If you're all ready, and you're a Tweetbaby (this won't help you seasoned vets), grab a pen and your notebook and let's get going!
I'm gonna start with terminology so you don't get lost in the next section.Retweet (often abbreviated as RT): On the tweet of a tweep, you click the rotating arrows so the information is shared with your followers.
Tweet: What you share on Twitter.
Tweep: Your Twitter followers or those you follow.
Follower: Someone who wishes to see your tweets (like a subscriber).
Following: When you click the follow button on a Twitter account.
#FF: Follow Friday. This is used to suggest other people follow a certain account (or accounts).
@XxX: this is someone's Twitter handle. If you tweet "at" a person, they'll be the audience for your tweet, and they'll get a notification.
Handle: Your name on Twitter.
DM: Direct Message. This is when someone clicks the mail icon on your page.
#: Hashtag. This is used to define the content of a tweet.
Favorite: This functions like the Facebook "like" button except it curates all tweets you click the star on in a favorites list you can access from your page.
Lists: You can add certain people to lists you create. When you're on these lists, the tweeps listed are the only ones you'll see content from.
TY: Thank you!
Unfollow: When you stop following a tweep or they stop following you.
News feed: All the tweets from all the tweeps.
Let's go into the list of DOS:
Retweet others.
Be engaging.
Show thanks when others RT your stuff. A shoutout only takes a moment (TY for the RT!).
Follow back the accounts you think you might like the content from.
Thank folks for the follow(s).
Seek out new and interesting accounts to follow.
DON'TS:
Spam.
Retweet the same thing over and over.
Constantly tweet "buy my book."
DM people right away, asking for reviews or buys of your book (see spam above).
Follow a bunch of people and expect them to follow you right back.
How to gain followers, and my suggestion on etiquette:
Follow about ten to twenty new accounts every day (those you actually want content from, please). If you're providing great content, they'll be happy to follow you back. Now, one of the things that makes me NUTSO is a confirmation that I'm a real person before I can follow an account. What I get is that you don't want to follow an account that's from a robot, but why can't I follow you without going through a fifteen step verification process?
I unfollow/don't respond when someone requests this, because it comes off (to me) as arrogance. If I'm asking you to follow me, that's a different story. I mean, come ON, people. Just stop.
There's an app a lot of folks use on Twitter that seeks accounts on your feed that are inactive or people who have quit following you. It actually tweets out a message that announces who you unfollowed.
Yeah... Just... no. Please. I understand, but what does an inactive account really cost you? There's no limit, and they aren't producing content that hangs in your news feed, right? And unfollowing someone because they unfollowed you?
We're older than two. Let's act like it. *grin*
Okay, if you've stayed with me this long, you probably have a pretty good grip on the terms and suggested etiquette.
If you have any specific questions I didn't answer, feel free to pop them in the comments! I'll answer to the best of my ability!
Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
