Things Not to Tweet Ever - Wise Use of Social Media

Not only is Twitter a handy marketing tool to reach hundreds or thousands of your customers at once, it is also a lot of fun. The equivalent of an online party with all kinds of little conversations going on at once, it can sometimes cause even seasoned marketers to let down their guard. After all, if everyone else is having a good time and posting whatever they want, shouldn't you be, too?

Like other situations, there is a fine line. One of Twitter's best qualities and indeed one of the greatest things about social networking, in general, is that it lets us drop some of our professional façades and let people in. This can be a great thing for relationships, business or otherwise, so long as you know how to keep yourself out of trouble.

Here are four tweets you should never, ever send:

Anything with obscenities, slurs, and so on

It should go without saying that these are the kinds of thoughts you should keep to yourself if you insist on having them at all. But recognise that just one of them is likely to leave a permanent impression on your business and career.

Connor Riley did something on the internet she would rate as the dumbest thing she'd ever do in life. Her tweet:

"Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty pay-check against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work."

made her a laughing stock on the internet and ultimately Cisco rescinded her job offer in disgrace.

News that is not public yet

From new client contracts to earnings reports and future product releases, it is best to keep sensitive information in-house until it is been reported elsewhere. When in the wrong hands, sensitive information can be mistreated to execute an action against the law and the consequence of this is expensive lawsuits for the company.

A company of Apple's stature even suffered a Twitter leak nightmare after accidentally announcing the iPhone 7 before its official launch.

Complaints about customers or co-workers

The quick, fluid nature of Twitter can make people feel anonymous. This is not true, so keep that in mind as you decide what to post, because it will get back to whomever you are writing about. Remember that a tweet is slightly different to a written letter. A person can misplace or lose a letter but a tweet will forever stay online.

Example:
Jon-Barrett Ingels, a waiter in LA, says that he lost his job after Jane Adams read his light-hearted tweet and returned to the Barney Greengrass restaurant in Los Angeles to complain.

What you had for lunch, your pet's favourite food, what you thought about a celebrity’s choice of clothing and anything else that's likely to bore readers

Twitter, even more than other social networking sites, runs on a short attention span. On average, the lifetime of a tweet is 18 minutes, which is very short so be sure to make your tweet powerful and meaningful. Otherwise, it will get lost in a pool of newer tweets because of the speedy amount of tweets being published every second. With this said, make sure you give people a reason to tune in, or they will go elsewhere.