I’m sick of all the posts out there telling me how tweet, how not to tweet, how to increase my following, and how I can earn millions of dollars in my sleep with Twitter. I’m especially sick of the “5 Twitter Tips” posts.

Unless links about improving my social media presence are coming from someone I know and trust (e.g. @mashable), I ignore them. Here are five reasons why:

1. Many Twitter tips are a regurgitation of the same hackneyed advice. Once you’ve read two or three “top five” lists, you’ll notice that everything starts to sound the same.
2. They distract from more pressing issues. Learning how to use social media is important, but so are the actual problems we could solve through the vehicle of social media. It seems that if social media were a car, we’re spending more time talking about how to polish the hood than we are talking about where the car can take us.
3. They’re often posted by people who have no clue. I recently read a collection of tips by someone who has less than 50 followers and whose tweets are mostly “learning about this Twitter thing” (okay, I get that this is an extreme case, but nonetheless, I’m sure you could name at least one clueless, self-professed “social media expert”).
4. Most Twitter tips are overly generic. Each person has a unique group followers based on their niche or industry; however, most Twitter tips lump everyone together without concern for niche.
5. Many Twitter tips are shallow. Social Media strategy is a delicate and complex communication issue, worthy of delicate and complex analysis. Sound byte tips may help you brush up your Tweet copy, but they won’t help you develop a communication plan (which is really what you need by the way).

Maybe you disagree. Maybe you’ve noticed the panging irony of this whole post. If so, let me know.

-Andrew

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Tags: snark, social media, Twitter

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