Twitter is a great place to say what you think before you’ve had a chance to think about it. Oh, how true that seems to be every moment of every day in my Tweet stream. At any given moment, I can scan through Twitter and find things that make my eyes bug out of my head. My mouth will drop open in that “WTF?” shape and my head begins to spin. You know what I’m talking about, right? You’ve seen the Tweets that make you wonder if the person who typed it has temporarily lost their mind.

People spew things on Twitter before they stop to think about what they are typing. As we all know – once you put it out there, it’s there for good. Deleting your inane or drunken comments doesn’t really work. Someone – somewhere – has already read your message, and they likely took a screenshot to prove it. Twitter – and all social media sites – would be a much nicer place if users thought twice (or even once in some cases!) before they post.

Quite often, people try to be funny online. We will send out a quick Tweet to share something we find humor in, only to have people asking us what the hell we’re talking about. Sometimes, we may even have followers who take offense. They don’t get our humor. Our inside jokes simply don’t work in a medium such as this. Before you attempt to amuse your community, ask yourself if your message is funny in general – or just to you. Is it something that others will understand and appreciate the humor in?

Another culprit is anger – too often I see people vent their frustrations through their Tweet streams. Hell, I’ll admit it – I’ve done it a time or two, as well. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to do this… sometimes it can actually be effective. Before you bang out your mood via the keyboard, take a moment to compose yourself and your missive. Is your anger directed at a company or product? Make sure your message states what, who and why. Tell them you’re angry – but make sure you tell them why. This helps your followers as well as perhaps the company the words are aimed at.

If you need to carry on an actual conversation with another person, Twitter isn’t really the place for it. One-on-one communication still works best in other places, such as your email, an IM client or even a telephone. People will go crazy trying to figure out what you’re talking about, who it’s directed to and why the heck you aren’t including them.

It’s simple, really: just think before you Tweet. Your followers will thank you for it.

Think Before You Tweet

I didn’t really have time to write this weekend, so before those thoughts disappear into the ether of time – I’m pushing them back from my Twitter account and onto this page.

• Dude. Let’s open source energy: http://urltea.com/xuu – 10 minutes ago
• What do Dentissts, Mountains, and Gnomedex have in common? – about 2 hours ago
• The first time I’ve ever been impressed with a Linux dev: http://urltea.com/xoe?linux – about 15 hours ago
• Best review of the PS3 / Sony *EVER* – http://tinyurl.com/2xmkfd – about 16 hours ago
• Derek Miller is doing WELL! :D http://tinyurl.com/26bwbs – about 16 hours ago
• My iPhone conversation with @scobleizer – http://tinyurl.com/2fftys – about 16 hours ago
• Don’t believe the corporations are in charge of America? Wake the *bleep* up. http://tinyurl.com/2d68uv – 02:13 PM July 07, 2007
• Live Earth, or Live Hypocrisy? http://tinyurl.com/2tkpvv – 02:05 PM July 07, 2007
• So, wait… is Live Earth a scam? I mean, who and what is going to benefit from the event? Is this another “We Are the World” catastrophe? – 01:44 PM July 07, 2007
• I need a script to remove Twitter “Friends” who aren’t also “Followers” – it’s only fair. – 01:36 PM July 07, 2007
• http://heyspread.com/ – The first true video sneezer service? Needs more video networks. :) – 01:32 PM July 07, 2007
• Is NSPD 51 / HSPD-20 for real?! http://tinyurl.com/2cnzet – WTF?! – 01:27 PM July 07, 2007
• Twitter reminds me of Quotes> from ISCA BBS. I used to be “The Locker Gnome” there, setting up my account in 1992. User #31000 (ish). – 01:20 PM July 07, 2007
• The iPonzi is OUT!!! I waited in line 33 years for this: http://www.flickr.com/photo… – 01:08 PM July 07, 2007
• I’ll be watching iPhone software / firmware revisions with GREAT interest. I think Apple stole Vista’s “Wow.” :) Too many negatives, tho… – 12:49 PM July 07, 2007
• Okay, I get it. The iPhone is VERY nice – but I stand by all my reasons for not getting one. >:( – 12:42 PM July 07, 2007
• There were no UFOs last night. Damn. Nice skies, though. Today, maybe Mt. Saint Helens? – 12:40 PM July 07, 2007

I Was Thinking…