People might diss twitter but, the phenomenon of microblogging makes sense in an information overload era. With relevant links attached people are throwing around tips of icebergs at each other and inviting them to look deeper if so inclined. In addition, what appears are commentary on the various topics, articles or events. This is a great way to reduce the flood of information while still providing access to its depths.

1. Inappropriateness – Have a look at the article on anthropology and social networks. Inappropriateness doesn’t refer to a statement or post that is socially inappropriate (Which is obviously bad), in this case it means a post, tweet or picture that doesn’t fit into the context of what your account has defined itself as. Some networks are more forgiving, even encouraging, in sharing personal information while others have rather strict requirements as to the kind of content that belongs there.
2. Rudeness – This kind response not only alienates the recipient, it is also possible that the rude reply will be recirculated via a tweet flame war (We need a moniker for this, bird fight?, pecker rumble, feather dustup, cock fight, bird droppings, kitty hawk throwdown [When two tweet-chick go at it] ). I remember messing around with the Twitter API and getting a rather rude @tweet critical of what I was attempting and in his 140 characters, managed to do so in a way that could be read as discouraging. After 8 solid years of ‘Internet global community highway revolution intertwined village…’ Everyone’s got thick skin on the web, so if some guy with a thinning mullet flings a few bird droppings at you, it’s no big deal. The real risk it to him and here’s why.
   
   It come’s in the form of irony. The title of his website is, get this, Leadership Training and Personal Development. I’m not sure, but it seems to me that the entry in the new webster dictionary for awesome will have to include this guy, because he is the very definition thereof. If being poked in the chest by a bully is something that motivates you, he might be your dream coach. Conventional wisdom is that methodologys have changed and evolved from this approach and therefore this ‘Life Coach’ could easily find himself involved in twitter flame war in which (Irregardless, of his facility for wit) his brand, such as it is, takes a hit each time that tweet is recirculated. Really want to bust such a person in the chops? Go ahead and get into that battle with him, via a different account (of course). Get him to hang it all out, and then post the fracas for all and sundry to see, explaining all the while that this person is a ‘Life Coach’. As I said, Thick skin is essential to anyone who dares post things up on the web, you’ll eventually meet with all manner of rudeness, so the risk is entirely that of the aggessor. It is rare indeed when lack of civility is so swiftly rewarded with its repercussions. Twustice indeed. I’ve blocked out the information necessary to identify this person because I’ve no desire to respond in kind, but others, particularly as the population of the service grows, may be less inclined toward restraint.
3. Not verifying links or getting the link right – alot of these tweet aggregators link to sites that then link to the actual page you were interested in reading. If you forget to tinyurl or post the direct link, you are creating a small amount of resentment toward the person who is redirecting you. If it’s your logo on that trailhead, a certain amount of spamishness will be associated with you.
4. Linking only to your own site – Self promotion on Twitter and other social networks is accepted and even encouraged since many visitors are looking for resources and links that have not yet bubbled up on Google. If, however your add a comment on whatever everyone else is memeing about along with a link, consistently to your own website, and only the landing page with no relevance to the tweet or conversations content, you get a spam point.
5. Linking only to other people’s sites- Conversely, if all you are linking to is the content of others, without the commentary or own blog posts on the subject, you may come across as a bot. There is nothing wrong with bots, they are only automation, but it is difficult to associate a brand identity with something lacking personality.
6. The default logo, profile or introductory text -This has been mentioned before. First of all, the default twitter logo is rather ugly. This is a good thing since it should encourage the user to personalize. The whole point of a social network is identity, if you haven’t defined one, what are you doing there? the assuption is that you are either a noob, who hasn’t got the experience to contribute meaningfully or that you don’t really plan to be around very long, probably because you’re a spam hose.
7. Links to the website rather than to the article – Don’t talk about one thing and send the reader to another completely unrelated topic. Inevitably someone may land on a page that no longer has that same article in the same location, but to land on a page with no relation whatsoever to the topic at hand is a real pain and total brand killer.
8. Tiny URL – Not bad, but misses the opportunity to promote your url. If you can fit your full length url along with the tweet, you’re adding a bit of advertising for your blog. To see http://tinyurl.com/ax34y may still allow you to have your twitter account name, but to see the url for YOUR website in the tweet fulfills one of the strategies of advertising, repetition. Many times a visit to Twitter search may turn up several articles worth reading but time constraints won’t allow for this. Seeing your sites real, unshortened url will allow the user to memorize the location of the article. Now let’s say you’ve got several worthwhile posts up, that same reader will have that site name reinforced each time and eventually visit your site because they can be sure that one visit will yeild several good articles. This, of course obligates you to deliver the goods, but that’s the game you’re in and what you’ve signed on for.
9. Linking to old articles – No point in telling a story that everyone’s heard before. It associates your brand with irrelevance.
10. Linking to articles that are VERY popular, chances are that someone has already read that page. Worse, yet it makes you look like a follower not a leader.
11. Lack of any personal insight – Your blog posts will contain some insight if they are high quality, but your tweet stream should as well. The odd comment on what’s going on and how you feel adds the personal ‘Twitter’ element to the mix. It’s your way of fronting a sample to the customer without any obligation
12. Lack of focus, the articles go from sports to tech to business with no apparent guiding theme. This kind of account is competing with CNN.
13. Lack of responsiveness – People will be commenting on your tweets or posts, failure to respond to them is an indication of indifference in participation and a stress on promotion. To get the maximum bang for your buck, a bit cold blooded perhaps, but put priority on responding to those with the most followers, your tweets will be seen by more people. You can also include your url in such a tweet, if the landing page has some relevance.

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