I Hate Your Tweets
Actually, no I don’t, and you shouldn’t hate mine or anyone’s, for that matter. Some argue that there is a wrong and right way to tweet. I say arguing the matter is irrational – at least when it comes to personal Twitter accounts. People of the web have been discussing proper etiquette for years. Still forums, chat rooms, and blog comments are riddled with obscene, irrelevant, and obscure content. Even Twitter’s public timeline is littered with these indecencies. The difference between Twitter and all of the other above mentioned mediums of communication is that you can chose what you want to see.
Too many times I’ve seen someone I follow complain about the way another person tweets. I often wonder if they think calling out their followees will change the content they chose to tweet. If someone frequently tweets about something that you just don’t care to hear about, you should unfollow them. What you shouldn’t do, is expect them to change the way they use Twitter just to suit your needs.
The great thing about Twitter is that it is completely permission based. You are able to chose what shows up on your timeline and what does not. If you want to hear about the World Series, I would expect you to follow people that tweet about the World Series. I wouldn’t expect you to follow someone who tweets about Nascar if you don’t want to read tweets about Nascar. You shouldn’t expect the people you follow to tweet about what you want to hear. You should follow the people that DO tweet about what you want to hear.
You could say that I should just unfollow all of the people that complain about other’s tweets, instead of writing a blog post about it. The truth is, I really don’t mind people complaining. More times than not, their complaints are actually humorous. There are others out there, however, who might not want to hear you complaining. I understand that the last line completely negates everything I’ve said, but if you think about it – you’ll see that following users that you actually like will not only make a better Twitter experience for yourself, but also for your followers.
Note – I am not saying that people should not watch what they tweet about on their company accounts. This article was strictly directed towards the use of personal accounts. If you’re running a Twitter account for your company, there are definite do’s and don’ts that apply, but that is a post for another day.
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Tags: Blog, Business, Communication, Online Communities, public timeline, Social Networking, twitter, World Series
Nov 10, 2009
[...] November 10, 2009 – My Angry Twitter Bird illustration was featured in the blog post "I Hate Your Tweets" by [...]
Nov 10, 2009
I agree! All this nonsense about how someone should use their twitter account annoys me. It's their account, they can use it as they please. Why should there be a right or wrong way? (Unless it is a business account)
One of the things I find funny is that people are always saying, "Don't tweet about food!" I find that I like a lot of those tweets, especially if it is something I have never heard of, or about pastries and such, and they have to be followed up with a picture so I can crave whatever food they are talking about! That is the only rule I say twitter should have; if you are tweeting about food you must include a photo.
Nov 10, 2009
That's actually a great rule! I think people tweeting about food is a very good thing. Restaurant recommendations have become one of the most popular things on Twitter. My friend Zach Reed and I have actually made a site that encourages people to talk about tasty food on Twitter. http://mmmtastyfood.com/
Nov 11, 2009
Anyway we are all still inventing twitter and the way it is used, so how can anyone say what is wrong and what is right ? It is a work in progress.
Nov 13, 2009
What if I want to un-follow someone, but am doing everything possible to avoid drawing to myself attention from said someone, because I know they're the person who counts and keeps tabs on their followers?
Ack. I'll probably un-follow my someone somewhat soon. My twitter feed will be clogged NOMORE!
Nov 13, 2009
Well, I don't know which Twitter client you use, but I do know that most of the popular desktop clients have a feature which allows you to filter out certain phrases. DestroyTwitter, for example, will let you filter any type of character or phrase out of your main time line(including usernames). It also has a feature to specifically exclude users from a time line. If said person is excluded or filtered out of your main time line, you would still see their replies or direct messages to you.
I don't think this functionality is available on the web client, but maybe there is a work around with the new Twitter Lists feature.
Nov 13, 2009
Perfect. I filtered that ish.
I wish there was a filter for general descriptions of tweets, as opposed to straight-up names/text, e.g., include 'intelligent,' 'witty,' and 'funny,' and exclude, you know, 'annoying,' 'self-obsessed,' and 'douchey.'
In a perfect world…
Thanks for the tip, brah!
Nov 15, 2009
So…what's the right way to tweet?