Brace yourself. I’m about to unleash some of my brutal honesty on my Tweeps.
Well, maybe you’re not one of my Tweeps – as I tend to stay away from Twitter Twits.
What’s a Twitter Twit?
A Twitter Twit has many “no-no” attributes when using Twitter.
My first clue is when a user has an egg for an avatar or doesn’t have their bio filled out. Or worse, the bio is full of grammatical errors (or makes no sense at all).
What’s even more grotesque is if it says something along the lines of,
“I’m AWESOME, I’m a NINJA and my company is the BEST in the WORLD!”
Really? The world? Lemme see some credentials to back that up, buddy.
Secondly, if I see ANY tweets about getting more Twitter followers or buying more Twitter followers, you’re a Twitter Twit.
I also steer clear of people who only tweet quotes. Gee, thank you for your stellar information, but I think I’ll just go to BrainyQuote.com the next time I’m looking for a little inspiration.
Don’t get me wrong, a quote here and there can lift the day, add encouragement or define a moment! However, if every tweet I spy from you is a quote, you might be a Twitter Twit.
If you’re stuck on “rapid fire” – tweeting three, four, five or (GASP!) more tweets out at the same time – you sir or madam, are a Twitter Twit.
Sure, everyone has a sweet spot they’re aiming for, but cluttering our Twitter Streams with a flurry of tweets all at one time is wrong. And it’s spammy.
More No-No Behavior
If every tweet you send out has the fb.me/XYZ123 link, you’re a Twitter Twit. I’m sorry. I know this one stings for many of you.
But every smart Twitter Tweep knows that content marketing is all about the AUDIENCE, and Facebook and Twitter can have two totally different audiences – even for the same person/brands. Please don’t be a Twitt … do not, I repeat, DO NOT connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Please don’t be a Twitter Twit … do not, I repeat, DO NOT connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The worst offenders have their personal Facebook and company Facebook pages BOTH connected to one Twitter account. We get double the tweets about the same stuff. Ew. Not cool.
Accordingly, since content marketing is about the AUDIENCE if every (or every other, or the majority) tweet is about YOU, YOUR BUSINESS, YOUR BRAND, YOUR FREE WEBINAR, etc. you are the most heinous of Twitter Twits. Please take a moment to remove your narcissism from the Twitterverse (and the social sphere for that matter); it’s choking us and it stinks.
I know I’m coming across really mean right now, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take for the SOCIAL GOOD.
There’s a Consumer Revolution going on. Wake up and smell the change! Your consumers don’t want to hear all about you. They need value, they need to trust you, and if you’re going to use social media as a platform they need you to be social media savvy. This is especially true if you’re a social media “expert” or provide services in social business.
Your consumers don’t want to hear all about you. They need value, they need to trust you, and if you’re going to use social media as a platform they need you to be social media savvy. This is especially true if you say you’re a social media expert who provides services in social business.
No one deserves to be, or know, a Twitter Twit. So stop it already!
What are some things Twitter Twits do that chap YOUR hide? I’d love to hear from you, because hey, everyone should get a minute or two on the soapbox!
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26 Comments. Leave new
Just back from checking my twitter account and the word NINJA isn’t there. PHEW! No egg head – check! Hopefully I’m not a Twit. Great article! Thanks
No, Heidi, you are most certainly NOT a Twitt! 😉 Thanks for your comments.
A bit of humor and a lot of reality! Great blog.
Thanks Nancy! I try to be funny even when I’m ANNOYED as all get out (as I was the day I wrote this post). 🙂
Hmmm, I think someone might have been influenced by a certain angry nun! All very well said. Any one of these might be ignored (well, no, they’re all pretty bad), but the people who do it ALL. YIKES!
You forgot the autospammers, I mean Auto DMers. And those who ask you to validate before letting you connect! So NOT social!
Ah … my secret lover, the nun. Yes, she DID/DOES inspire me to be a little more direct about stuff that is just WRONG. There are soooo many other things I could have listed, like all of the things you mentioned! We should start a running list … hahaha. Thanks, as always, for your comments Mrs. Mallie! 😀
Love this Brooke. Now excuse me while I go un-connect my Facebook business page to my Twitter account. GUILTY. But completely agree with you.
Eek! I’m just happy you agree (you do NOT have to). I know curating content for each site takes a lot of time and effort … I also know for my own accounts and clients’ accounts that we get better results when the content is made specifically for FB/Twitter/LinkedIn, etc. and not shared all across the board. Let me know what your results are like, Heather!
