6 Twitter Habits That Are Driving Your Followers Crazy

1. Re-tweeting every compliment.

Look, we’re happy that you’re excited about your compliment. But really, why do you need our validation? You were already lucky enough to get a compliment, so why don’t you just enjoy it? When you re-tweet it, honestly, it just looks like you want everyone to think you’re great too. It’s totally humble bragging and you know it.

2. Live tweeting EVERYTHING.

Clearly your followers thought you were at least minimally interesting, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have followed you in the first place. However, that does not mean that we’re hungry for your every update as you wait in line at Starbucks and proceed to make observations about the woman whose kids were acting up, the man who spilled his coffee, or your own thought process as you do your very best to decide what to order. It’s okay to NOT tweet every five minutes. I promise we won’t forget about you.

3. Tweeting pointless information.

You know the kind: I’m so hungry. Or, so sleepy. Short snippets that let followers know exactly what the person is doing or how they’re feeling in even the most unimportant of moments. To those people I say, think to yourself: Do I really need to tweet this? Will this impact someone’s life, at all? After you’ve asked yourself those two questions, ask yourself one last question. Are you just tweeting because your ego is too big and you feel like the world needs to know your every thought and action throughout the day? It might sound like a mean question, but it’s equally as necessary to try and figure out why you feel compelled to over-share, because the truth is most people don’t care about the passing thoughts of others.

(This TED Talk covers this precise topic very eloquently.)

4. Blog Spamming.

This is a big no-no which many noobs (and seasoned) bloggers are guilty of. Essentially blog spamming (for those that haven’t heard the term before) describes the habit of constantly sharing links to your blog without interacting with others in a way that is mutually beneficial. Users essentially use their Twitter as a way to increase their audience, and nothing more. The thing is: blog spamming doesn’t actually help bring in an audience. In fact, it usually does nothing at all. Using Twitter for your blog is just like networking — it has to be a healthy, 50/50 relationship between the creator and the audience. So instead of sharing every update of your blog, re-tweet other bloggers, get to know others in your chosen field, or share relevant articles. Basically, do anything aside from blog spamming. Twitter can be a useful tool for bringing new followers to your blog, but only if you use it correctly.

5. Tweeting really vague updates.

The types of tweets that make sense to you, and only you. Maybe you’re trying to be cool. Heck, maybe it is cool. But it’s important to remember that Twitter functions on healthy relationships between the user and his or her followers. So definitely share what’s on your mind, but remember that you’re tweeting for an audience (no matter how big or small).

6. Sub-tweeting.

Everyone is guilty of wanting to throw some shade every now and again. With social media, which often feels like a microphone hovering near our mouths 24/7, we’re tempted to vent every frustration that comes our way. However, sub-tweeting often makes the person doing it seem bitter and more annoying than the person they’re tweeting about.Unfortunately, your followers can’t see or hear the person or thing that is bothering you, which can make it hard to relate or empathize. Sure, you might get a chuckle, or “ooooh gurl” from some of your followers, but all in all: sub-tweeting suggests you’re probably a bitter or negative person, both of which makes clicking that “unfollow” button on your profile all the more tempting.