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You’re Using Twitter Wrong
Aaron Lee, known as Ask Aaron Lee, is your average Joe but with an extra-large social media addiction.
Has anyone ever told you you’re tweeting the wrong way? I wrote about the mistakes new Twitter users make based on some of my past mistakes. I wanted to share some lessons here so that you could learn from mine, and avoid the same ones.
First, let me be clear, everyone has their own opinion, there is no ONE right method of using Twitter. We all use Twitter in our own way with our own goals.
Following are some common questions I receive.
- Do you return follow everyone? I like to at least try to follow back the people who follow me. Maybe NOT ALL, but I do try to engage with more people and come out of my circle. I have received some tweets from people saying we SHOULDN’T follow people back. The reason given was because it’s not a ‘natural influence’, and that we should follow a few hundred people and have thousands of followers…or we should only follow influential people and not follow people who are not influential. I felt these were ridiculous tips because who are we to judge someone based on a number, or the number of followers he or she has? One reason I do follow back is because that gives everyone the freedom to connect with me through direct messages if they have any questions. This helped me to connect with Gini Dietrich and she was able to send me a DM to asking if I was interested in guest blogging here. I felt honored! It was like an invitation to a great party.
- How can you follow the conversation? I do try to connect with everyone which can make it hard to follow the conversation. Recently, I’ve been using research.ly. It helps me to see what my followers are talking on a particular topic and to find other influencers and people I’d like to connect with. COOL huh? Who says we can’t pay attention now?
- How many tweets per day? There is no formula for this. Do what works for you. If you like writing, replying to hundreds of tweets each day and you feel happy doing it, why not? As long as Mark Schaefer doesn’t call you the DEVIL for posting too many tweets or posting weird tweets, you’re probably doing alright.
- How do you know if you’re doing something right or wrong? As long as you feel comfortable doing what you’re doing then continue. Try to explore other methods and see if it’s working. There’s nothing wrong with testing new methods. Keep educating yourself and paying attention to what others are doing. Don’t make the same mistakes that others have… like when Kenneth Cole promoted his latest fashion line using the Egypt hashtag.
- How do you find the time? If time doesn’t allow you to tweet all day, like for me, then schedule tweets using SocialOomph or Hootsuite . Some say you shouldn’t do that, but I schedule some throughout the day and go back in when I have time to interact and respond.
We all have different approaches when using Twitter, and different ways of connecting with people. If you don’t really have the time, then just come on Twitter whenever you can. It shouldn’t be a chore. I love to engage with people and I feel comfortable doing it. You should too! Do you have additional tips? or questions?
Photo credits: by kalleboo
Aaron Lee is a part-time internet marketer and social media consultant. He freelances with businesses to help them build their business online using social media. Offline, Aaron is a taking his degree in International Marketing at University Malaysia Sabah.
As long as I interact with my followers I'm good with it. That's very important for me. Good tips!
Ahem.Sorry Gini !
The follow back thing is so right. I believe that not following back is the same as if people reach out to you at a party and you just turn around and walk away. I unfollow people who unfollow me and those who do not tweet for a month. It is wonderful that there are no rules but I strongly believe that we should at least give people a chance of following back.Remember when you were new and you were getting your 2000/1850 balance.Follow backs were like gold !
Great advice as always Aaron and love your blog Gina
I guess you know whether you are doing twitter right by the number of accounts with blue ticks following you?
Am checking out research.ly
Thanks
Michael
Aaron thanks for the good tips on tweeting. I try to follow back in a timely manner but I need to work on that a little.
Aaron you rock buddy, simple things and we miss it. i have done blunders too but now i am trying to rectify some of them. more-above i converse more than broadcasting. it has helped me to get in touch with pretty cool people. scheduling tweets has a meaning when u do it the way u do :). thanks for research.ly,i am yet to give a try.rest my take on twitter is don't wait but jump in and you will follow ur things :)
I don't believe in following everyone that follows me...I always look to see how engaged they are first because I think the key to Twitter is in who you follow. Following those you enjoy and/or those you truly want to attract makes all the difference in the world. You have to define what experience you want from anything before you jump into it! GREAT POST!
