Five Twitter Mistakes to Avoid
Yes, it’s true that Twitter has a lot of potential. Twitter, like any other social media site, is a platform where all your stuff is visible the instant you post it. It can work wonders for your blog, your business or a brand, but did you know that unlike other social media platforms, Twitter doesn’t allow you to rectify your mistakes or edit them later on?
Once posted, whether you like it or not, you cannot do anything about it. Even a minute mistake on Twitter will be noticed in an instant and will open the floodgates of criticism. So, beware! If used ineffectively, it can cause some serious damage to you or anything that you represent. To avoid going through that rigmarole, take a look at the five most common Twitter mistakes that you can avoid.
Sending Long Tweets
Twitter is not like other social media sites where you are allowed to write history! In fact, it limits you to only 140 characters, yes that is right. Too little to express yourself? You must type concisely as well as get your message across. In order to get the best result, limit your tweet to maybe 100-120 characters max. A study shows that short tweets are likely to get more retweets than long-drawn-out sagas. The whole idea of tweeting is to get retweets right? So why waste your energy on typing out long tweets, which in all probability would go unnoticed and nobody would care to retweet it. Instead, keep your tweets brief, crisp and catchy.
Not Changing Privacy Settings
Assuming that you are a Twitter addict and regularly tweet stuff, but are you still wondering why your efforts are going in vain? Also, you don’t have too many followers and retweets are few and far between. That’s simply because you have not unchecked “Protect My Tweets” in Twitter. The privacy settings work in an entirely different way in Twitter.
If you go to “Setting” click “Security and Privacy,” under “Privacy” you will find “Protect my Tweets.” If that is checked then only those you approve will receive your tweets. You need to uncheck the box to reach out to the maximum number of people.
Following Anyone and Everyone
Are you being too polite and following everyone who is following you? Really? Then you must know that it doesn’t work that way and instead it will only fill up your tweetstream with people that are actually of no use to you. Instead, focus on the people in your niche, start following them and get followed by them. You will have a tweetstream with people who are relevant to you and your business. They are the ones who will be interested to retweet your posts. You will find Twitter more interesting if you have likeminded followers.
Putting @ instead of .@
Are you tweeting with @username, example @medialabs in your Twitter posts? Come on! Don’t make this mistake. Posts with @username (as in @MediaLabs) won’t appear in the public tweetstream. Rather it will be visible only to MediaLabs as a personal message and no one else will be able to view it.
If you want your Twitter posts to be public, just type .@medialabs, i.e., add a “.” before “@.” It’s not at all a typo! Adding a “.” before @ will get your posts in the worldwide tweetstream.
Too Many Autoresponders and Tweetbots
If you are sharing information, then you may schedule your posts. However, it does not help if you schedule every Twitter post. Live tweeting makes a lot of difference. If in case you are scheduling posts, make sure you check regularly for responses and don’t ever forget to respond back.
Happy Tweeting!
Twitter is indeed a powerful tool when used correctly. So what are you waiting for? Start your tweeting journey, connect with people, build relationships and expand your network.
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