Sunday 12 February 2012

What your Tweets say about YOU.

Wait - if you don't Tweet, don't turn away - it still could be entertaining.

For those who know nothing about Twitter, it's basically another social networking site, whereby you can follow Tweeters, and other Tweeters can follow you. You can post comments about anything that takes your fancy, as long as it's 140 characters or less. (OK, if you want to get really technical, there are ways to post longer Tweets.) Your followers see you comments and if you give them a tag (the comments, that is) anyone searching for that subject can also see your comments.

So the other night I had a hilarious exchange or two with a few Twitter friends about our Twitter habits.  Safe to say it made some of us look a bit anal!

For example, when most people Tweet, they use shortened words, (much like texting), so that they can get their point across in 140 characters or less. I notice that if I have extra characters left at the end of my Tweets, I go back and lengthen all the shortened words into their proper spellings!

Or, if I know I"m going to be Tweeting right down to the character limit, I try to land right on the zero, or as near to it as possible. Beating my personal best, as it were. It's very satisfying when you finish and see that "0", meaning that you nailed an exact 140 characters! I imagine Olympic gymnasts must feel similarly satisfied when they stick the landing after hurling themselves off the asymmetric bars.

Someone mentioned that they have been known to delete a published Tweet if they see a spelling error. Oh yes, a thousand times yes! You can't let that go!

Personally, if I make a comment that comes in the wrong place in the conversation thread, I have been known to delete for fear of looking like a complete idiot!

Anyone care to add their little Twitter penchants?

13 comments:

  1. I try to tweet with correct grammatical structures and spelling. But sometimes, you just have to say "u" and "txt" and "TY", what can I say??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here's a question. Can you have a tweet button on your blog posts if you're not a Twitterer yourself? Someone left a comment saying
    "tweet buttons please". I do have a Twitter account, but I never use it. I'm assuming it's technically possible therefore to have tweet buttons on my blog, but would that be very poor etiquette? As if I expect other people to tweet my posts, but wouldn't tweet anyone else's?

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  3. I'm sure you can put the "Tweet this" button on your blog, but you're right, it would be a bit off to do that and not Tweet posts of other people in return. Better re-activate that twitter account Iota.

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  4. Like Meagan, I use correct spelling and grammar, as well. And I like to come in under 140; for some reason the "0" makes me nervous, like I'm skating too close to the edge.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I too find it very satisfying to see the '0' after writing out a tweet, and I also go back and lengthen words if i have characters left over. i am so rubbish on twitter tho. i still don't totally get it

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  6. Isn't life hard enough with out all these extra hidden pressures in our tequi world? I just live through my daughters tweets from the Queen and 'Fact Man' that is enough for me.

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  7. I have put the 'tweet etiquette' to positive use in business meetings.
    I ask senior managers and directors to get their point across "in 140 characters or less".

    Works wonders, I kid you not.

    LCM x

    ReplyDelete
  8. If I'm not sounding like Sinead O'Connor on Twitter, then I'm doing okay. That's all I aim for.

    ReplyDelete
  9. How funny! Yup, you are an anal tweeter (that sounds wrong, doesn't it).
    I like London City Mum's idea but haven't any execs I could use this on.
    I do get confused as to who to include in a thread especially if the conversation goes off on a tangent. There's always someone on the list who has gone off to make the tea: can I be the first to strike them off the thread?

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  10. Yeah I don't really care what I'm tweeting about but I do get a thrill if I hit the 140 character mark on the first try! It is the same sense of satisfaction I get with scrabble when I can see I'm going to be able to use all seven letters!!

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  11. By the way I wanted to ask: are you a Georgie - if so isn't it impossible for yanks to understand you? or has this led to many hilarious exchanges?

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  12. oh crikey I mean Geordie not a Boy George Lookalike

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  13. LOL! Drat - I was looking forward to some scathing remark about Georgies and you caught yourself.

    Yes, I'm a Geordie, as is my cuz Trish (above) but we're not all like the Geordie Shore charvers. Once you leave Tyneside, even if your teacher-mother allowed you to speak in the dialect, you'd have to start toning it down to be understood. After years in the south of England and 22 years here, I speak with what's probably a generic northern accent. And no, not like someone from Corrie either!

    ReplyDelete

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