A few pointers to avoid getting burnt on Twitter

It seems like Twitter has been with us since the 1950s, and although it has established itself as an important part of the world we live in, we’ve all have had very different experiences with this social network.

One could almost say that there are as many Twitter experiences as there are Twitter users. And as I’m fast growing tired of saying in class and at conferences, if Twitter seems dumb or banal to you, it’s because you have probably chosen to follow dumb or banal users. In other words, don’t blame Twitter; blame yourself.

You can get pretty much whatever you want out of Twitter: by following the right, well-informed people, you can access fresh information about pretty much any subject you can think of; at the same time, there is a never-ending stream of amusing and inspirational comments that can help us problem solve; and of course we can find out what our friends and family are up to 24 hours a day.

Another factor that will determine your experience is whether you spend most or your time creating and disseminating content, or just lurking: it depends on your personal preferences and there are no rights or wrongs. Needless to say, most people tend to use the service by mixing all these approaches in varying measures, creating their own experience in the process.

I have to admit that I succumbed to Twitter fatigue pretty quickly. That said, like many other users, the feeling of being burned out is now a distant one. I began using it in early 2007, based on the service’s original proposition: “What are you doing?” I posted everything on the service except about the most personal stuff in my life: where I was going; what I was eating and drinking; what I was reading… When Twitter became available in Spanish and I was put on the recommended accounts list in November 2009, which took me from having 9,000 followers to more than 40,000, I underwent a minor identity crisis that led me to think seriously about just what made sense to share with the world.

Overall, my use of Twitter shrank, and I decided to be more prudent: I changed my profile and used the service either to disseminate content that I had created or content that I thought was especially thought provoking. More than three years on, things are pretty much the same: it is unusual for me to publish more than three or four updates a day, and if something becomes a conversation, I tend to transfer it to DM or to another media, hoping to avoid avalanching my followers with things that they will probably not be interested in, although I still like to provide them with some personal touches from time to time.

Twitter is a universe in permanent evolution. Some users complain that it is being killed by some users’ “need” for constant feedback, and there may be some truth in this, but I prefer not to take the apocalyptic approach, and believe that all such tools go through different stages, and over time correct themselves. That said, it is largely true that some users can, over time, begin to tire of the service, which has prompted me to come up with a few pointers that might help avoid this—obviously with the proviso that I’m not trying to tell anyone “how to use Twitter”.

• Asymmetry: Twitter is, by definition, asymmetric in the way it communicates. You have to understand that what you write will only be read by those who follow you, and that this represents just a tiny space within their day, and one that can be easily overlooked. But the opposite is also true: there are people who, for obvious reasons, have many followers. But having a lot of Twitter followers doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to be stopped in the street and asked for your autograph. What it does mean is that such people are not going to be able to reply to everything that is sent to them via Twitter. There’s nothing stuffy about not replying to every message you receive, more to the point, there’s no point in trying: you’re not a 24-seven service. Followers have to get their heads round the idea of asymmetric communication or they face constant disappointment.
• Red lines: A conversation is what it says it is: a conversation. Do not bother replying to unpleasant language or attitudes, and instead simply block the user. If you think that replying to something would require being rude, then it’s probably best not to reply. Feel free to block anybody who uses sarcasm or who hassles you or makes you feel in the slightest way uncomfortable. Nobody, whether they are famous or not, is on Twitter to be flogged in public.
• Number of tweets: Don’t be a drag. Don’t keep harping on about something, even if it is an event that you are involved in, and do try to avoid avalanching people. And for the love of God, don’t resend your tweets every two hours to improve their visibility, even if you think this approach works. Would you like somebody you thought you were having a conversation with to keep repeating the same sentence over and over
• Unfollows: It is more likely somebody will unfollow you for what you say, rather than what you don’t say. It might prove more effective to update less often and to give more thought to what you write. You are not obliged to update all the time, you’re not going to get higher marks… I have found that I tend to follow accounts even if they update infrequently, as long as what they write, when they write it, is interesting. Somebody who overloads you with tweets runs a greater risk of you unfollowing them than somebody who sends the occasional message. And while we’re on the subject, don’t get hung up about being unfollowed: it’s not usually because you’ve said something you shouldn’t, it just goes with the territory.
• Do you attract followers for doing the same as everybody else, or for doing things differently? Think about it, and as well as thinking about it, now that you’re on Twitter, adapt what you do to the medium. If you simply retweet news items, given that there isn’t much you say in 140 characters, then at least make a serious effort to add something personal: add value to what you tweet.
• Using Twitter can lead to burnout. But that doesn’t mean turning yourself into a human pyre. Avoid stupidities or saying things that can be misinterpreted, and above all, don’t tweet if you are under the influence. The same applies when you are at a party having a great time: don’t interrupt the proceedings to tell the world about it. It can prove quite irritating to those around you, and what’s more, you may not be in the best of shape to tweet anything coherent.
• The opposite also applies: there is no need to be dry or use officialese: successful accounts hit the balance between diplomacy and boutade, in the same way that conversation in the wider world works. Overdo the seriousness and you’ll lose followers, exaggerate the humor or edginess and its possible that eventually you’ll get into hot water. Or not: it’s up to you. Whichever approach you take, make sure that you have thought it through properly.
• Spelling. Be careful with grammar, punctuation, syntax, etc. Badly written tweets will say much more about you than the message within.
• Don’t live to tweet. Twitter can play an important role in establishing your brand. But it can also be very annoying to others when you don’t seem able to distinguish between your online and offline lives. Similarly, if people have to repeatedly tell you to reduce your output, then you are clearly going wrong somewhere.
• Be careful about the conversations you get involved in. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of controversy. But think about what you say and the likely consequences. If you are not sure how people will interpret your comments, or you suspect they might be misinterpreted, then try out different versions before you send.
• Twitterstorms: They’re going on round the clock. For some inexplicable reason, comments that normally wouldn’t attract any attention can prompt calls on the Twittersphere for a public execution. So if you say something that you feel has been misinterpreted, or that you now regret, don’t just erase the tweet: explain yourself. If you think that a tweet has been misinterpreted or taken out of context and that it is better to erase it, then do so, but only after you have explained yourself and have screen captured said explanation. We learn from our mistakes. Hopefully. Storms soon pass over, unless of course you’re stirring one up every week. In which case, you might want to think about staying away from Twitter.

And if, despite the above advice, you get burnt… then perhaps Twitter isn’t the problem so much as you are. Lashing out against Twitter, against Twitter users and against the injustices of the world isn’t going to change anything, and it’s not even going to make you feel better; it’s more like to generate widespread hostility, or worse, indifference, toward you.

But whatever you do, don’t close down your Twitter account. Twitter is a fantastic tool and it’s here to stay. Send a message saying something to the effect of, “I’m sorry, I’ve burnt myself, and I’m going to take a break to get over it.” Then, plan your return… after reading and absorbing these pointers :-)

(En español, aquí)