Twitter 101: Clarifying The Rules For Newbies

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Lots of Twitter guides tell you what you should do, but rarely explain how it should be done. twitter When joining Twitter, finding a “tweeting”, or messaging, balance will be rocky at first. Don’t worry, that’s expected and we’ve all been through it. Don’t give up. If you’re taking any of the thousands of tips out there and you’re still not seeing good results, try tweaking your Twitter habits with this guide.

But I’m Doing What They Said!

chalkboard The rules and tips for getting started on Twitter need better clarification. Some of these tips are right, but are being done wrong. Here are three of the most common tips that could use some clarification:
  • Follow a lot of people
  • Reply back to everyone
  • “Tweet” a lot

Clarification On: Follow A Lot Of People

add Following a lot of people does help you get more involved with Twitter. That’s the point of Twitter. However, don’t do it all at one time. This is the worst advice to give a new Twitter user without any type of clarification on how to do it. When you first start Twitter, you should build up your stream first. Send out about 20 messages that actually mean something. Talk about your interest, something cool that you like, or something you found out about today. This way, people can get a better feel for how beneficial you’d be to them if they followed you in return. After about 20+ messages, start following about 10 people. For every 20+ messages, follow 10 more people. Ease your way into following a lot of people. DON’T follow a lot of people (30+) at one time, with no way for them to connect with you by looking at your stream of Twitter messages, also known as “tweets”.

Clarification On: Reply Back To Everyone

Comment2 Please don’t reply back to everyone when you first join Twitter. That isn’t how you should begin using Twitter. Would you really want to follow a new Twitter user that’s using Twitter like it’s AIM/MSN/Yahoo Messenger? If you’re going to reply back to everyone, wait a few minutes before replying, especially for messages that don’t require an immediate response. Streams full of @ replies are a turn off to more established Twitter users that you may be trying to befriend. Mix up your tweets with replies, general tweets, and throw in some links every now and then.

Clarification On: “Tweet” A Lot

Spam As a new Twitter user, it’s hard to find a balanced way to build up your stream. Unless you have a reason to tweet a lot, don’t! This is the quickest way to be classified as a spammer. As you’re following/followers builds up, your twittering habits will naturally follow suit. Sending out 10-20 messages a day on Twitter is fine. It’s even perfect for some of your followers. Keep these numbers in mind when you first join Twitter.

Find Your Tweeting Balance (Twalance?)

There are thousands of articles being written to help those that are just hopping on the Twitter bandwagon. Those that are new to Twitter will take them to heart and apply these suggestions as best as they can. Lately, some of them have been following me, but I’m hesitant to follow back. I know I’m not the only one and these users may be wondering why. Now you know, and hopefully these suggestions can help you get better results with getting your followings to follow you back. Recommended Twitter Reads:
  • CyndyA

    Bahahaha. 10-20 a day. I saw you there listed OVER me as a megaphone on Louis' post. ;)

  • http://shegeeks.net Corvida

    I tweet way more than 10-20 times any given day lol. Louis bares through it
    all. I'm sure he finds SOMETHING of value in there. This guide is strictly
    for newbies though :-P

  • http://seanreiser.com sreiser

    I almost judged a book by it's cover here. Saw twitter “rules” in the title and was ready to rail against them (because most twitter rules posts on the web are BS) but these make sense,… good post

  • CyndyA

    Just as long as you didn't mean me. On a bad day, I have 10-20 before BREAKFAST!

  • http://elliottng.com elliottng

    @corvida, you did it again! I was giving some advice to someone about joining Twitter and had some of the same rules, e.g. tweet a bit before you start trying to Follow a lot of people. When I decide whether or not to Follow someone back, here's what I look for in order of priority:
    1. Followers/Followed – is this person a data scraper or spammer?
    2. URL – I like people with URLs filled in. Preferably a blog.
    3. Tweets – is there a mix of broadcast tweets and @ tweets? Do they look like they are engaging with other people on twitter? I also stay away from people who use Twitterfeed to spam me with all their posts without any commentary.

    OK, ttyl corvida,
    @elliottng

  • http://rex.fm Rex Pechler

    Ah, Twitter. Nice write-up.

  • http://blog.yuvisense.net Yuvi Panda

    I did this. Unintentionally! And, I can say it works. Works very well ;)

    Although, I do admit that I wrote a script to follow people, but I was selective: I followed people whom other quality folks followed. Gave me good quality folks ;)

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  • http://izzy.typepad.com Izzy

    There is a ratio that you want to try to meet of people you are following and people who follow you so that you don't end up being called a spammer. Check out twitspam.com to see the list of people doing it wrong.

  • http://www.toaxt.com isle

    Nicely done. I particularly like the tweet-to-following ratio. Someone following me with an extremely unbalanced follower/following does give me pause. Some people may tweet alot also…but if it is too much, and not interesting, I will unfollow just to clear up my stream. I *do* like reading a lot of the minor daily happenings of people, as long as it is balanced with interest or humour. (or I wouldn't be on Twitter, obviously) -Quality and value must be interspersed or it is just more noise.
    @replies are important also, to see who they tweet, and what they have to say.
    I'll be bookmarking this for newb friends.