Hi Michele,
Actually I don't too, but it takes me more time to find out who to follow than actually following them back. Last time I took 1-2 hours everyday just to follow back people. In the end, I decided to follow back everyone. I feel that its like a business card thing, if they follow me, i will follow them. Who knows if one day I read their blog and then notice I was following them at the while, I can easily DM them. It happens a lot of times before.
Again, it comes down to what makes thing easy for you. Thank you so much for the comment.
Great points and agreed...on most. I follow most people who follow me but there are some who:
1. Are tweeting for more "intimate" purposes...not interested.
2. Are doing nothing but pushing information and not engaging.
I just responded to a tweet that posted "I'm waiting for a genuine tweet". Hmmmm
Hoot, hoot.....
Hi Catherine,
I agree, there will be some that you will have no interest so whatever. Today I am more picky to choose who I follow, its together to choose who to follow these days. Too many spams look like real people lol
There is no right or wrong way for using Twitter? ah, wrong! There may be no single right method, there are definitely a few. But there are also plenty of wrong ways.
"Do you return follow everyone" - Absolutely not. Some people forget that twitter is a "social" network, and you should only follow those people whose tweets you find interesting - and not just follow for follow sake.
Then those you find interesting, you should definitely engage. Twitter is awesome! As long as you treat it like a social network, and not a sales broadcast platform :)
Nice article! I think the http://research.ly/ tip just revolutionised my twitter experience!
Thanks!
Aaron, I've been a believer in totally managing my twitter manually, no automation at all. This becoming more difficult as time goes on & I've realized that scheduling done right isn't the devil, your scheduled tweets were how I first became aware of you. Scheduling really does help a person connect with folks around the globe.
Thanks for once again,doing it right!
Hello!
Thank you so much for commenting on two blog post today. Yes I think that scheduling well and managing your twitter account properly is a good way to connect with people.
Glad we were able to connect from those schedule tweets. Question is, will you start scheduling any time soon? :)
I love Reading!...Period!! when I am following someone, I sit there and read the whole article and leave coments and tweet it!!
This to me is my tweeter family who I can accept not living with me.
Hi Toni,
Wow, that is one big dedication you have there, we need to have more people like you around, Would certainly make twitter a better place to be :)
Good post on a difficult subject.
It's all so personal!
I only follow people who have some kind of real interaction with me (even if it's just an RT) but many people tell me I'm doing that 'wrong' :-)
Hi Peter,
As long as you're happy and getting results from it, tough to say you're wrong. People tell me I am wrong all the time. I just listen and smile because I am still getting results from it.
Cheers
When it comes to Social Media I have a quote that I use as my guide:
"Hell, there are no rules here, we are trying to accomplish something." Thomas Edison
I'd been pondering follow backs for a long time. You've made a very compelling point - to allow people to DM should they wish to take the conversation offline.
It irritates me when someone I follow DMs me and I CAN'T DM a reply. Tsk. Tsk.
But I also don't care for the, "Can you follow me so I can DM?" tweets.
I'm still thinking...
Hi Pamela,
Indeed, it happens to me too. Sometimes I reply to them hinting that I wanted to reply to their DM but I couldn't because they are not following me. Just hints to see if they want to follow or have not notice they didn't follow me back.
I remember once, I was talking to someone for a while on twitter, we exchange daily tweets and he wasn't following me, so one day I said just for fun "what does it takes to get you to follow me buddy?"
He replied and apologize because he thought he was as he kept me in a list.
Today we connect on tweets and through Dm's.
Aaron, this is great info...especially for a rookie Twitter person like me. [Is there a term for a person who uses Twitter?]
The more I learn, the more clueless I feel. I'm like-OBLIVIOUS. I'm trying figure out why in the world would someone schedule a tweet? To me, it seems as quickly as I send out a tweet, it falls out of sight in my Timeline???
