Are you new to Twitter? Whether you are looking to use Twitter to chat with your friends, waste time on the Internet, or use social media marketing to build a following for your blog or website, these Twitter tips should help you get going.
Don't just tweet your status, give your opinion. Despite the big "What's Happening?" box, Twitter is not the place to simply tell people your status. Rather than just saying you are at a restaurant, tell everyone how the food is or what the crowd is like. People may not care that you are at Arbys, but they may care if the person sitting in the table across from you is consuming seven Beef n' Cheddar sandwiches.
Change your background. It sounds simple, but it may be the single most biggest thing you can do to attract followers. Many people are wary of people with the default background because of the number of spam accounts on Twitter. So the simplest of Twitter tips is to simply change your background. How to change the Twitter background.
Don't start a tweet with an @. This is one of the easiest mistakes to make when you are new, but starting a tweet with a user's profile will only send the tweet to that user. So if you tweet "@DanielNations Great Twitter Tips", I'm the only one that will see it. Instead, try plugging the name in at the end like "Great Twitter Tips @DanielNations".
Don't mass follow people, follow your interests. A trick some people use to quickly gain followers is to mass follow a bunch of people in hopes that they'll follow you back. But even if your aim is social media marketing on Twitter, this is a bad technique. You want real live people interested in what you have to say to follow you back, not just people who will follow anyone. Try out these tips to gain a Twitter following.
Don't always follow back. Just as you don't want to mass follow people, you don't want to always follow people back. Even if you are inclined to follow everyone who follows you, there's no reason to follow spam accounts. Take the time to check who you are following and don't follow those that are obviously trying to spam you. Your Twitter feed will thank you in the long run.
Engage in community customs like Follow Friday. The best tip for gaining a following is to engage the community by following customs like Follow Friday. The more involved you get with Twitter, the more interesting you will be to other users. Find out more about Follow Friday.
Don't share too much. Remember, people are reading what you say. Don't share too much. When you tell everyone where you are at or when you are going out of town, you are telling criminals when your house might be empty. And avoid sharing too much about your workplace or co-workers. They have access to Twitter too.
Use lists to organize followers. Twitter can be put to a lot of great uses, but if you want to use it to chat with friends and family, engage the Twitter community at large and following your interests, you might take the time to separate these into separate lists or use a Twitter client that supports groups like TweetDeck.
Connect Twitter to Facebook. If you are using Twitter to promote your blog or website, you can avoid making updates to multiple places by connecting Twitter to Facebook. Find out how.
Be careful of clients like HootSuite. Another Twitter tip for those using it to build a following for their blog or website, be wary of Twitter clients like HootSuite. While it may make your job easier, the URL shortener provided by HootSuite wraps your links under their proprietary HootSuite bar, which deprives you of incoming links from people retweeting your website.