  • http://tlandini.com tommyl

    Thanks for the post. Gentle introductions like this can help expand the community into places it might not otherwise go – IMO.

  • http://julianbaldwin.com/blog Julian Baldwin

    Izzy,

    I had been thinking about this a little bit recently. The conclusion I've come to is this: the majority of people having a following: follower ration of 500:1 or anything outrageous are not actually following anyone specifically. At first I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt that maybe they had a reason for their madness, but no it's spam.

    I think those people would be better off following the public timeline instead of putting in the manual labor of following so many people. It would be a cleaner community if there were governing ratio rules, but that would collude the freedom of Twitter.

    What I find most useful is having a top 40 list and be willing to expand to a top 50 and so on as you meet more valuable people on the network.

  • http://ext337.org marnie webb

    Tools like TweetScan can also be a helpful way for new twitter users to dive into the conversations that will be of interest.

  • http://www.scribkin.com J. Phil

    Very practical advice! This is very similar to how I've grown (and am still growing) my network, a few here and there, with judicious reviewing of twitter user pages before adding.

    I will admit to following some big names because they were big names. Hey, I'm not the only fanboy out there.

  • http://shegeeks.net Corvida

    Thank you, glad I could break the mold :)

  • http://shegeeks.net Corvida

    I think that all of these rules change once you find your Twitter groove,
    which gives us more room to actually break these rules. It's a bit weird.

  • http://mosaeus.com Moses

    nice, this should be a pre-requisite class, even before picking a username! :) @urbannerd

  • http://www.frisket.ca isle

    Good point :) isn't that typical though, the more we know about any given thing, the more we can break rules or hack it to suit ourselves.
    Internet..or say, driving ;)

  • http://julianbaldwin.com/blog Julian Baldwin

    Corvida,

    That's an interesting point, suggesting there is a standard set of rules that governor behavior until the user hits an inflection point and freedom to behave under their own set of rules, separate from the standards becomes more beneficial.

  • http://www.marlooz.tv Marlooz

    And as a newbie don't forget to read the Twitionary: http://tinyurl.com/693ds5

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  • http://coffeesister.net Dorian aka coffeesister |_|)

    YES! That's precisely part of the brilliance of Twitter.. If only this same concept were applied more elsewhere!? Be it our blogs or “real life” (ha), we should by all means follow (God forbid) tried & true 'rules' til we hit our stride THEN go for broke! Break the mold & discover your own voice. ^_^

    (|_|*cheers*|_|)
    “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ~ E. E. Cummings

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  • http://ericrice.com Eric Rice

    It's rather amusing we are at a point we have to tell people how to use a service that lets you communicate with other people.

    Twitter's my favorite IM client.

    @spin

  • http://rajugandhi.com raju

    Corvida,

    Thank you for that article. I am new to twitter (well kinda anyways) and started off using it as an IM. Though I have learned better, this article helps. I was hoping I could find a way to add new and interesting people.

  • butwait

    Good piece; hope you're cool w/ me adding it to my Twitter Newbie FAQ page!

    http://butwait.pbwiki.com/Twitter-Newbies-FAQ

    Thanks for thinking this stuff through and sharing it out.

  • http://shegeeks.net Corvida

    No problem at all. Thanks for the honor! I should add this to my resume ;-)

  • http://edtechtrek.blogspot.com Caroline O'Bannon

    Ah! If only I had this when I first started! Great guidelines and I'll pass them on to anyone I introduce to Twitter. They'll be saved the headaches and initial disappointment I was.

  • http://shegeeks.net Corvida

    Here's an I've written to help you out with that. ;-)

    http://shegeeks.net/finding-new-friends-on-twit…

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  • http://controltheweb.blogspot.com/2008/05/keep-it-simple-stupid-making-friends-on.html Dave L

    Well done. Too many guides philosophize without getting down to brass tacks.

  • http://www.smashingred.com/ Jay Gilmore

    Oops. Thanks for the information. Seriously. Do I get points for breaking all of the rules?

  • http://shegeeks.net Corvida

    :D Not Brownie Twitter points lol maybe spam points.

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  • http://twitter.com/dhollings Dan Hollings

    Ha! Too funny. I thought this was 101 Twitter tips, but it is Twitter 101. None-the-less, good stuff for beginners no doubt. I've created a list of 100 (well maybe 101) solid Twitter Tips and strategies for more advanced users. I think you'll enjoy (ALL FREE):

    http://twittinsecrets.con

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  • http://www.wapadchange.com Mobile Advertisement

    I'm new to Twitter and the 101 tips helps.

  • http://www.globalracingschools.com Racing Schools

    Good Twitter tips you have there. I like replying too. ;-)

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  • http://www.internet-empire.com Seo

    Wow Dan, that's some stuff you have on Twitter.

