Jan 17 2012

Twitter Resolutions For 2012

Twitter can be a very powerful social media vehicle, but are you using the 140 character social network to it’s fullest? It’s a new year, and with a new Twitter interface, here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re tweeting your way into the new year.

Purge Your Follow/Followers

Are all 3,000 of your followers people you actually want to share with? Or are the 5,000 people you follow people whose Twitters you care about or are relevant to you and your industry and interests?

The answer is probably not. So take the time one evening to go through those on Twitter that you follow and really pare if down to the people or companies that are relevant to you.

(And for those of you that are into any kind of inbound marketing, with the focus of search engines lately on “relevancy” I wouldn’t be surprised if this narrowing of your focus on Twitter would help your online reputation in whatever niche you’re in.)

Create Lists

So you’ve gone ahead and taken my first piece of advice and purged who you follow and who follows you – but it’s a social network, and I’m sure your different interests collide in Twitter – which can be quite disorienting. So the next time you find a news headline from the New York Times right after your favorite celebrity tweeting – and you do a double-take, take a minute to start separating out who you follow into lists. “Celebrities” and “News” no longer need collide in your Twitter Stream.

And then you’ll turn into someone who is obsessive compulsive about putting things in lists and the right boxes and you’ll start cleaning your apartment (or home, or room) more – all in all, creating Twitter lists will lead to you being a more tidy person in general. (Of course, that’s not anything I can guarantee).

To The Max!

So you’ve cleaned up your followers and divvied everyone up into the proper lists – now take advantage of it. Really hone your online presence – and don’t be afraid to be yourself! Share what you want to share, and say what you want to say, as long as it’s genuine, and about something that matters to you.

Passion can come across in 140 characters, I promise. And the fact that you are now addressing an audience that you know care about the same things that you care about will make your Twitter life that much more rewarding, and will keep you involved and interested in the community you are creating around the issues and topics that matter to you.

Kill the Autopilot

All of the advice listed previously in the article is really about relevancy and finding your niche – it’s not a numbers game anymore, it’s not about “Klout” anymore. So remember it’s not about the number of tweets that you throw out into the Twitterverse, it’s about the quality and relevance of what you have to say (though we’re all allowed to have one or two stupid-moment tweets).

When you’re on Twitter, engage!

Megan is a freelance writer who works frequently with Netqin, a company that aims to make sure all the data on your phone is safe and secure. She hopes that everyone enjoys a new year of engagement on their favorite social networks. Why not follow Netqin on Twitter?