Top five Twitter peeves.

We need to talk. Basically, this is the stuff I see on Twitter which is annoying me as of late. At the risk of being an SEO/keyword Top 10 list whore the unofficial Twitter hall monitor a-hole, here are a few things I see people still doing:

1) 120 is the new 140. Less is still more, especially if you want people retweeting your stuff. Make it easier for them by thinking 120 characters or less. (Or even lower.) Characters add up—so edit with extreme prejudice. Think of the shortest way to make the point using as few words as possible. Maxing out a tweet at 140 means someone will butcher what you meant when they in turn edit it. Do it for them first.

When needed, abbreviate within reason. No need to thin the letter herd in every word. Things like using a single em dash instead of two hyphens. Killing extra punctuation or emoticons. Using an ampersand with multiple items. (Speaking of with, try using w/ sometimes.) If your brilliance must not be denied though? Okay, run with 140. Otherwise? Slash and burn.

2) Check. Your. Links. Why post a link w/o checking if it works?

3) Stop using direct messages to promote. It’s spammy. Don’t use DMs for white papers, calling attention to your event, or thanking me for the follow.

4) Lose the passive-aggressive thing. Those people know who you mean; the rest of us though? Not so much.

5) Give credit. Whenever you find something, include the @username (or place you got it from). You know who you are.

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