Sunday, July 31, 2011

FIVE STYLES OF TWEETING: And what we can learn from them


Twitter Fact: Twitter is addictive *only* once you master the Art of Tweeting.

twittericon

In this article, I will discuss five prominent styles of tweeting. All the handles that have been chosen have their own styles, according to their objective of being on twitter. Broadly, the five prominent styles of tweeting would be :
  1. Formal Corporate Handle
  2. Casual Corporate Handle
  3. Random Tweeter
  4. Traffic Generator
  5. Personal Handle
These style have been elaborated further:

Style 1 : Formal Corporate Handle 

Example - @htTweets

Tweets Like:
-> US Senate rejects House debt bill, seeks compromisev http://read.ht/Bm4 #USdebt #ht
-> Flash: Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa says he would resign tomorrow afternoon #ht

Characteristic Features of this Style
  1. Very formal way of tweeting
  2. Tweets in specific time slots, except in urgent situations
  3. 10 –12 tweets everytime the handle logs on
  4. Uses Hash tags, shortened links extensively
  5. Promotes personal Hash tags – #ht in all the tweets
  6. No interaction with its followers, whatsoever
Objective: The main objective of this style of tweeting is to give fast and quick information  to the followers and generate traffic for its website. This style effectively does that.

Style 2 : Informal Corporate Handle (Read - Interactive Corporate Handle)

Example - @FostersAOC

Tweets Like:
-> Here's Nikita showcase of her favorite beer! Now that's what we call a chillled out showcase. http://fb.me/vFRaHrHh
-> Well @Hansikac just shared a link from her aunt's blog with us where she reviewed #FostersPET. http://t.co/wbDBWDF Awesome Review.

Characteristic Features of this Style
  1. Extremely casual way of interacting
  2. Highly interactive with all followers
  3. Gets the followers engrossed by holding contests/ competition at regular intervals
  4. Uses a lot of hash tags and shortened links to relevant pics and pages
  5. Prominently showcases followers tweeting about them
Objective: The main objective of this kind of tweeting is to keep the followers ever engrossed in their products, Interactively and amusingly. Works well on twitter, as everyone is a bit casual here.

Style 3 : Random Tweeting 

Example – @Shakti_shetty

Tweets Like:
->  Her geometry has always been an area of concern to the perimeters of his mind.
->  I’m yet to see my foreseeable future.
-> “What’s the point in tweeting without replying?” “What’s the point in tweeting with replying?” “Nothing.” “Exactly.”

Characteristic Features of this Style
  1. Tweets about totally random things and lets you conclude what it means
  2. Effectively plays with minds, by leaving it totally random.
  3. Mainly mixes well with words, rhyme and typos.
  4. Tweets are perfectly scheduled to appear at regular intervals
  5. Never uses a hash tag or short link. Rarely tweets about trending topics.
  6. Rarely /Never replies to its followers. Thrives only on Retweets.
Objective: No specific objective, mainly for bouncing off thoughts. Differentiates the class. The reward is only Retweets.

Style 4 : Traffic Generator

Example@Jhunjhunwala (of course, the fake rakesh jhunjhunwala!)

Tweets Like:
-> BBC: 860 people injured in Cairo, CNN: 10 people killed in Egypt , NDTV : Barkha's camera broken, India TV : Shiv Ling found under Cairo
-> Arnab Goswami has never finished a sentence his whole life because every time he starts to speak he ends up interrupting himself.
-> Pakistan never knows anything be it on Osama or 26/11 or Dawood.No wonder its always an INTELLIGENCE failure.

Characteristic Features of this Style
  1. This handle tweets in its signature style. Complain about everything and make fun of everyone.
  2. This handle has a dash of humour in all his tweets. Sometimes, even in ALL CAPS.
  3. Targets specific people, events. In this handles case – like Arnab Goswami, Sonu Nigam, Munaf Patel.
  4. Corollary: it trains its followers in what to expect from its tweets.
  5. Highly interactive. Retweets all praising tweets. Like to be praised.
Objective: This handle amplifies reason behind the existence of almost everyone on twitter. “Appreciation”.This handles objective would be to make itself a brand out of its tweets. Now, the tweep also has earned a weekly column in Hindustan Times. Most Pseudo Celebrities on twitter revolve around this style, in varying levels.

Style 5 : Personal Handle 

Example –  @MadhuriBanerjee or @dkh9

Tweets Like:
-> Chai rusk aur aloo tikki. today's evening tea made specially keeping the weather in mind.
-> I might love the rains, but I need some Vitamin D now!
-> Bengali pet names are hilarious - khuku, babush, munmun. I've actually forgotten what my cousins' real names are!

Characteristic Features of this Style :
  1. This is the most prominent style of tweeting. A very normal, down to earth style.
  2. Most of them are personal tweets. Views, reviews, opinions and random.
  3. They are highly interactive with their followers. Share a special bond.
  4. This style may also be referred to as “Thinking Loud”. Highly impressive style.
Objective: To use twitter as a platform to publish your views, think loud. It is a highly personal style and can be used as a medium to rejuvenate. A good way to relax ones mind. Recommended for all personal handles.

Well, this brings us to the other prominent styles like the celebrity Handles, the ranting types, the complaining types or the bitching types.

All these styles are not worth commenting upon and are best left untouched.

Conclusion: It is highly recommended to adapt to any one style of tweeting and stick to it. of course, you should be creative inside that style. and It is also recommended to tweet on trending topics.

The only warning is: Do not cross over the line and start complaining about things here, however tempting it may be.

Did u find the article informative? leave a comment. Comments are the fuel that keeps a writer going. You can also follow me on twitter – @PureWaste

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

AS usual, very well written and tweeted as well

SP said...

What a writing man... Point to point, completely focused.

Vishal Kataria said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vishal Kataria said...

Excellent article Purvesh. This knowledge of yours shows why you are so good on Twitter... Keep it going dude...

P.S. Can you educate me on how to get more followers on the portal?

Nikhil said...

Good Write-up.. I am glad to stayed away from promoting ranting handles... ! Think you should register copyright for your tutorial books ? ;)

Gunjan said...

Hi, Nice classification - accurate and precise!

Twrl33 said...

Thank you for educating me that I do actually have an acceptable style!

Jack said...

Very Interesting points dear!!!! Never thought about these aspects!!!! But from a personal point of view.
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