Thanks to this post by Brian Chappell and a handy tool set up by Seocracy it seems Twitter has pushed into the mainstream for many internet marketers. If you don’t know what Twitter is or how it might be useful to you, I would recommend scanning these posts.
Lee Odden: Guide to Twitter as a Tool for Marketing and PR
Caroline Middlebrook: The Big Juicy Twitter Guide
Todd Mintz: Twitter: What Are You Thinking?
Today I’m going to share with you my top 5 Twitter tips, to make the system more productive and comfortable to use. I hope you find them useful.
1. Use the @ Symbol to Reply to Other Users
Simple one but it’s worth keeping in mind that you can even do this to users who are not following you.
2. Keep on Top of Replies
You can check your replies page to see who has sent a message directly to you, i.e. to @yourusername. This is more useful than scanning through the lists but you can still miss time sensitive messages, so take a couple of minutes to set up an alert on these. Try one or more of the following methods.
- Set up free email alerts on replies at Twittermail
- Go to Terraminds and do a search on @yourusername in ‘search in updates’. You can then click the custom RSS link on the results page and put this into your RSS reader.
- Add @yourusername to your GoogleAlert subscription
3. Get a Reader for Twitter Updates.
Twitter can be overwhelming, especially when you have a lot of contacts. You soon realise refreshing the page isn’t an option. Luckily a huge number of third party applications and solutions have come onto the scene to take advantage of the Twitter API.
I’ve tried quite a few of these now. My first attempt was to filter Twitter through my Skype account, resulting in a flashing orange alert every minute. I then tried OutTwit, a plugin for Outlook which flooded my inbox. I then realised the mistake with these methods, they assumed I wanted to read every message.
Twitter isn’t email or instant messaging, it’s Microjournalism. Not every message needs your attention or is even aimed at you. It’s unproductive and distracting to feel you need to read every update to your Twitter feed. Picture it as a news ticker running in the background of your screen.
With that new insight, I went looking for an application that would simply show updates without disturbing my work. MadTwitter did the job but Twhirl won out in the end, as it also highlighted replies to my username. Make sure you turn off the sound and pop-up alerts though.
4. Promote Your Material Responsibly
It’s not normal Twitter etiquette to promote your own blog postings. As Adam Lasnik wailed, “For the love of RSS, if I wanted to be notified of your *every* post, I’d subscribe to your feed.” However the marketing niche seems more receptive to requests for Sphinn or Digg links than Adam. The key here though is bringing value to the community, not just vote begging.
As Tamar twittered, “So far a lot of my new twitter followers are only self-promoting their blogs. That’s nice and all, but twitter is a conversation too. Use it“
5. Keep it Interesting For Your Followers
I don’t agree with Adam regarding blog posts but his other points are sound. Activity updates, such as “Going to bed” or “Reading my email” have zero interest for me. It’s also important to avoid getting too personal on your updates. If every reply is directed at (@) someone it can be rather boring for those outside the conversation. Try to send out general updates or links to give people a reason to follow you.
I hope that was useful. If you have other tips please add them in the comments. If you would like to join me on Twitter you’re more than welcome, my username is NickWilsdon
Popularity: 14% [?]
Nick Wilsdon is the CTO of 
19 responses so far ↓
1 Sam MacDonald // Jan 21, 2008 at 1:13 pm
A really great post on twitter and how to start using this tool effectively. I’m new to the use of it and still playing around with it. Yesterday I setup Google Talk so that I could get the tweets as they happen in my group of friends. This has made the use of this tool so much better and show’s me what I would be missing out on without it.
2 Nick Wilsdon // Jan 21, 2008 at 1:21 pm
@Sam
I’m glad you found these useful. It’s a great system but it takes some time to find the setup that works for you and doesn’t become too distracting. Luckily there’s no shortage of applications and solutions out there, as you have found.
I’m happy with Twhirl for now, but would appreciate a spell checker feature. Too many years of computers has made me rather lazy on that front ;)
3 Dave Fleet // Jan 21, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Great post, Nick.
You’re right – once you have more than a few followers, it becomes very difficult to keep up. Personally I find Tweetscan’s RSS feeds invaluable for staying up-to-date with replies and interesting topics.
4 Derek // Jan 21, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Nice post Nick! I’m a pretty novice Twitter user (was even failing to realize how easy it was to check replies).
While I totally agree with the fact that you can’t direct reply for all of your Twitter updates (and still expect to grow your Twitter follower base) – it seems that as you become a more invested Twitter user (more followers/network), you simply tend to use the @ function more?
