Twitter Chat Etiquette: 5 Rules for Being the Emily Post of Twitter Chats

1. Do let your followers know you’ll be tweeting a lot for the hour of the chat

It’s a common courtesy and allows your followers to mute you if they want to for the duration of the chat. Not warning them runs the risk of an unfollow.

2. Don’t speak over the guest host

Tweet chats are meant to be interactive, so feel free to share your expertise and ask questions, but it looks rude if you’re constantly talking over the person who is meant to be the expert for that chat.

3. Don’t be overly promotional

Sharing one or two relevant links is okay, but you don’t want to run the risk of being obnoxious or looking spammy. If you have more relevant links you think chatters might be interested in, wait until the chat ends and share them, or write a roundup post about the topic and share it using the chat hashtag.

4. Do ask questions

Especially if there’s something you don’t understand! Chatters love to share knowledge and resources, so don’t be shy.

5. Don’t be combative

It’s fine to be opinionated, but don’t be obstinate. Do clarify your point if someone misunderstood what you were trying to say.

Bonus: After the chat

• Follow people you’ve engaged in conversation with, and even send some invitations to connect on LinkedIn if it feels appropriate
• Create a Twitter list of regular chatters
• Share resources you come across that might be relevant to the topic, before and after the chat; all you have to do is add the chat’s hashtag to your tweet
• Invite others to join the chat you think might be interested in an upcoming topic or guest host

Most importantly? Have fun with it! Don’t be afraid to be yourself and have a sense of humor.

Want more Twitter chat resources? Check out 10 tips for getting the most out of Twitter chats: As a participant, 9 tips for getting the most out of Twitter chats: As a host, and learn how you can Track Twitter chats and generate transcripts with TweetReach.

This post was originally published on Union Metrics.