I’ve been doing some work for a recruitment consultancy recently so I’ve started following a few recruitment industry accounts on Twitter. To find them I simply searched Twitter for accounts to do with ‘recruitment’ and ‘human resources’ and followed a few that looked interesting.
A lot of them turned out to be job boards which I didn’t follow for long because that’s not what I’m interested in. A few of them have turned out to be useful, although none of them really go in for the two-way communication that makes Twitter valuable. A lot of them are very obviously automated. I understand the need for companies to embrace efficiency and I’ve scheduled tweets myself, but sometimes it’s just not appropriate.
Key things that really piss me off about some Twitterers are:
• Publishing several tweets in a row. Two, maybe three, in a few minutes is fine, but not six or seven within a minute. You just clog up your followers’ feeds and make them want to click that unfollow button. If you have your tweets for the day pre-written, at least use a third party application to schedule them across the day for you.
• Tweeting the same thing over and over.
• Using your Twitter account solely as a feed for your blog or to promote your products. As a friend likes to say, using social media like that is akin to going to a party and talking loudly and constantly about yourself. You’ll be left alone pretty quickly. The only accounts to get away with this are celebrities, politicians and actual news media, and even some celebs and politicians @reply to their followers.
• Trying to look like you’re interacting with the community and starting discussions but not actually engaging with anyone who responds to your discussion bait.
Key things I love about some Twitterers are:
• Interacting with followers. Optus once replied to a tweet of mine wherein I bitched about my mobile phone account. Their tweet included a phone number I could call about the problem and the name of the person who wrote the tweet. I don’t know if that’s Optus’s procedure or that particular tweeter just knows what she’s doing.
• Linking to relevant content created by others rather than just to their own content.
• Random philosophy or ideas on whatever it is the account is about.
Has anyone else got anything to add? What do you love/hate about tweeters?
Image credit: Twitter cupcake by Mixy under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence
Jen
22 March 2011
Hi Sarah
That’s interesting to read as I’m only a baby tweeter – just started following a few more people and checking out how some of my favourite people/brands are using it. I read in a few different places that people don’t mind seeing the same tweet a few times in one day. Is that what you’re referring to in terms of repetition, or are you talking more about the overall content being the same over time??
Thanks for the advice – very timely in my case as I’ve just started to seriously think about what my social media strategy is…
Jen
PS – your friday round up has quickly become required reading through my FB feed!
sarahj
22 March 2011
Hey Jen, thanks! I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how popular the Friday news thing has been!
Yeah, that’s what I mean about repetition. I freaking hate it. Once or twice MAYBE if the circumstances are right, but I think if you’re driving traffic to a particular link or something by tweeting it more than once, I think you should write fresh words to introduce it each time.
You have to be really careful about internet user behaviour research because the way people use different tools evolves pretty quickly – much more quickly than studies can be done and verified etc. The best way to cope with it all is to be an active and responsive user.
Are you twittering for your work or for personal? Mine’s a combo, but I use Twitter mainly for work-related stuff.
TimT
22 March 2011
I wonder if the same rules apply to facebook? Because I’ve got to admit don’t use fbook for much else. Links to my blog and just yesterday a plug for my zine, basically. And the occasional conversation on other people’s statuses, listing of events, playing a bit of scrabble, etc.
I don’t really like facebook that much anyway – I prefer the blog era and interacting with other people through their blogs – but if it has a point then surely it is self-promotion. Hence the ease at creating events/fan pages for oneself, the fact that every status starts with the user’s name, and the proliferation of activities such as Facebook marketplace, etc.
sarahj
22 March 2011
Facebook is a different tool but that basic ‘you get out of it what you put into it’ principle applies. You do way more than just link to your blog though Tim – you comment on other people’s stuff, respond to people’s comments on your stuff etc. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you posting links to things other than your blog every now and then too
Adeline Teoh
22 March 2011
It’s interesting that slightly different rules seem to apply for individuals and brands and celebrities.
When I look at someone’s feed before I follow them, I check the frequency of their tweets, the content of their tweets (I weigh up usefulness/self-promotion/frequency of @replies) and how interesting they are in general. I don’t even follow all my friends on Twitter – some of them I keep on a list and check back every now and again!
My (albeit very limited) experience with Facebook is that it’s personal. Not adding someone as a friend is taken as an indication that you’re not their friend, not that you don’t want to read their updates or view their photos. I feel Twitter is a very different beast with different rules and I think you’ve captured them nicely in your post.
sarahj
22 March 2011
Thanks! Those are all the things I look at when deciding to follow someone too
Yes, and it’s also really interesting the way different members of those groups (celebs, brands etc) use Twitter differently from each other as well. Some individuals use Twitter almost exclusively to keep up with their favourite celebrities and their circle of friends. Others (like me) use it as a way of keeping up with and disseminating industry news, professional networking, and promoting their own work.
Facebook is really interesting because it’s used in so many different ways. Anyone can create a fan page but not all of them are used in a way that attracts and retains fans. Some people also have a public persona profile (eg an actor friend of mine) and a personal profile which is purely for their actual friends. There are lots of different ways to use the privacy settings to customise who sees what on your profile as well.
bloowillbooks
22 March 2011
LOL…this is why I don’t Tweet. I’m sure there are more ways to annoy people than just those you’ve listed and I reckon I’d accidentally stumble over a few!
sarahj
22 March 2011
I reckon you’d be a fab tweeter! If you do want to start doing it, the best way for someone like you who’s familiar with Facebook is to treat it as a Facebook status update stream and see how you go.
Tina Toler-Keel
26 March 2011
I try to tweet personal things (not too personal of course) along with my professional links. I also love interacting with people on Twitter. The tweet chats are awesome and I have learned so much through others tweets and the interactive chats. I was following one person who had wonderful things to say and an awesome blog, but one night I counted the exact same tweet ten times in a row. That was a real turn off. One person I followed only tweeted, “Read my book,” and listed the link. I deleted them and did not read their book.
I follow Ellen Hopkins and love how she mixes her professional and personal tweets. I feel you get to know her as a person as well as a successful writer. For me, personality is a must! If I am not interested in things people tweet, I don’t read their books or use their products. Perhaps that’s wrong, but it’s how I feel.
I also get turned off when too personal things are shared. I don’t want to hear what color and type undies someone is wearing. I mean seriously! It is possible to be personal as well as professional at the same time.
One more thing that turns me off is when people never respond to others at replies. You don’t have to respond to every single one, but at least show some respect and respond occasionally. Narcissism isn’t my thing.
Great article!
sarahj
5 April 2011
Thanks!
Yeah I love when people can mix a bit of personal with professional, but I get a bit sick of it sometimes if there’s too much personal info and not enough of the stuff I’m following them for!
John Price
4 April 2011
Online communities (of which social channels are a part) are about shared value. People will read and respond to content that represents value to them. Spammers and people who very little value to add to a conversation simply get left behind. While Twitter is a great way to broadcast your own ideas and products (I talk about my own company regularly), it has to add some value to people’s knowledge base. When I tweet about things I’m doing with my own company – it when we release a new project or conduct market research, or have something worth sharing.
Nice blog Sarah!
sarahj
5 April 2011
Thanks John! I’ve been enjoying your Twitter feed for a while so we must agree on what’s cool and what’s not and adding value that people probably can’t get elsewhere is definitely the clincher I reckon.