Thank you! Each platform is DIFFERENT and requires a special touch to best showcase and share the great content you create and curate.
Love your post, Brooke. I ran into a Twitt yesterday who had followed me – he expected me to follow him back even though all his tweets were hidden and I had no idea what he was all about! Not cool!
Hi, Mary Ann, so glad to “meet” you! We talk (not so nicely) about Twitts like the one you mentioned all the time. Why would you be on Twitter just to hide your tweets … that’s not social at all, and it makes me wonder what you have to hide. Sooooo, not cool. 😉
Can I use the LOL expression I so despise? I really am laughing! 🙂 Great post, with lots of valid points. I am soooo on the fence on the Twitter/FB linking. I get engagement from it, each time, as I deal with and have following me, social media newbies (consulting clients) who don’t get all the links, blog posts and bit.ly stuff. A good old question (from FB) they get and respond to.
Is it time to cut the strings…?
Dorien Morin-van Dam recently posted…Social Media Productivity 101
Glad it made you laugh, Dorien! Laughter is good. 😀
I knew the FB/Twitter sharing would be a hot topic. It’s MY opinion, based on experience, that they shouldn’t be connected. It seems you do okay with them being connected. I can’t tell you whether or not to cut the strings, but let me know how it turns out if you do!
Great post Brooke! I too agree with many of your points. There is nothing worse than getting repeat tweets or posts from someone’s personal and business accounts one after the other. Auto pilot is not someone I am looking to have a relationship with! And I also like the Nun!!!
Thanks, Jen – I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds that SO COMPLETELY ANNOYING! I’m also not so glad my love affair with the nun is out in the open! HA! 😉
Great post with relevant for me advices! I admit I did a Twitt today, tweeting a FB link-link… Not anymore, honestly – advices like these as a re-fresh-add-ons are great, especially still being a learner on Twitter! Will Tweet this article without any Twitt’y!
Love the humour in the article, Brooke, Thank you!
Laughed the whole way through your comment, Eddie! We make mistakes! We act like Twitts – we just have to nudge each other and clear our throats (sometimes more loudly than others) when we see one of our ‘digital’ friends acting like a Twitt instead of a Tweep. 😀
Thank you very much for commenting and sharing!
Thank you Brooke, you’re funny!
Here’s the evidence why your post relate to me: – now making my ‘away-from-twitt-plan’!
Soon to be a Tweep:)
Hah! Love it, snark and all. This is some true stuff. I have been completely and utterly guilty of being the FB linker. Until I recently (and yeah, I know…way out of date, sorry I live in the hinterlands) went to an iPhone I am now beginning to ‘get’ Twitter a lot more. And as its value begins to sink in and resonate I KNOW I need to develop my Twitter strategy. You’ve inspired to break the link…today!
Whew … good to know, Kerry! 🙂 We’ve all been guilty of a social media no-no here and there. We’re human, we learn (hopefully) from our mistakes. And I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I take a hard stance on the FB & Twitter linking – but it’s all based on MY experience and the experience of my clients, so rest assured I’m not just saying it to say it.
Please let me know how “breaking the link” goes! I’m interested to see if things change for you.
Great reminders, in a lighthearted way, of how to use Twitter in a way you won’t annoy the hell out of your followers. Being annoying gets attention, just not the attention you want! Use Twitter for its strengths and avoid these weaknesses.
Good to hear, Kristen! It IS annoying. Just like it’s annoying if every tweet you post says, “Come visit us for our event tonight” or “We have XYX here at ABC” – well duh! I’m sorry but that’s not why I connected with you on Twitter. Or at least if you ARE going to have your business on Twitter, try to be more savvy (and social) than that! It’s not another advertising platform … it just seems it will keep being abused as such by certain “experts” out there. 😛
Oh Brooke, you and I are on the same wavelength, the only difference is I went off about Facebook Groups. I wonder if there is something in the water…
Although I will say I sometime post several things in a row – but it is generally me replying to others or retweeting something cool.
Sarah Sunshine Garrison recently posted…Stop Spamming Facebook Groups!
Yes … it MUST be something in the water. 😉 I love your post too, Sarah. Sometimes I think we just have to buckle down and tell it like it is! I’m sure you’re not on “rapid fire” – not the way I was describing it anyway.
Thanks for your comment!
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