I'm learning more and more each day. I think in a matter of a few months I can call my self an intermediate user. But for now, I'm a rookie - big time! I'm eager to learn, so thank you for the pointers sir!
Hi Jk,
We're all learning together as things change all the time, as long as you're YOU then you're on the right track.
As for scheduling a tweet. I schedule mine, because I want my twitter stream filled with tweets 24hours daily so that anyone can read anything where ever they are. Moreover I am in Asia and its 4:40am now replying this message, so its tough for me to maintain a twitter presence when I am not around during hot hours such as now or when people are awake in the US as most of my blog readers or followers are from the US.
So by scheduling, it helps me to be there although I can't LoL!. When i wake up, I'll be there responding to everyone.
A term of a person who uses twitter? I guess twitter user fits fine with me. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Hope this articles helps you learn along your way.
If you need any help in the future, feel free to ask me on twitter as I am following you now. Cheers and good luck
Aaron
As long as its working for you, its tough for us to say what is right and what is wrong. What I've felt wrong to me, works for others lol! :)
"How many tweets per day? There is no formula for this." I think Gini just brought down Hootsuite with her 200+ posts... Ha!
Oh that is a cool post. And thanks for the reference Aaron. If anybody every doubts the business benefits of Twitter, all they need to do is look at the value and relationship you and I have built up over a year.
As for calling somebody the devil. That has been truly reserved for only one Twitter personality, Guy Kawasaki. However I got to meet him in person recently and he is a genuinely nice person. I looked for the horns but I think he might be doing one of those comb-overs.
Thanks for the great post!
Hi Mark,
I feel Guy Kawasaki is a genuine guy too. (although he may seem like a devil on twitter) I have not met him yet though. Would love to meet him one day. Oh! Guy Kasawaki sent me his book too, since the book won't be here till a couple of months.
Anyway you're welcome for the reference, when I read the blog post a couple of months back, I remember it because it was hilarious.
Its has been a great pleasure connecting and building a relationship with you Mark. Cheers for all the good things and compliments you've said about me since.
Evil Alien gets to comment here! First off the power of twitter is immense. It can also easily cause someone to become anti you, your product, your business.
Guy Kawasaki is a case in point. My friend Bill Green worked with him many years back. Says he is a very nice guy. Which I take his word (and yours). But when I joined Twitter Guy was an early 'Rock Star' and he was listed by AdWeek or AdAge as a 5 to follow. Mind you I had done zero Ad Industry networking at this point and was new to Twitter.
Guy sent a very nice DM thanks for following and if his stream is spammy to follow Alltop. Yes his stream spammed the hell out of me. Then I follwed Alltop also spammed the hell out of me. But I wasn't upset...at this point. I didn't even know who Guy was or Alltop at that point.
Then Business Week had an article on paid tweeters. And how Kim Khardashian got $10,000 a tweet. And...Guy Kawasaki got $800 a tweet. I tried contacting Guy because I wanted...no demanded to know which tweets he was paid to tweet because if he would not divulge then I felt he wasn't genuine. It was impossible to get an answered so I was pissed and unfollowed him.
This caused me to tell people he was a paid tweeter and not to trust his tweets. I refused to retweet any links to Alltop or that had him. And to this day I love to say 'Who is Guy Kawasaki' if he is mentioned in a blog post. And my rules still stand. He might be a nice person and maybe fun to have a beer with but it has now been since Fall of 2009 since this event and my views haven't changed.
So point being don't hire a staff to tweet in your name like he has. Be genuine. And be careful who you might piss off because in the B2B sales world we call them Terrorists. They could be in an account you call in who has it in for your company or a competitor that is out to get you. But they can hurt you, your brand and your business.
So yes I am his personal Twitter Terrorist LOL good person or not! 8)
recently i read a post from @kmuller62 where he spoke about why he won't tweet for you and i can understand where u come from. yes paid twitteraties actually don't work so its better to be personal twitter terrorist :)
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