The Creed of a Twitter Tweep
A lot of people still miss the point of Twitter’s original functions. It was not exactly made to be a huge chatroom. Though having a conversation on Twitter is great, for some of your followers, it may make them unfollow you. There are people that believe having thousands of followers is the way to get ahead. It only does in your own mind if you do not influence anyone. Influencing your followers means engaging them in what you have to share.
I have put together a short Creed for Twitter Tweeps (“tweep” is the actual word for people who use Twitter.)
The Creed of a Twitter Tweep
1. You are not obligated to follow back everyone.
2. You are in control of your content, so make sure you are aware of articles you Retweet. Retweeting an article blindly could affect your trust if the article is not up to par with what your followers expect.
3. Do not expect others to follow you back even if you keep sending them tweets. It does not necessarily mean you are being ignored, but they may be a bit busy to respond to every tweet, especially celebrities on Twitter.
4. You should use Twitter for more than connecting with others. There are sites that send their articles through the Twitter stream that could prove beneficial to you or even just be of interest. (Be open and expand your knowledge.)
5. Advertising is okay, but excessive advertising is seen as spam. Be cautious and do not become a spammer.
6. (For Newbies) It is okay to have more than one Twitter account if you are a person who tweets as an individual, for a company, or even for a particular website if you have more than one website. (Example, I have 3 accounts I tweet under, in the process of making one for my webhosting and design company, and tweet for the company that I am a social media intern.)
7. Do tweet your blog articles to your followers. How will they know you if you do not share your content with them?
8. Be active and choose your conversations wisely. While someone might be offensive, it is best to just unfollow or block, and not give them the joy of your ire.
9. The number of followers are NOT important. It is the quality and trust. You can have thousands of followers, but what benefit is that when none of them have any interest in what you want to share? Without quality or trust, there is no influence among your followers.
Of course, there are more that can be added. I have left this a bit open so you, the reader might be motivated to add to this list. 
Follow Nile on Twitter at @blondishnet.
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9 Responses to “The Creed of a Twitter Tweep”
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Thank you for posting this! Twitter ettiquette, common sense, relationship building cannot be overestimated.
Thanks for all the fun we have Twittering!
-Mother Connie
http://foodstampscookingclub.com/blog
Ahoy,
Nice article. I can’t think of anthing to add to the above list. My only thought is, it is very difficult not to get obsessed with the numbers. They are right there, in your face, all the time! Hard to ignore…
Arrr
Rob
My rule #1 would be, when you tweet, think to yourself, “Is this going to be valuable to others?” Don’t waste others time with “I’m going to the gym” unless there is a faction of your followers that cares if you go to the gym and will meet you there. Make sure your tweets make your followers learn, laugh, be inspired, or something else productive.
Just wanted to thank you for this information, it was helpful for me.
Hi Patrick,
Very well said!! Many people still think that Twitter is just used to post what they are doing. It might have started out this way but it is changing fast. I hear people say, “I don’t use Twitter because I don’t care what someone had for breakfast?” If people still think this is what Twitter is all about they are sadly missing the boat. You said it very well Patrick, make sure your tweets make your followers learn, laugh, be inspired, or something else productive.
Thanks for the comment,
Skeeter
Hi Leisa,
You are very welcome and we are just glad we were able to help. I look forward to getting to know you better.
Thanks for the comment,
Skeeter
I’ve always been a bit of an anti-fashionista, so I rebel against following my followers just for the sake of following them. I read everyone’s profile and their last few tweets before deciding. Anyone who is obviously only interested in adding numbers I avoid i.e. following / followers 20million; tweets 2. Duh? Not interested!
Thanks for this article. It’s good to have it spelled out to us. There is a handful of tweeps in whom I’m interested in sharing what we had for breakfast (metaphorically speaking). Better that than mindless self-promotion, in my humble opinion.
I agree with all of this and with Mel also. I also read profiles and latest Tweets before following someone and rarely follow anyone that doesn’t appear to follow many others. I’ve met some great people through Twitter and it has expanded my network hugely. When used with balance and thought, it’s a valuable tool in the social networking box.
@Connie – thank you for stopping by and reading my article. There are a lot of Twitter etiquette articles. Some have a bit of wrong info, and others are just right. This comes from my experience with not just Twitter but also using social networks and blogging for years.
@Rob – It can be a thrill, but never let numbers go to your head. For me, I just put blinders on. Sometimes I might notice and say ‘Hey… thanks for following.’
@Patrick – amen. I do not want to hear that someone is cleaning their lingerie or slurping a slushee…whatever. I want some value. Obviously there is conversation between other tweeps, but that is value for that individual. It is the other valuable material that is share that I appreciate more.
@Leisa – you are welcome… anything to help
@Mel and @Heather – you have every right to feel that way and you are correct – numbers are not always important. There are people that do not go out and follow others on a regular basis that share content that I always have to read. These are the people I could care less if they followed back, but grateful if they do find me worth the time.
And yes, you should look at everyone’s profile before following. Of course, I have my account to set on some places to auto-follow for anyone in a certain niche, but I go back at least once a month to weed through the profiles and take out spammers. I am up for my monthly cleanup this weekend….