Thread by @BlueBirdTutor

I’d like to talk about Twitter rules. Some are not entirely obvious, and many users fall foul of them. Hopefully, this thread will help users avoid the rules and is no way intended to replace @garygilligan's helpful document 😃

You can DM me or email me your questions

1. Eggheads - Twitter users who haven’t changed their avatar into a picture or image. This is fine but may signify an inactive user or troll. You also do NOT have to follow back everyone. Select those who you are interested in and read their bio. Don't be an egghead.

2. Bunch of numbers username- Name & bunch of numbers suggests you might be a bot, particularly if you have low numbers of followers. Sort it out by going to
Home>Profile>Settings & Privacy>Account>Username then change it to something more meaningful.

3. Locked accounts
Personally, I understand there are reasons why people lock their accounts. But I suspect they don’t know how to accept follow requests.
Go to your profile>click followers>click pending follower requests>accept/decline

4. The 5,000 limit – There is a limit and you will need to have more than 4545 people following you back before you can break through the 5,000 limit.

5. Smaller accounts - Try and keep your follower/following ratio 1:1 if you are below 5000 followers. Unfollow users that have been inactive for some time or those that do not follow you back to keep your ratio equal. These free apps can help you.

6. Following - “You are unable to follow more people at this time.” DO NOT IGNORE IT. Make sure you don’t try to go over the limit, wait a full 24 hours before trying again.

7. Twitter clearly states that you can only follow 400 accounts per day. They are less clear on how quickly you can follow back. From experience, it is 16 every hours. Be careful though, if you deviate, you will be sent to the twitter slammer for 3 days.

8. This can often be the case for people following you too. If you have an inordinate amount of followings in a given period, twitter may think you're a bot.
Beware of this on events like #FollowBackFriday and #SocialistSunday

9. Twitter slammer
If you find yourself in jail, follow the instructions to the letter.
Do not (Re)Tweet, like, follow, comment. You might be shadowbanned and twitter don’t even tell you about it.
You can DM, but that is it.

10. A shadowban occurs when twitter limits your experience with NO notification. If you feel your tweets are invisible to others, then check if you are shadowbanned here
Whosban.eu.org and click on the purple nodes

11. Thread ban - Twitter limits other users from seeing your comments to tweets.
Search Suggestion ban - Blocks others from seeing your profile in search results.
Search ban - Twitter bans your tweets from search results, even if it includes the exact search words used.

12. Snitch-Tagging – is when you're minding your own business, shit talking about someone on Twitter (mainly public figures), and then SOMEONE RUINS YOUR FUN BY TAGGING THE SUBJECT IN THE FŮCKING THREAD or QUOTE TWEETING IT.

13. The case against snitch tagging is simple. If I want to alert someone I'm being shady about, I would tag them. That's what tagging is for. If I didn't tag them, you can bet I want to be shady about them with my followers, but I don't want to start any DRAMA.

14. Another point to make about Snitch-Tagging is that it can cause a pile on, to both the OP and the snitch-tagger. Some people are not mentally equipped for this and it's not for you to decide whether they are/aren't. Many accounts will block you if you engage in this

15. A Pile-on
A pile-on is an attack by a large group of people against one person or a much smaller group. For example, the person below, quote tweeted me to try instigate a pile-on from his followers.
This is against twitter harassment rules and there may be consequences.

16. Lists

On the whole, being added to a list means that the user values your tweets and finds them useful. It's the easiest way to segment accounts on Twitter whose tweets you don't want to miss. eg) I'm on a list called swearing twitter Legends 👇🏼

17. Hate lists
Sometimes others use it as a hate list. Like that little (unt Dean, who had a list for the left wing called Sausage Gobblers. To remove yourself from a list, you have to block the person who created the list.

See also no. 18

18. Check you aren't on a list

Go to profile》click on the 3 dots》View lists you're on》block the owner of the list

Alternatively, you can go to your profile and select lists to access it that way.

18. Soft blocking
If you want a more subtle way to end a Twitter relationship, you can do what's referred to as "soft blocking."

Go to their profile> press block>press unblock.

They now don't follow you anymore and you feel less bad than blocking them permanently. Win win!

