At the risk of going off topic in the opening line, that made an interesting URL “dick on twitter” probably wouldn’t get many clicks and it would disappoint the few that did click.
Anyway, I can’t help but think that most of what I’m about to say goes without saying really. It’s not just things that wind me up – its things that bloggers complain about constantly – yet they still occur so frequently.
This post won’t be covering the really obvious ways not to be a dick like don’t insult people for daring to think something different to you etc. These points are more things that bloggers tend to do even though they irritate most people.
And they aren’t new, because this isn’t the first rant I’ve had about some of these things. You can check out some other rants here, here and here all of which include the dreaded auto DMs.
Stop Sending Out Auto DMs
I am yet to speak to anyone who uses Twitter (blogger or non-blogger) that likes receiving auto DMs. Very few people 
even bother reading them. Yet scores of bloggers still send them out.
I can just about cope with the “Thank you for following me” one. It’s pointless, but harmless. The ones that really irritate people are the ones that demand you follow them everywhere else/follow their blog/subscribe to a newsletter/buy something.
If someone follows a blogger, there’s a good chance they’ll read the blog.
They might then choose to follow you on other social media channels or buy something you make or sell. An auto DM telling them to it is going to get an eye roll at best.
Follow to Unfollow
It kind of bugs me when someone follows someone then unfollows them if they don’t follow back BUT I do get it. Maybe these people only want to interact with people who follow them. Maybe they have a lot of people they follow and want to cull some and unfollowers are their choice.
What I can’t stand (and I’d be willing to bet that most bloggers would say the same) is the ones who follow, wait for you to follow back and then promptly unfollow you. Not only is it kind of rude but it’s also pretty transparent.
Follow someone because they’re interesting, or in your niche, or whatever reason you like, but following someone just to unfollow and try to make yourself look popular is just a little sad.
Begging for Follows or RTs
It makes me cringe when I see this. People tweeting other begging them to follow them. If you have to beg for it, even if they agree, then chances are they’re not going to interact with you anyway. Or read your blog. Or anything else you want them to do.
The RT thing is a bit more open to interpretation. Personally, I have no problem with a blogger I know asking me to RT something that’s particularly important to them, whether that’s a blog post they are really passionate about, or a new venture of theirs. I believe we should all be helping each other, and if an RT can help, then I’m happy to do it.
What I mean here is approaching a total stranger who you’ve never bothered to talk to before, and not even asking, but demanding they RT your stuff.
Ignoring People Who Tweet You
It happens – we’ve all missed the odd tweet. But serial ignorers are the worst. I don’t care how big you think you are, if someone asks you a question, it’s manners to answer it.
This point doesn’t refer to abusive or trolling tweets.
Profile Bios
Make sure to fill in the bio section – empty bios don’t get followers because people don’t know what you’re about. Empty bios aren’t really a pet peeve though, they are just a missed opportunity.
My pet peeve with Twitter bios (and I think this one might just be me) is the use of the word “influencer”. If you genuinely are an influencer, you don’t need to tell people.
It’s like in fiction writing – show, don’t tell.
Don’t tell me you’re an influencer. If you really are, I probably already know, and if I don’t, show me with your dazzling intellect or tons of followers that hang on your every word and buy the products you recommend.
What are your Twitter pet peeves? Any I’ve missed? Any of these you disagree with? Let me know in the comments 🙂
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I’ve never even tried Twitter. I tried Facebook for a year, then gave it up because I found it to be a great waste of time. Every so often I consider going back to Facebook, but it’s been years since I quit and I haven’t done it yet.
I prefer Twitter to Facebook. I know this post is a bit of a rant, but it’s actually pretty cool and its really easy to find like minded people there.
You’d think people would have stopped auto DMing by now.
If I tweet at someone and they don’t reply once I shrug it off, but sometimes I’ve said something to a person multiple times, like, trying to have an actual conversation and get ignored, I stopped bothering and sometimes unfollow. I know Twitter is an outrage machine now-a-days, but I still use it to interact with people.
I know – everyone hates them so why send them?
I’m the same. Once or twice could happen as a genuine mistake but anymore than that and I just give up too. I still love Twitter though haha
Haha I love that ‘influencer’ tag, it makes me wonder what the bar is for this. When do you know you have reached influencer status? Is it the act that you have influenced or the number of people you get to do it, or the number of minutes/days/years that you think you have been influencing for? So many variables, it must take a lot of ego to tag yourself as this 😀
Haha it’s such a grey area isn’t it and so random!