4 reasons to shut up on Twitter

Madhuri Shekar
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Social Media Posted on October 12, 2009

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When silence is golden

As any Twitter enthusiast can tell you, tweeting can become an addiction. This platform has given brands, companies, and individuals the ability to broadcast their thoughts and insights on a real-time basis, which allows for immediate connections, engagement, and valuable conversations.

We know that Twitter is a platform that is meant to be used frequently and consistently.

There are times, however, when it is vital that you not reach for your phone or double-click on your Twitter client of choice.

At the 140 Twitter Conference held recently in Los Angeles, Twitter experts expounded on how they used Twitter to effectively reach out to clients and consumers, and to promote their own brands. But a running theme of discussions was that there are definite instances when is it not a good idea to tweet.

Here are a few examples of when it might be best to keep your "twap" shut.

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Etienne Chabot November 18, 2009 at 9:11 AM

Hi Madhuri,

thanks again for your great article and your links to help me establish social media policies for my organization.

Suggestion: since your site is inspired from a blog platform, It would be very useful if you'd add a check box to your comment box to let us be advised when there is a new comment on the discussion topic for which we commented.

S T October 23, 2009 at 8:06 PM

Guys, could you please stop posting Bitly URLs? Just give us the full URL. Thanks.

Madhuri Shekar October 19, 2009 at 12:18 PM

Thanks Wendy! The photo on my profile is my actual photo- for cover stories the author's picture is usually replaced by a graphic created especially for the article.

Wendy Marx October 19, 2009 at 10:43 AM

Thanks, Madhuri, for your excellent article that by "bad example" shows what to do. Quick question: I clicked on your name and saw a totally different photo of you. Is the picture your alias? :)

Madhuri Shekar October 13, 2009 at 1:48 PM

Hi Etienne,

There's a great article on iMediaConnection with regards to your question: "5 Steps to a Humane Social Media Policy" [http://bit.ly/14MVw9]. It could also be useful to look at established social media guidelines for employees by major brands and companies, for example IBM [http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html], BBC [http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/advice/personalweb/blogging.shtml] and the AP [http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2009/06/apsocialnetworkingpolicy.pdf].

Hope this helps!

Thanks to everyone for reading and your feedback. :)

Madhuri

Etienne Chabot October 13, 2009 at 1:33 PM

On the same topic, is there a document that exists to draft a policy to establish the guiding principles when you wanna let your employee talk about your company on Social Media? (Twitter, Facebook, Linked In. etc)

Manasi Subramaniam October 13, 2009 at 1:03 AM

This is a fascinating article. It is crisp, well-written and informative. My congratulations to this talented journalist who seems to be in control of his/her pen.

Cindy Goh October 12, 2009 at 10:23 PM

Great article! Wholly agreed with what you have mentioned. We should always keep it positive and inspirational and at the same time don't give it all away on the first tweet. Nice. :)