Archive for February, 2012

February 10th, 2012 | Category: WhiteRhino

Film Snaps!

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I used an old film camera to capture some of our very own rhinos in action.

By Jacqui Norman // Posted in: WhiteRhino // Comments (2)

February 2nd, 2012 | Category: Social Media

The Safari Guide to Business Tweetiquette

“What I hate most about Twitter: finishing a good tweet, having -1 characters left, and then having to decide which grammar crime to commit.” @heathtessman

This tweet from Melbourne Rebels hooker Heath Tessman sparked some interesting conversation around the office about Twitter etiquette, revealing our collective pet hates and highlighting the need for a clear definition between personal and company tweets.

It’s a bit of a grey area just where to draw the line between relaxed and just lax when it comes to tweeting for business, so after serious discussion we narrowed our combined Twitter peeves and pointers, compiling our Safari Guide to Business ‘Tweetiquette’:

Just as you wouldn’t on your website, don’t let typos go<br /> on Twitter. Check everything<br /> and if necessary delete<br /> misspelled tweets.<br /> Abbreviate rather than intentionally misspell. This way at least it’s obvious you’re saving space and not short a copywriter.<br /> Grammatical symbols are your best friend! So don’t forget to use them, an ampersand saves you two characters every time…<br /> Don’t give a running commentary over multiple tweets (oh hey, Kanye). It’s hard to follow and make sense of. Bear in mind, you’re micro blogging.<br /> If you want to be retweeted, keep it short. Retweeters need enough spare characters to include your name and their addition without cutting your original tweet short or they<br /> won’t bother.<br /> Twitter isn’t about broadcasting commercial messages.<br /> It’s about thoughtfully<br /> engaging with others in conversation, contributing meaningfully and building real contacts and connections.<br /> Following too many people<br /> (an amount disproportionate to those following you) makes you look like a spam account.<br /> Know the difference between hashtags and tweeting at people.<br /> Hashtags are a way to label tweets so that other users can see tweets on the same topic.<br /> Tweeting at someone directs your public tweet at that person/account, so make sure the content is something you both want to be publicly affiliated with.<br /> And finally… our web developer @jason_oz’s biggest hate of all: beware of hashtag overload. Resist temptation and don’t load your tweets with hashtags to make them appear on trending pages. It significantly reduces<br /> the credibility of your tweets<br /> (to approximately nil),<br /> making them hard to read and understand and throwing them in the general category of spam.<br />

So there you have it, our first basic pointers to successful business tweeting. We’re sure the list will grow and change and we welcome any contributions, so if you have a handy hint or point to contest – tweet us!

By Grace Taylor // Posted in: Social Media // Tags: , , , // Comments (0)