Twitter Tweets are one medium that will expose bad writing quicker because you have to communicate information or an idea clearly in a limited amount of space [140 characters].
With only having a 140 character limit on all Twitter Tweets, Twitter users often demonstrate this all too effectively.
From using techie abbreviated twitter tweets that make no sense to many, to tweets that fail to persuade followers to click-through on a link displayed, examples are everywhere in the Twitter “conversation”.
Do You Have What It Takes To Craft Effective Tweets
We have all experienced it in one form or another regardless of whether we are at work or at home, we have all received emails that have been guilty of containing poorly structured grammar, poor spelling, fractured syntax, and are more often than not a real chore to make sense out of.
Twitter Tweets or posts are actually no different from emails except for the fact that if they are badly structured they are at least very short in nature which can sometimes be a blessing.
Many full-time Twitters as well as affiliate marketers have discovered techniques to not only follow thousands of other people on Twitter but to be followed as well and as a result populating their home pages with, and in some extreme cases, hundreds of twitter tweets a minute every single day.
In many cases, most individuals will skip over any tweets that are sloppy, trivial and effectively incoherent to the reader usually because they simply don’t have time to waste.
Like most areas of writing, the process of creating good Twitter Tweets takes some thought, time and analysis to be effective. Whilst there is definitely no such animal as a “grand” tweet, (typically making such a statement would be very subjective especially as it is totally reliant upon the intended target audience who is reading the tweet) there are some basic guidelines that you should try to follow when posting to twitter.
Why You Should Stay Away From Abbreviated Text
Before you even consider posting your first twitter tweets make sure you steer clear of using any form of abbreviation if at all possible,as this can lead to a misunderstood message being posted, and only use them when completely necessary. The sole reason for this is simply that there are so many abbreviations being used online today and in many chat programs that you really can’t assume that people will know what they mean which will detract from the message you are trying to get out there.
Some of the worst offenders of this online today are the more experienced Twitter users who have become complacent and expect everyone to understand their message. This is mainly due to the fact that the majority of these people still tend to be from a technical background and so this is reflected in their writing style.
However, as the Twitter users grow and the network becomes more and more diversified as has been the case of late, especially with the many programs being promoted online by affiliates on how to get more followers on Twitter this will mean that a lot of these people will not be up on all the Twitter-specific rant.
If you are of the belief that you can rely on this form of writing skill to get your message across then you will run the risk of in effect alienating a large segment of your target market from appreciating fully (or at all) what you have to say.
To Get The Best Results Make Sure You Take The Time To Get It Right…
We have placed this second but this is really just as important as the first and that is to take your time. The sole reason for this is that Twitter is a system that when you hit the publish button your tweet appears instantly online, you have plenty of time to craft a skillful message as the ability to tweet a message sits in your web-browser or in an application on your desktop looking like what a piece of meat must look like to a tiger.
Always be mindful that you only have 140 characters to work with this might be very easy for some to just tweet away without giving it much thought, but for others it is very important to think about what it is you are going to be typing into the 140 characters allocated including your URL if any.
All you need to do is proofread your important tweet message before hitting the “send button” to everyone in the network, you should always just pause and re-read your tweet before you share it with the internet community. And if you don’t think that anybody is seeing your tweets think again it will be shared.
Never assume that it is only your immediate followers who are going to see your tweets, as a tweet can be picked up publicly by Google™ or Twitter’s search tool. So by taking just a small amount of extra time to get it right from the start you will then be putting more thought into what you are trying to communicate, which in turn makes it more likely to be appreciated and followed by others.
Due to the restricted shortness of the twitter tweets you can post, a fast writing post coupled with a lack of context can create misunderstandings for your readers. All you need to do is simply take your time to not only construct the twitter tweets correctly, but also consider how your audience will receive it, you can save yourself a lot of misinterpretations.
You can simply do this by re-reading the twitter tweets yourself to see if it makes sense and it is actually focused on the message you wish to get out there, here is another great resource on how to Twitter.
Excellent post. Taking a few seconds to re-read your tweet outloud makes allthe difference in the world. Seeing is one thing, sound another.
I used to be a rushing tweeter but I’ve finally accepted the idea that quality trumps quantity. My readership/tweetership and presence has expanded significantly since coming to this realization.
Yes Ryan
When I first started out and not just only with Twitter it was rush, rush, rush which lead to mistakes and some very poor results. But once you slow up and put some thought into what you are actually trying to achieve this become much more clear and the results are a lot better for your efforts.
The way to tweet is short and sweet. Brevity rules. With only 140 chars to work with it’s easy to become long-winded.
Yes you are very right with that, don’t try to put to much in the tweet. As an example if you have written a compelling title for your page that should be enough to get your tweet noticed without trying to cram in a description which really does not make sense.