It is difficult to go online nowadays without being at one point reminded how important Twitter is. The social network has indeed easily established itself as a major website and one that attracts an incredible amount of users every day. Consequently, being on Twitter is now as important as having an email account, especially if you run a business or blog. Twitter is a great tool for ongoing customer support and brand reputation, and its usefulness keeps increasing.

However, as with any tool, misuse is only one click or one keystroke away on Twitter. There are many annoying and often downright irritating users on Twitter that can be spotted a mile ahead. However, there are also many small actions that can be rather annoying and that we have all been guilty of doing at one point. This list describes five such things you have probably already done on Twitter or could even be doing right now.

Having only a URL in your Twitter profile

Putting your website’s or blog’s URL is of course important and a very strategic move. However, simply having that URL and no kind of description whatsoever does not make it more likely that people will click on your link. It’s actually the other way round. Your profile needs a real description so that other Twitter users can actually know more about it. Moreover, that description can include your ever so important keywords to go with your link.

Addressing several users in a single Tweet

It’s fine to address a couple of users in a single Tweet to reduce the amount of clutter on your profile. For example, if two users have pointed out that your website is down, it makes sense to thank both of them with a single Tweet. However, you are irritating your followers if you go ahead and start including four or five users in a single updates. Remember that Twitter only allows 140 characters anyway and that doing so will not leave much space for your real content.

Posting the same updates multiple times

Another annoying thing we’ve all done at one point is posting the same thing over and over again. This is particularly true for webmasters who see in Twitter a good way of earning traffic (which it is). Such actions can however be very frustrating for your followers who will soon find their home page inundated with these updates.

In such cases, you should know how to time your updates so that your followers do not instantly decide to remove you from their lists. If you have a link that you absolutely think needs to be posted several times, you should always wait several days before posting it again. This ensures people do not suddenly find your tweets overbearing.

Asking for retweets

If your Tweet is good enough to be retweeted, rest assured that people will do so. On the other hand, explicitly asking for people to retweet you gets annoying fast. Doing so in a funny way from time to time (an example would be “It’s snowing. RT if, like me, you’re scared of snowmen!” is fine. However, asking for retweets with every Twitter comment you post is the surest way of losing all your followers within a record time span.

Asking for followers

Asking for followers is even more annoying than asking for retweets for the simple reason that there is no funny or cute way of doing so. As such, be wary of even occasionally posting updates solely focused on asking people to follow you as your existing followers may not be very fond of the fact that you are not posting anything worthwhile. Simply focus on giving people a reason to follow you and it will eventually happen.

About the Author
Ashvin is a social media strategist based in Mauritius. He also regularly blogs on various French and English blogs such as the Economie Ile de la Réunion and Culture Réunion sections at Région Réunion.