16. Don't only respond and/or tweet with people with high Klout, PeerIndex influence scores. Remember your best potential leads may have a zero Klout score!
17. Don't only tweet when you have a new blog post.
18. Don't only talk about yourself. Show some social media love for others.
19. Don't forget to have a conversation. Twitter is not a broadcast station. Use it to connect and get to know people.
20. Double check your links before tweeting. Don't tweet a broken link. I might never click again.
21. Don't tweet or retweet stuff you haven't read.
22. Don't just retweet with never a comment or opinion. It's easy to tell the clueless twits as they don't know enough to have an opinion. Know your stuff. If you don't then go spend more time learning it and then come tweet about it when you have more value to add for your audience.
23. Don't include popular tweeters names in your tweets just to get attention.
24. Don't overuse #FF (Friday Follow) just to get attention.
25. Don't thank every single person individually who retweets you if you get a ton of retweets just to raise your Klout influence score. I saw a blog post where someone was purposely doing this. Crazy!
26. Don't use my twitter name as your H1 tag on your doorway spam website to drive traffic to your blog. Google doesn't like this and neither do I. I actually busted a local SEO/social media agency doing such to me and several competitors this weekend. Not cool.
27. Don't hi-jack tweets. This means you take my tweet, retweet it but change the link to your spam site. Most people will block you and report for spam asap.
28. Don't tweet every minute of your life. I don't need to know when you have gas or need to go buy tampons. I saw a girl post she was out of tampons the other day. Why??
29. Don't be afraid to ask me to follow you if you like my content and would like to be real friends.
30. Don't be afraid to talk to me. Can't believe how many people I meet at events who tell me they've been following me for a year. However, they've never talked to me. It's about conversation and relationships people. Talk!
31. Be smart. If you live alone don't tweet every night you get home & let people know you are alone. You're asking for trouble. Not all tweeters are nice. Be careful.
32. Don't tweet about your clients online strategies in a way that jeopardizes their “secret sauce” for your own benefit.
33. Don't spend all day tweeting and bossing other tweeters how they should tweet. How you tweet, what you tweet, when you tweet should be part of an integrated marketing and business plan that supports your business goals and objectives. You may know your stuff but I guarantee many people know more. I know this post is a bit bossy but you read it all the way to #33! :)
Your Twit Turn
What are your thoughts? Are you a twit? Do you know a twit? Do you have other twit tips to help tweeters from being a twit?
