By: Erika Wuelfrath, Account Coordinator

Are you dying to know the latest celebrity gossip or haunted by the score of tonight’s big game? If so, Twitter provides a real-time resource for information and contact among users worldwide. This rising social media network invites business professionals, celebrities, fans, and a variety of other users to share thoughts, promote events and brands, and communicate with one another with ease. As the amount of users has skyrocketed and approximately 200 million of these thoughts are being “tweeted” daily, it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish how to appropriately express yourself. Whether you are a Twitter pro or just getting started, here are a few tricks to apply to your social media strategy:

Rest In Peace: Excessive tweeting: When it comes to tweets, it is necessary to carefully distinguish what is important and what is trivial information to share with your followers. If you are a professional and desire to spread the word about your company or service, be mindful not to spam your followers. The key to obtaining a loyal audience is to maintain consistency and relevance, in order to keep them engaged.

Poor writing is petrifying: Regardless of who you are, it is always a good idea to maintain a professional writing style when using Twitter. Twitter permits millions of users to access your thoughts, ideas, and anything you decide worthy of tweeting. With this lack of privacy in a professional world of tweets, it is absolutely vital to proofread your writing before it is available to viewers.

Watch what you tweet: This tip goes hand-in-hand with basic offline etiquette. When you are composing a tweet, it is crucial to stay on your best (verbal) behavior. Especially if you use Twitter professionally it is imperative to avoid using your professional Twitter account to discuss controversial topics, send inappropriate photos or use obscene language.

Don’t mummify your manners: While interacting on Twitter, it is also important to recognize your followers by minding your manners. Comparable to the etiquette of returning someone’s phone call, it is always polite to tweet back a follower. Tweeting a person back will most likely result in a conversation, which may ideally lead to a potential customer or business partner. By displaying gratitude for a user’s input, you may encourage people to re-tweet your posts in the future.

Keep it short and sweet: Twitter allows 140 characters per tweet, so it is key to make every word count. For most readers on Twitter, their expectations do not require you to use the full 140 to get your point across. This is why keeping each tweet short and to the point can effectively relay your message when the proper words are selected.

Unmask your “@”: One of the key things to remember while using Twitter is to make sure you keep it conversational. This is why incorporating “@” replies into your tweets is critical to the function of Twitter. This social media platform was designed to inspire communication and engage every single one of its users. By using the “@” symbol, you are able to reply, as well as establish conversation with any one of your followers at any moment.

Have fun and be spook-tacular: One of the most underrated tips to using Twitter is to simply have fun with it! Twitter is undeniably the most social and interactive platform out there making it crucial to express enthusiasm within your tweets. There are endless possibilities for fun when you become engaged and personable with each and every one of your followers.

As Twitter continues to develop into the most dynamic social platform of our lifetime, you may need to acquire new knowledge in order to adapt. However, one thing that will not change is how people respond and interpret your tweets. By incorporating the utmost professionalism into your Twitter account, and maintaining a positive outreach to your followers—you will not only be promoting a great image of yourself and your business, but you will be knowledgeable of the proper etiquette for communicating with others on the web – an imperative skill in our technological world.  Happy Tweeting!