I would imagine that as your network involves, many people are direct messaging back and forth.
My question (I guess) is – are there discussions online about what seems to be a good mix of direct and general messages for successful Twitterers?
5 Dave Fleet // Jan 21, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I find that using @ replies is even more effective as your network evolves, as other people can chime in an contribute to the discussion.
6 Nick Wilsdon // Jan 21, 2008 at 4:05 pm
@Dave – Thanks (just followed you!)
@Derek – It’s an interesting question and as you see, one I have been thinking about myself. My percentage of direct (@) messages is very high so this post was a mental note to me to correct that.
General Twitter etiquette is to mix it up and that makes sense to me. The tool has more potential than a simple chatroom. As the NYT article suggested, it’s a platform for microjournalism or mini-blogging. This especially came home to me after gaining 140+ followers over the last week or so.
General tweets are more interesting to me as a follower of other people’s feeds (link drops or observations on current events/news). I’m assuming this is true for others. I think the secret here is to make sure you are adding value for those following you, much like mainstream blogging. Putting this into practice, I’m going to force myself to make at least 2 general tweets each day. I’ll let you know how that goes in a future post!
7 Dan Perry // Jan 21, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I learned a tip for Twitter last night (thanks Tamar) this is worth sharing.
When you want to send a private message from your cell phone via m.twitter.com, type the letter “d” (for direct) then the username, then the message, rather than using the @ symbol.
For example, if I wanted to send tamar a direct message telling her about how painful the Packers loss was, I would type the following:
d tamar The interception at the end was like a punch in the gut.
Hope it helps someone; it was news to me!
Dan
8 Derek // Jan 21, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Nick – thanks for such an in-depth response. And I think you and I are on the same page with the mix of direct and general messaging.
Look forward to reading your posts in the future!
9 Tony Adam // Jan 22, 2008 at 4:31 am
Something every twitter user should do is make sure that you are set to receive all @ replies to your username, even from people you aren’t following.
You can do this by going to:
Settings –> Notices –> “@ Replies” section.
- tony :)
10 Brian Chappell // Jan 22, 2008 at 4:34 am
Have you used snitter? I like it alot. Turn the sound off unless someone @’s you and move it to the slave monitor (if you use 3 monitors like I do it is a really nice setup). Seems to work best for me without distracting too much.
Also, thanks for the shout out. Hope you got a lot of subscribes :-)
11 Nick Wilsdon // Jan 22, 2008 at 10:18 am
@Brian
Just given Snitter a go but I still prefer twhirl. It seems slightly faster? I also like the drop down to switch between the general/replies and directs channels. Only thing I’m not too keen on is that shade of blue!
I have it on my second monitor, now I’m thinking I need a three monitor setup myself ;)
12 Die Twitter-Familie « Kaltstart // Jan 22, 2008 at 11:38 am
[...] alle, die – wie wir – das ganze für durchaus sinnvoll halten hier noch ein paar Tips, wie man ein richtig guter Twitter-User [...]
13 iLibrarian » Become a Better Twitter User // Jan 22, 2008 at 5:34 pm
[...] has pulled together some useful posts on mastering the popular microblogging app, as well as 5 Tips to Make You a Better Twitter User. Wilsdon advises twitterers [...]
14 Shai Coggins » Web Wednesday #4: Twitter + Mac + Other Tools // Jan 28, 2008 at 9:59 am
[...] Business Owners – If you think Twitter’s just a waste of time (like I did), think again. 3. 5 Tips to Make You a Better Twitter User 4. Twhirl – A desktop client for [...]
15 This Month In SEO - 1/08 - TheVanBlog // Feb 2, 2008 at 2:20 am
[...] 5 Tips to Make You a Better Twitter User [...]
16 This Month In SEO - 1/08 | TheVanBlog // Feb 5, 2008 at 4:35 am
[...] 5 Tips to Make You a Better Twitter User [...]
17 Twitter Guides and Tips // May 17, 2008 at 3:56 pm
[...] 5 Tips to Make You a Better Twitter User – NickWisldon [...]
18 50 Of The Best Twitter Guides & Tips On The Internet - Rageburner // Apr 25, 2009 at 9:30 pm
[...] 5 Tips to Make You a Better Twitter User – NickWisldon [...]
19 50 Twitter Tips, Guias, Consejos y más... | SOLO|DESCARGAS // Sep 20, 2009 at 4:16 pm
[...] 5 Tips to Make You a Better Twitter User – NickWisldon [...]
Leave a Comment