We’ve all heard the saying: You spend a lot of time and effort building your reputation on Twitter, and you can ruin it all with one tweet. Well, I think that is a bit extreme, I personally don’t unfollow anyone because of one bad tweet (unless it’s spam); however, it may be easier than you think to ruin your reputation on Twitter.
The general rule of thumb is that if you wouldn’t do something outside of Twitter, don’t do it on Twitter. Just be yourself. If you follow that rule, most of the time you will have a lot of fun and enjoy Twitter very much, like many of us do.
However, there are some things that most people consider socially unacceptable on Twitter, and if you choose to do these things repeatedly, you may have a more difficult time building relationships and you may even ruin your reputation.
Here is my Top 10 list:
1. Don’t Spam Or Auto-DM Your Followers – Wow, this is the most important one on the list. Nothing will ruin your reputation more quickly than spamming or sending prefabricated auto-DMs to your followers. With all the account hi-jacking going on lately, we just don’t have any patience for this anymore.
2. Don’t Tweet When You’re Wasted – Yes, we’ve all had those nights when we’ve had a bit too much to drink. I’ve been there and done that. But, when you start to feel a bit dizzy, get off the public timeline! Move it to DM, phone, wave, but stop tweeting.
3. Don’t Drop F-Bombs All Day Long – I’ve been known to drop an F bomb or two outside of Twitter, but don’t do it all day long in your tweets. I do follow one person who is always cute when she does it, @sc430girl, but for the most part, keep it to a minimum, unless you just don’t care about your reputation.
4. Don’t Pretend To Be An Expert Or Guru – To have a good reputation on Twitter, you have to keep it real. People can see right through you when you try to be something you’re not.
5. Don’t Tweet Right Before, During, Or Immediately After Sex – Yes, believe it or not, I’ve seen people actually tweet about this. It is a real turn off to your followers, not to mention how it probably makes your lover feel. If you’ve done this, you might have more important things to be concerned about than your reputation on Twitter.
6. Don’t Complain And Whine That You Want More Followers – This is so tacky. Engage, send great tweets, build relationships, make friends, have fun – if you do these things and are genuine about it, the followers will come!
7. Don’t Be Boring And Don’t Tweet Lame Stuff – No pressure here, but c’mon, let Twitter excite you! Take some chances. Have some fun. Stretch out of your comfort zone a little bit.
8. Don’t Tweet In All Caps – This is just plain annoying. I won’t follow anyone that tweets in all caps; it makes me feel like you are screaming at me.
9. Don’t RT Without Giving RT Credit – You can lose trust with people in a hurry if you do this. Give credit where credit is due!
10. Don’t Spew Negativity All Over Your Followers – Sure, everyone has a bad day every now and then, and that’s part of the beauty of Twitter, we are all here for each other! But when you tweet everyday about how everything sucks, it gets old quick. A positive attitude goes far in life, and on Twitter!
Twitter is a great place to meet new friends, share valuable information and spread joy. Let’s keep it that way! If you can think of anything I’ve left off this list, please leave it in a comment below.