  • http://twitter.com/dhollings Dan Hollings

    Yes yes… thanks. Have you seen my latest: “Twas The Night Before Twitmas…”
    http://budurl.com/StTwit

  • http://www.pimotor.com Parallel Import Cars

    I must admit that replying everybody made me really exhausted at first. Nowadays I do selective replying depending on my mood for the day.

  • http://www.ezbusinessneeds.com Singapore SEO

    I noticed that for every tweet that i performed, i will get around 1 -2 followers. It really depends on what interests you are tweeting on.

  • http://www.breezeto5.com Managerial Job

    Good tips. I think having lots of followers really helps. Ultimately it's the followers who are usually the first to see the new blog posts.

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  • http://www.jastalentsnmodels.com/ Singapore Escort

    I am a newbie and hey, that's great help to people like us. Thanks for the tips. It definitely helps.

  • http://www.silosobeachresort.com Singapore Hotel

    It's not easy replying everybody if there's a large following like this.

  • Twittonary

    Great article! Truly a great way for beginning to get a grasp on Twitter and all if its uses. Definitely hardest part– finding a balance. it can definately become an addiction if you are not careful!

  • http://kabonfootprint.com/busby-seo-test/ Busby SEO Test

    I am new to Twitter, and with small group of follower, but I am already having hard time in keeping up replies.

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  • http://saieva.wordpress.com saieva

    Be sure to use the Favorites feature of Twitter. Saving tweets as Favorites is a great way to highlight your interests to your Followers and visitors to your Twitter profile. And you can also provide a link to your Twitter Favorites on your Website or blog. More information on using Favorites can be found here:

    http://saieva.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/the-most…

    Regards,

    Sal.
    —
    Salvatore Saieva

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  • http://www.sightseeingtourslondon.com London Tours

    Thanks for this. I never understood twitter and therefore kept away from it but you have cleared up a few points for me and I think I am going to give it a go!

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  • http://www.angularcheilitistreatments.com Liontin

    Thanks for the tips.. I really appreciate that.

  • http://www.howtomakekefir.com Whereisaron

    Since i'm also a newbie, this post really help me a lot.

  • http://blog.2createawebsite.com/ Lisa Irby

    This is a great post. I just passed it on to a friend who's trying to figure all this Twitter stuff out. Very great points, especially about following everyone. If I see someone following 10,000 people I know they are just trying to follow others in order to boost their own following. I also unfollow people who do nothing but promote their stuff. I'm up to 1300 follows now and I feel I'm getting the hang of it. I love it!

  • Frank Rizzo

    I love when this story appeared live on CNN this morning Josh is scrolling through twitter updates and stops on one that says “I'm the biggest lameshit…” My wife and I were watching and died laughing. We rewound the DVR a ton just to make sure we both saw it. Ahh the irony of running a story telling us how to use new technology and getting owned by it yourself. All about the CNN failboat.

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  • http://adhouse.sg/stuffs Classifieds

    Well, i for one didnt know there are such rules…. Good ones…. But my best suggestion is still, just try and practice will make it perfect

  • http://adhouse.sg/stuffs Classifieds

    Well, i for one didnt know there are such rules…. Good ones…. But my best suggestion is still, just try and practice will make it perfect

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  • john191

    Your blog appears quite informative. Can you please tell me how can I read your rss blog?
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    I am one new person on twitter. SO I want to gain so much knowledge on twitter. I am collecting lots of article on twitter to read. Thank you for your great post.

  • seniorwise

    I share Ron Paul's frusstration with the federal reserve.

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  • cheilitistreatment

    its good to get some solid twitter advice instead of all the usual cut and paste nonesense. I was thinking of starting twitter site for angular cheilitis treatment but im not sure if it would work well or not. Angular cheilitis is not very popular lol,

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  • fredbolton

    I think it is very nice that you have somebody to clear your thoughts regarding the rules of twiter.I guess there are many rules to follow.
    _____________________
    Motion for Leave to File Cross-Complaint

  • fredbolton

    I think it is very nice that you have somebody to clear your thoughts regarding the rules of twiter.I guess there are many rules to follow.
    _____________________
    Motion for Leave to File Cross-Complaint

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  • DynamoAsh

    good tips and comments here. personally I started in twitter a few months ago and in the beginning was a bit confused with the hole thing. specially all those # and @ tags and how to really start a conversation.

    After a while I kind of got a hang of it and manged to get my first 100 followers. I also blogged about my experience here. http://dynamoash.com/how-i-got-my-first-100-twi…

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    I agree with DynamoAsh that Twitter is confusing if you are starting to learn

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    Although Twitter is confusing, it's still the best tools around.

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    Great tips, thanks a lot.

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  • ChrisOdalis

    Good practical tips, Corvida!

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  • http://www.moldremoval.net Mold Removal West Palm Beach

    Very good tips. Thanks for sharing.

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    Thanks for information

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  • http://javaandfriends.blogspot.com/ erin

    just migrated to twitter, and this one’s nice :)

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