There are a few cardinal rules every seasoned Twitter user knows:
- Retweeting is an art where less is more. Retweets are also not necessarily an endorsement of the RTed content - in the same way that pointing to a hole in the ground doesn't mean you want to sit in it.
- @-ing another Twitter user means your tweet is definitely imparting something relevant to that particular individual. Otherwise you are guilty of spamming them - you and all the other spam bots on Twitter.
- If your avatar remains egg-shaped beyond your first tentative hour of lurking on Twitter, you need to work on polishing your brand image. Tip: upload a photo, preferably of your face or brand. The biog on your profile should be up to snuff too. Clear, focused and friendly info is good. Cryptic, emo and incomprehensible are for MySpace.
Seasoned Twitter users also know they can tap into a wealth of Twitter apps and tools to augment the microblogging experience - helping to search, mine and monitor tweets and trends, visualize Twitter data, analyse followers and engagement, and much more.
Indeed, there are scores of Twitter apps - many of them free. But to whet your appetite for what Twitter apps can do, silicon.com has rounded up 20 handy tools, in no particular order, that can help business users get more from Twittering.
Credit: Jeff Turner, silicon.com
By Sonja Thompson
Sonja Thompson started at TechRepublic in October 1999. She is a former Senior Editor at TechRepublic.