To tweet or not to tweet: This is the question many of us are constantly facing as we attempt to keep up to date with the latest in social media technology. As a semi-involved Twitter user, I am constantly looking for opportunities to tweet. If someone I know says something clever, embarrassing or self-incriminating, you better believe I’m whipping out my cell phone to let the world know about it.
While Twitter creates many enjoyable moments in my life, I can’t help but be disappointed by many of the tweets I read when scanning my feed. The wonderful world of online communication is often littered with senseless typing errors and failed attempts at humor. So in the spirit of self-improvement, I wish to shed light on a few of the errors we make while using Twitter.
One of the most mind-boggling Twitter occurrences is when people you know become entirely different people online. A shocking number of people seem to forget all social filters when writing on the Internet and say things online they would never say in person. On Twitter, friendly people can become unfriendly, positive people can seem cynical, and people who barely speak in person communicate constantly.
The strangest part about this whole epidemic is that when people are confronted about their actions on Twitter, they are baffled as to why they should be held responsible for their own words. For some reason, many of us believe what happens on the Internet stays on the Internet, even on public domains. As a rule of thumb, I tend to believe if you cannot say something in person, don’t say it online.
Another problem that takes place quite frequently on Twitter is tweeting as if you are texting. All of us do it periodically, perhaps without realizing it, but that doesn’t make it any less wrong. This occurs when you mention someone on Twitter, and say something very few of your hundreds of followers couldn’t care less about. Twitter has many purposes, but having a casual conversation with someone is not one of them. Text-tweeting generally has two perceived purposes: to let everyone else know you are friends with the particular person you are mentioning, or to call out the person you mentioned in an attempt to make yourself seem superior to them. Even if this is not your intention, this is the way it can be perceived, so make sure if you mention someone you don’t have ulterior motives.
Another Twitter blunder, and perhaps the most common one, is the misuse of the hashtag. I sincerely hope that those who misuse the hashtag are simply confused about its original purpose, so I have included its AP Stylebook definition: “The use of a number sign (#) in a tweet to convey the subject a user is writing about so that it can be indexed and accessed in other users’ feeds.”
Simply put, if you don’t think anyone else is going to use the same hashtag as you, putting a number sign in front of a phrase is absolutely meaningless. Doing so makes about as much sense as putting a kissy face after every letter you type.
All that being said, the beauty of the Internet is you can use it however you want to (Unless SOPA gets passed, or you live in North Korea). However, just in case you’ve inexplicably lost a few followers recently, one of these might be the cause. So take care, and happy tweeting.
