Tweet Cred: How To Gain Respect On Twitter

Respect is one of those things that everyone wants, but few people get, especially in social media. On Twitter, it can be overwhelming at times to try and stand out in the crowd of never ending tweets.

I opened my Twitter account in March of 2009. I have sent over 35,000 tweets since then, and I have learned so much about the psychology of tweeting just from watching others and paying attention to how they interact.

Now, my best friends are on Twitter. I can’t imagine going a whole day without sending a tweet. I truly do love my Twitter friends. However, what about tweet cred? How do we get that? According to the Urban Dictionary, tweet cred is similar to street cred. It is the level of respect you command in the micro-blogosphere due to your witty, cool or ingenious tweets.

One thing I’ve noticed is that just because someone has a lot of followers, it does not mean they have tweet cred. It’s truly not about the numbers on Twitter. Twitter is all about relationships. You would think people knew that by now, but based on the fact that only about 5% of the people on Twitter engage with their followers, most people still don’t understand this.

There is nothing worse on Twitter than trying to build some tweet cred, but in the process, embarrassing yourself. When those people who just don’t get it send their tweets, it’s like they have spinach between their teeth. Everyone sees it, but nobody will say anything to them about it.

You Make Your Own Rules On Twitter

When I began on Twitter, there were a lot of rules that people tried to dictate. Now things have changed. You make your own rules on Twitter. It’s about having fun and meeting new people. It’s about networking and sharing ideas and links. Don’t think of this list as right or wrong things to do. There are exceptions to everything. Think of these as just subtle suggestions that might point you in the direction of building some tweet cred of your own!

Demonstrate Some Leadership Skills

1. Help your followers if they ask you questions about Twitter.
2. Give respect to others. Treat people with 100 followers the same as you would treat someone with 100,000 followers.
3. Be a student of everyone.
4. Don’t lie. People on Twitter know when they are being lied to.
5. Empower others, don’t spit on anyone.
6. Remember your manners, say please and thank you.
7. Tweet with confidence, but always remain humble.
8. Focus on what matters: Don’t argue with anyone on your timeline. If you must prove a point, do it in DM.

Try Not To Look Like An Idiot

1. Don’t beg people to follow you, promote you or reply to your tweets. Instead, give them a good reason to do so!
2. Don’t call yourself a social media expert or a guru of any kind in your bio.
3. Don’t be a slimy salesman and send tweets like, “Let me show you how to become a millionaire in ten minutes.”
4. Don’t auto-DM. I don’t care how polite you think the message is.
5. Don’t complain about how you need more followers and that people aren’t responding to your tweets.

Be Bold, Develop Your Own Style and Have Fun!

1. Be patient! Unless you are a celebrity, we all had to pay our dues in the beginning on Twitter. It takes a little while to get the hang of it. Have fun with the process!
2. Be yourself! Engage with people in conversation and contribute to the Twitter community.
3. At the end of the day, Twitter is all about having fun. If you are having a good time, you are doing it right.
4. Remember, we are all part of the same Twitter family!

Pay Attention To Your Details

1. Keep your tweets short, sweet and interesting.
2. 120 characters is the new black on Twitter. If you want to increase your retweets, keep your tweets to 120 characters or less.
3. Don’t tweet a pic or a link without a description of what it is.
4. Shorten your URLs. Nobody likes seeing long URLs.
5. Don’t change your avatar a lot, especially in the very beginning when people are getting to know you. It can really confuse people.

You Gotta Show Up To Go Up!

1. If possible, tweet frequently. “Tweet frequently about anything that interests you.” ~Alyssa Milano
2. Watch the quality of your tweets. Be careful not to rant all day long or tweet every single detail of your life.
3. When you see an interesting tweet, keep it circulating. Retweet others!
4. Stalking is ok on Twitter. Watch those that have tweet cred, and learn from them.

Image Credits: [Tatjana Strelkova/Shutterstock], [drewsent/Shutterstock], [danlindop/Shutterstock], [andere/Shutterstock], [greenrmedia.co.uk]