Wherever the people are, the Spam Bots will follow. Twitter is not immune and there are plenty spam accounts out there. To give Twitter credit, they have done quite a bit in creating policies that deter spammers and to police the community. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish companies and people that are just trying to push their own products instead of being part of the community by actively engaging. Here are some Do’s and Don’t’s to avoid being a spammer.
Do Tweet Useful Info
The best way to be a contributing part of the Twitter community is to provide useful and interesting information. You will find that people who share the same interests will find you and that you will get a better response to what you have to offer.
Do Respond To Others
Nobody likes someone that only has things to say, but nothing to say back. If you expect people to listen to what you have to say, then make sure that you reciprocate by listening too. Especially thank those that retweet you or mention you, and of course those that are kind enough to #followfriday you.
Do Retweet
Nothing says that you are listening and supporting your followers like a Retweet. It is not only an effective way to show are actively engaged, it can also be the source of the most useful information. Who better to provide you with interesting info than those that share your interests.
Don’t Auto-Respond
If someone follows you, they know who you are and why they decided to follow them. There is no reason to hit them with a direct message that tells them to check out your blog or where they can buy your stuff. Auto-responses are the surefire way to distinguish the robots from the real users, and it will get you unfollowed before people actually listen to what you might have to say.
Don’t Mass Reply and Always Self-Promote
With all the noise on Twitter, it can sometimes be hard to find a voice on Twitter. But resist the urge to reply directly to people just to get their attention. First, it is a total one-way communication, which is against the attractiveness of Twitter as a communication tool. Second, everyone can see your tweets and mass replying can instantly be sniffed out as spam. Don’t just self promote, use Twitter for what is was meant to be used for: a way to share useful/interesting information with each other.
Don’t Rapidly Follow and Unfollow
Rapidly following and unfollowing isn’t just inconsiderate, it can get you banned by Twitter. They are watching you and will not hesitate to suspend your account if you employ these methods of gaining new followers. Be selective in your following and look for people that share common interests. You will find that the quality of your followers is much more important than the quantity.
