Aaron Lee, known as Ask Aaron Lee, is your average Joe but with an extra-large social media addiction.

Has anyone ever told you you’re tweeting the wrong way? I wrote about the mistakes new Twitter users make based on some of my past mistakes. I wanted to share some lessons here so that you could learn from mine, and avoid the same ones.

First, let me be clear, everyone has their own opinion, there is no ONE right method of using Twitter. We all use Twitter in our own way with our own goals. 

Following are some common questions I receive.

  • Do you return follow everyone? I like to at least try to follow back the people who follow me. Maybe NOT ALL, but I do try to engage with more people and come out of my circle. I have received some tweets from people saying we SHOULDN’T follow people back. The reason given was because it’s not a ‘natural influence’, and that we should follow a few hundred people and have thousands of followers…or we should only follow influential people and not follow people who are not influential. I felt these were ridiculous tips because who are we to judge someone based on a number, or the number of followers he or she has? One reason I do follow back is because that gives everyone the freedom to connect with me through direct messages if they have any questions. This helped me to connect with Gini Dietrich and she was able to send me a DM to asking if I was interested in guest blogging here. I felt honored! It was like an invitation to a great party.
  • How can you follow the conversation? I do try to connect with everyone which can make it hard to follow the conversation. Recently, I’ve been using  research.ly. It helps me to see what my followers are talking on a particular topic and to find other influencers and people I’d like to connect with. COOL huh? Who says we can’t pay attention now?
  • How many tweets per day? There is no formula for this. Do what works for you. If you like writing, replying to hundreds of tweets each day and you feel happy doing it, why not? As long as Mark Schaefer doesn’t call you the DEVIL for posting too many tweets or posting weird tweets, you’re probably doing alright.
  • How do you know if you’re doing something right or wrong? As long as you feel comfortable doing what you’re doing then continue.  Try to explore other methods and see if it’s working. There’s nothing wrong with testing new methods. Keep educating yourself and paying attention to what others are doing. Don’t make the same mistakes that others have… like when Kenneth Cole promoted his latest fashion line using the Egypt hashtag.
  • How do you find the time? If time doesn’t allow you to tweet all day, like for me, then schedule  tweets using SocialOomph or Hootsuite . Some say you shouldn’t do that, but I schedule some throughout the day and go back in when I have time to interact and respond.

We all have different approaches when using Twitter, and different ways of connecting with people. If you don’t really have the time, then just come on Twitter whenever you can. It shouldn’t be a chore. I love to engage with people and I feel comfortable doing it. You should too! Do you have additional tips? or questions?

Photo credits: by kalleboo

Aaron Lee is a part-time internet marketer and social media consultant. He freelances with businesses to help them build their business online using social media. Offline, Aaron is a taking his degree in International Marketing at University Malaysia Sabah.