Twitter: ten rules of etiquette

Twitter Conversations Map #1
Flickr via Walter Rafelsberger

Twitter used to be an enigma to me. The entire medium of microblogging is still confusing. Don't worry, it's only 140 characters; a world wide text message. To everyone. There should definitely be some rules when you're twittering, but where to start? Like the virtual cocktail party--you're speaking locally and internationally. Recently, I've considered how my blog and microblogging influences the Carbon Outreach brand.

Ten recommendations others have made via the Twitter Etiquette Wiki via @mincedmedia

1. Spam? @missrogue Says, "I don't mind if people plug their blog/events/software but if that's all they do, I'll just unsubscribe."
   
2. Unsubscribing. It's alright; while a personality clash shouldn't get in the way of professional development, some people just don't work well together. There are so many different organizations, why waste time on those who spam/are rude
3. Rude! Offensive, blasphemous, dishonest and false tweets may be revealed
4. Specialized. Your followers are special, some recommend following every follower.
5. Ratio! Tweeters don't need follow every follower, but the follower-to-followed ratio is significant; those who follow thousands but have no followers look like spammers. See @tommorris's tweet.
6. Style. Unlike Grammar Girl's guide, I think using 4U and L8R are fine. They're smaller and simple--like URLs should be shortened. However, don't make it a habit. Being interesting may get hampered by ppl bein confused bout what ur trying to say.
7. Aggregators? (ie. FriendFeed) Beware for several reasons! First, Facebook friends/co-workers/family don't always understand/care what you're Tweeting about. If you're tweeting 5+ times per day, this can clog up your Facebook profile. Then you just look self-absorbed. Second, I once made the mistake of forgetting I'd put my private YouTube stream onto FriendFeed! Embarrassing.
8. Overwhelmed? Why not try Twitterific says Brady Forrest of O'Reilly Radar, Twhirl or TweetDeck? (Admittedly, I'm still learning how to employ TweetDeck)
9. Follow-up. Don't start a conversation and poop out, that's just rude
10. Spread. If you tweet 5-10 times in a row, you're more likely to get ignored/unfollowed