Anyone who follows Cuddle Fairy knows how much I love Twitter. It’s my strongest social media network & definitely my favorite to use. I recently hit 10,000 followers on Twitter & that got me thinking about Twitter etiquette. Everyone uses Twitter differently some with more success than others – so what’s the difference?
I have written about Twitter before. I have a How to Use Twitter post which gives the basics of using Twitter. The follow-up post, Twitter Guide For Websites, is for those who are using Twitter to promote their website for their blog or business. Twitter can be an amazing tool for connecting with business, PR’s, bloggers & consumers if you know how to use it. My guides give advice on growing a following. In this post I hope to expand on the etiquette side of how I use Twitter.
Cuddle Fairy on Twitter
Here are Cuddle Fairy’s stats on Twitter: As I’m typing this post, I have 10,052 followers. I am following 3,717 accounts. I have sent 36.1k tweets & have 29.7k likes. I started Cuddle Fairy’s Twitter account exactly one year ago. I have a personal Twitter account which I started a year & a half ago which has 2,337 followers.
I am active on Cuddle Fairy’s Twitter every day (as you can guess from the amount of tweets). 95% of all tweets are done by me at the time of tweeting. I schedule tweets to promote my two linkys & if I am away. Otherwise, it’s me tweeting live.
What kind of things do I tweet? I tweet what’s happening in life. If we are away, out to dinner, a pretty sunset, etc. Twitter is instant & fast. If I want certain people to see a tweet then I tag them. I also share my blog posts & fellow blogger’s blog posts. I love sharing positive & funny quotes as well.
If you had a scroll through my Twitter Feed, you would find that the majority of my tweets are retweets (RT’s) & replies to people. This is where Twitter etiquette comes in.
Twitter Etiquette
Everyone has their own way of using Twitter & obviously there is no subjective etiquette guide. These are my top points on using Twitter with what I see as good & effective manners. I think that the way I use Twitter has helped build my following – it’s not just about sharing your great content. It’s also about how you interact with everyone.
1. Party like it’s 1999 if someone shares your content!
If someone tweets your blog post or website link, give them a RT, like & reply to thank them for sharing. Having your content shared outside your own following is huge! It will increase your reach. You want people to continue to do it so make sure they feel good about sharing your content.
If I tweet someone’s content, this is how I feel about their response:
a. They like my tweet only – they have acknowledged me.
b. They RT me – they are happy I shared.
c. They RT & like – they really appreciate that I shared.
d. They RT, like & reply – they are delighted that I shared & I feel like sharing again.
I always RT, like & reply to anyone who shares my content. I think this is the most important of my four etiquette points.
2. A quote tweet is NOT a RT.
A “quote tweet” is when someone quotes your tweet rather than retweeting. There are two different types of quote tweets.
The first type of quote tweet is when someone copies a tweet & pastes it into their own tweet. This creates a tweet in their own name. They normally give credit to the original tweeter. In my example below, I had said that I was tweeting from the couch – then @GrowingUPKTot replied to me. I copied her tweet & pasted it into my own, giving her credit by adding “RT from @GrowingUpKTot.”
Personally, I never do this type of quote tweet (except to create this example tweet & I felt I had to apologize to Katie for doing it). If content is good, I RT. I feel like this type of quote tweeting is done solely to keep all tweets in the tweeters own name. And, it’s kind of a tweet robbery!
The second kind of quote tweet or sub-tweet is when someone hits “quote tweet” instead of RT. That creates the example below. The original tweet from @animperfectmum is boxed off inside my tweet. So I’m sharing the original tweet & replying in one tweet.
I very occasionally do the second method of quoting a tweet – only in the rare instance that I want my opinion attached to the original tweet. It’s not the same as a RT because the content is buried.
Another point to make on this form of quote tweeting is if there are several people tagged in a conversation, if you choose to quote tweet & reply like I did above, only the first account with be notified of your reply. As such it breaks up the conversation.
The quote tweet really annoys me is if I join a linky that claims they will RT you & instead you get a quote tweet with a reply in one like the second example. I don’t think anyone would bother clicking open the tweet to see what the blog post is that’s being shared. (Please don’t take offense if you quote tweet).
So, why not quote tweet? There are articles out there that recommend you quot tweet so that so your readers know why you are sharing content. But, I think you can’t beat a RT. If you want people to RT you, then RT them. What goes around comes around in social media land. Also, it keeps credit with the person who created the content. By placing their tweet under your own name – you then take the likes & RT’s rather than the original tweet. And lastly, like I say above, the tweet is buried & less likely to be opened.
3. You can’t engage too much on Twitter.
Reply to tweets, RT them, fav them. Jump into conversations – that’s what Twitter is all about! It’s a never ending conversation that you can take part in or watch from the sidelines.
I don’t RT every time I’m mentioned but I do RT a lot! These are some of the times I RT: #ff tweets, tweets of those who have linked up with me, great posts from fellow bloggers, interesting articles or quotes I have found & various tweets that I have been tagged in.
I like every tweet I am tagged in except those I deem to be spam.
I reply to 99% of all tweets I am mentioned in.
4. DO NOT set up automatic DM’s.
There are apps you can sign up with such as crowd fire that allows you to type a message that will automatically send as a DM to a person when they follow you. I have yet to read one of these auto DM’s that was interesting in any way. Typically they ask you to follow them on Facebook or check out their blog page. I have never followed or checked out a page from them. They don’t do any good, they only annoy people, so don’t bother with one!
Final Thoughts
To me, this is good Twitter etiquette – RT, like & reply – you can’t do it enough! Be friendly, professional & kind. Put yourself out there. Join the conversation & share great content. Not just your own content! Mix up your feed with plenty of voices & keep it interesting.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Twitter etiquette! x
I’m sharing with #TheList | #PicknMix | #JustAnotherLinky | #effitfriday | #BlogStorm
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