50 Rules of Twitter

The 50 rules of Twitter by Derren Rovell, reporter and tweet fiend with CNBC, who has hit the 100,000 followers mark in a little over 2 years.

1. Twitter is for everyone. A person in any profession can help his or her career if he or she utilizes it correctly.

2. Only follow your friends if they have something you want to hear. Facebook is for friendships.

3. For the rest of eternity, no one is going to believe you if you said you were hacked, even if you were. Sorry.

4. Please don't link your Foursquare and Twitter accounts. Your Twitter followers signed up for your Twitter content, not the fact that you just became the mayor of Starbucks.

5. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was your Twitter account. Developing a strong following takes time and effort.

6. Always credit your source if you find content worth sharing. Think like a journalist when you're passing along quality info.

7. Don't ask to be followed. Twitter is a meritocracy. Earn it.

8. Don't tweet out inspirational quotes unless that's the purpose of your account. By now everyone has heard "Carpe Diem, seize the day." -Horace

9. Don't tweet that you are bored. Now I am too.

10. If you follow someone, don't be offended if they don't follow you back. Not everyone plays for "Team Followback." Earn their follow from strong, periodic @replies if you feel that you have something to offer.

11. Don't be tempted by the speed of Twitter. Take a breath before each tweet and ask, "If I was a follower, would I want to read this?” If not, delete it.

12. Unless you are a pro athlete, don't tell me that you are at the gym. I get it, you work out.

13. Proofread your tweets. The amount of typos in 140 characters is mind blowing.

14. Find your Twitter niche, but don't be afraid to branch out a little. Most followers enjoy a little variety every now and then.

15. Quantity of tweets is fine as long as it's quality. I average more than 40 tweets a day.

16. Unless you are 14 years old, don't make your account private. No strangers will want to request to follow you.

17. Do not use a default Twitter background. Instead, use an image or photo that complements your interests or personality.

18. Follow Friday’s are perhaps the emptiest tweets on all of Twitter, unless you tell me why they deserve my follow.

19. Want to give your recommendation more oomph? Do it on Tuesday; nobody is expecting it.

20. Just because you are getting slammed doesn't mean you should blame Twitter. Learn to absorb the hate and get a thicker skin, it's useful in life.

21. If you're RTing (retweeting) someone with comment, it's OK to shorten up their original tweet in order to keep it under 140. Just don't alter the original person's intended message.

22. Don’t harbor on the fact that you lost one follower. Rejoice in the fact that you gained two.

23. Athletes & celebs blame Twitter when “sharing” goes wrong. It’s not the sharing of information that’s the issue, it’s what you share.

24. Never ask for a RT (Retweet) for your birthday (or for any reason).

25. Never fulfill a birthday RT request.

26. Your avatar should intrigue/humor viewers. Change it up. But whatever you do, no animated GIFs! (Graphics Interchange Format)

27. Make good use of your Twitter bio space. "Mother, Sister, Daughter, Lover of Life" does absolutely nothing to spark someone's interest.

28. Don't get offended if someone unfollows you. Instead, use it as a learning experience. Perhaps your tweets need some tweaking. Everyone is entitled to a trial run before purchasing your product.

29. People love screengrabs. Those that are experts at capturing the perfect TV shot (like @bubbaprog and @jose3030) do well on Twitter.

30. Know when something has reached a critical mass. Look around to see if your entire timeline has tweeted the same quote. Hold back.

31. Know why people follow you. If you're a foodie, don't send 20 Florida Marlins tweets on a single night.

32. Instead of complaining about spam bots offering you free iPads, take 3 seconds and report them as spam. Help solve the problem.

33. Check out your followers. If someone's bio looks interesting, follow them.

34. Go through who you're following every few months. Weed out the bad, the non-existent & those you feel don't suit your interests.

35. If you get retweeted, don't automatically expect new followers. People evaluate your feed before following, so it's not an automatic process.

36. Twitter Search may be the most valuable search engine on the Internet. Use it.

37. Always put your comment before the RT. Commenting after the original tweet makes it difficult to distinguish your comment from the original.

38. Twitter is the ultimate on-the-go tool. Find an app you can tweet most comfortably with & learn the heck out of it.

39. Don’t tweet and drive. Unless you are very good at it.

40. Twitter isn’t a Monday to Friday site. It flows straight through the weekend.

41. Don't ask your followers what’s going on with a certain topic. Follow the right people & use Twitter’s search box.

42. Double-check your links to make sure they work prior to tweeting. If you do happen to screw up a tweet, don't follow up with a "Whoops, here's the correct link" tweet. Just remove the old and tweet the new.

43. Have a friend who bashes the fact that you’re on Twitter? Log them in for a week & show them how it works. In no other walk of life have people bashed something so fervently that they haven’t tried.

44. Friend didn’t adhere to Tip 43? People who don't use Twitter don't get it. They’ll mock you, but it's their loss. Keep doing your thing.

45. Want to partake in a funny movie-related trending topic? Tweet one, not ten.

46. Good follow partaking in #AnnoyingHashtag? Some Twitter apps have a temporary "Hide" or “Mute” feature. (Your secret is safe with me.)

47. Often referred to as a "Master Tweet," never, ever RT yourself.

48. When sharing a link, try to add a little flavor to it. Your followers want content from a person, not a robot.

49. Ask your followers for good accounts to follow. Twitter can suggest everyone they want to, but the best follows will come from your followers.

50. Create lists to sort your interests. It will come in handy when you want a specific group’s most recent tweets

Link to Derren Rovell