Twitter Pet Peeves

Pin It Now! Twitter is useful for many things.

I often learn about breaking news stories via Twitter.

I can stalk my friends or people I don't even know.

I can connect people.

I can ask a question and on occasion, someone will actually respond.

I can communicate my customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction to a company.

I can spread the word for a good cause like "Shop for Jop" where shops are donating portions of their sales to help people like my cousins who lost their house in the Joplin tornado.

Twitter is also an outlet for narcissism, procrastination, finding out the latest in lame trends, and annoying people.

Twitter Pet Peeves. We all have them whether we have properly identified and named them or not. I've got 13 of them. And before you assume I'm judging you and your tweets . . . well, you're right. I am. But don't get all insecure because I am judging myself as well. I have participated in most of these annoying types of tweets at one time or another . . . and will probably continue to do so. Hopefully in moderation. We can unfollow anyone at anytime so let's not act like we are forced to tolerate those who regularly participate in these 13 annoying tweet behaviors. (Some of you already know how I feel about the unspoken rules of Twitter in regards to following and unfollowing.)

In no particular order here are my Top 13* Twitter Pet Peeves:

1. Repeat Tweets:
Tweeting the same thing (i.e. a link to your blog post) over and over. Maybe you've got a different teaser to draw people in, but you are trying to get people to go to that same URL. It is especially annoying when your post is not that funny or deep or interesting. Maybe you do this because you are on most people's "D" list in TweetDeck and you think the only way they will notice your tweet is if you do it 25 times?

Most recently I have participated in repeat tweets about "Shop for Jop" because I believe it is worthy cause, so it only half way falls under this category, right?

2. Tea-Party Tweets:
When a group of friends tweet back & forth, back & forth. Usually about how much they love each other, how much they loved hanging out, and/or what they will do the next time they hang out. Tea-Party Tweets usually involve at least one inside joke and nicknames.

3. Location Tweets:
I am at the grocery store. I am "checking in" at Starbucks. Do people get free drinks and prizes for saying they checked in somewhere? Does Barnes and Noble pay you to check in with them? I sure hope so. I don't really understand these tweets. **It has been brought to my attention (from a comment) that location tweets are often tied to a game called Four Square. ARE THERE PRIZES FOR THIS GAME or is it virtual? **Double update - Apparently you get discounts. I hope they're huge.

4. Caffeine Tweets:
These tweets indicate the level of coffee or Diet Coke addiction of the tweep. Things like "Gotta start my day with coffee" or "I'm not awake cuz I haven't had my cuppa Joe" or "On my third cup of coffee and it's only 10am! LOL" or "Don't judge me cuz I'm drinking Diet Coke for dinner!" These tweeps usually can be found participating in location tweets about going to a coffee shop. And don't be surprised if you see an exciting photo of their caffeinated beverage of choice.

5. Pity Tweets:
Did you break your leg and lose your job all in the same day? Twitter is the place for you. Tweet all about it. Is the weather not working out for you? Tell us more.

6. Non-stop Tweets:
There are just some people that should just marry Twitter because they clearly spend more time tweeting than they do talking to their spouse or real-life people. I often wonder if they have a social life outside of Twitter. And then I wonder why I am still following them. They usually have a lot of followers because they follow a lot of people and interact with them all the time.

7. Quote Tweets:
For some people, quoting other people is a full-time job. For others, they enjoying making up their own quotes. And you know these people have thought long and hard about their quotes because they want it to be a quote others will retweet. And then they can feel special and smart. And they might actually be special and smart. You just never know with quoters because they could be falsely quoting, plagiarising, or just makings stuff up. And perhaps the best Quote Tweeting occurs when people tweet a quote, but don't name the quoter leading people to believe they made up the quote. When they didn't.

8. I'm-So-Great Tweets:
Someone says something nice about you or your music/book/show so you gotta retweet it rather than just respond directly to the complimenter. These tweets work best if you retweet it and then add your comment at the end //thanks! you're the best! I'm-So-Great Tweets work for personal glory or product promotion. (I understand/struggle with these tweets. You got a product or book to promote which is sometimes hard to do without coming across as an "I'm-So-Great" Tweeter.) Just make sure that is not the majority of your tweets please.

Sometimes these are the only tweets a celebrity, author, or social media guru will "respond" to. So if you are looking for your favorite tweep to acknowledge you, you might need to tell them how much their book impacted your life, how great they were in their new show, or how fascinating their last post was.

Here is a real-life sample of an "I'm-So-Great Tweet." So the "I am they" part doesn't make sense but Miss Megan fell for it.

9. Show Tweets:
These are rampant. My unscientific calculations estimate that The Bachelor, Bachelorette, Glee, and American Idol are the most highly tweeted shows. I know this because I don't watch any of those so I often feel very left out during Show Tweets (I should Pity Tweet about that.) This type of tweeting provides great spoiling opportunities for those who are on the West Coast or for those who are behind in their DVR ways. But well-trained tweeps knows not to go on Twitter during show time.

10. Public Display of Affection Tweets:
"Hey @husband I love you so much You're hot."
"My wife @hotwife makes life great. I love to makeout with her."
PDA Tweeters often have profile pics of themselves kissing their spouse or significant other. But let's be honest - who wants to look at those pics? They do. That's it.
I say get a Twitter room.

11. Food Tweets:
These tweets tend to make the rest of the Twitterverse jealous. Look at the awesomeness I am eating that @hothusband made me (often food tweeters incorporate PDA Tweets).

12. My-Kids-Are-So-Funny/Cute Tweets

I am the Totally Desperate Mom and am obviously a pro at this one.

Even though my kids are most hilarious and cuter than yours, I understand that others often don't care about what my kids are doing to amuse me. Whatever. But I actually like to read funny things about other people's kids so I 'm not sure why this made my list. This is my favorite one of all time.

13. My-Pet-Is-So-Funny/Cute Tweets

People without children tweet about their dogs' strange behavior possibly more than the TWCs (Tweeps with Children). They post even more photos of their dogs' awkward positioning, big teeth, rodent kills, sunset walks, and dinner selections. And well, I don't mind these tweets either, but I'm sure it bugs somebody who is reading this -- so this is for you!

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This list is not exhaustive. Feel free to add to it in the comment section. Then we could turn it into an e-book and tweet about it a lot to promote it.

How many annoying Tweet behaviors have you engaged in . . . today? What tops your Twitter pet peeves list?

*My apologies for those of you with OCD. I know "Top 13" isn't exactly a solid, round number.

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