19. Bookmarks

Perhaps there are tweets you want to keep? You know... like this thread for example.

Step 1. Click the share sign on a tweet
Step 2. Click bookmark
Step 3. View OR
Step 4. Go to bookmarks

20. Searching 👀
Recall when you wrote that brilliant tweet ages ago but can't find it?

Go to search bar and type in your handle.

+ to search for both or
: to search for either/or

Then a keyword. See screenshot for example

PS. This is for the app version, see no21 for web

21. Searching pt2

Same as above but see screenshots here as examples

22. Never miss your favourite accounts.

If you don't want to miss tweets from certain accounts then...

Go to the account profile
> click the Bell as shown
> select your choice

Boom 💥

23. Creating a thread

The tweet character limit is 280, but you can create a thread 🧵 instead to fit more on. This whole set of advice in my pinned tweet is called a thread.

Type your main tweet and click the plus sign or the "add another Tweet" button

Then tweet all

24. Get noticed
Do you feel like you're shouting into the void? Get following people who are on shout out lists. Create your own shout out list too by tagging people. They may follow you back. Engage with bigger accounts by replying or quote retweeting.

25. Hashtags #.
Hashtags are useful for when they are trending. Clicking on a # shows you other tweets that include the #.
# can be included anywhere in a tweet and Twitter recommend using no more than 2 # in a tweet. You can type a # into the search bar too.

26. Create your own hashtag

But don't overuse them.
Think outside the box, don't just parrot what others have said, use the # to create a meaningful tweet of your own. Don't spam a # on other's tweets. It's bad etiquette & you could be reported as a bot using the reply function

27. Shout outs

Sometimes you may find yourself on a lovely chirpty.com or Twopcharts.com circle.

It can be annoying when people not only reply to the OP, but everyone else who is tagged in.

Click reply > click on the set of names > untick the box > reply

28. Mute conversation

Following on from no.27, instead of untagging you can just mute the conversation so you don't get anymore notifications from everyone.

Go to the tweet > click on 3 dots > click mute this conversation

You can reverse this action if needed

29. Sockpuppet
A sock account/sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception, and refers to a false identity assumed by a member of an internet 
community who spoke to, or about, themselves while pretending to be another person.
Yes, this does happen!

30. The use of the term sockpuppet has expanded to now include other misleading uses of online identities, such as those created to praise, defend, or support a person or organization, to manipulate public opinion, or to circumvent restrictions.

31. Bots

Bots are social media accounts that are robots, or bots for short.  They are programmed to respond and spread information in a way that mimics human users. They may seem like people, but they are not. See no. 32 on how to spot a bot

32. How to spot a bot
Check the account's bio. Does it read like it belongs to a real person? Does it have a profile picture of a person instead of an egghead?
Reverse image search the pic. If it appears all across the web, it suggests there may be some bullshit afoot 🤔

32a. Spot a bot

Check these things too. This advice is not foolproof but may go some way to help identify them

33. Bot Tool

Check the account's history. On Twitter, there are a few behaviors that scream automated account (see 32a)
Check bot behaviour with tools like botsentinel.com
that suggests whether or not an account is probably (not definitively) automated.

34. Dealing with Bots

Use the reporting mechanism.
Twitter's definition of spam includes "many forms of automated account interactions and behaviors as well as attempts to mislead or deceive people," so deceptive bots fall right in that category. Follow these instructions

35. Trolls

Trolls are humans and their main purpose is to argue, post inflammatory content, and otherwise behave "badly" in order to undermine credibility and influence opinion. Because they are real people, they are the worst of the worst.

36. Trolling Behaviors

Trolls behave rudely to anger, upset, and annoy other people. It can be hard to keep your cool, but it's important to avoid "feeding" trolls by reacting to their bad behavior.

37. Starve the Troll
The instant you reply to them, you've stepped through a trap door into the Narnia of bad faith interaction.
If you carry on, the noose will tighten round your neck and you will jerk and twist in increasing rage and powerlessness.

Use some troll spray today

38. Learn to scroll on by

Twitter is where you can voice your perspectives and internal monologue.
No-one should tell another person what they can and cannot tweet about.

Seriously though, if you don't like what someone says, just scroll on by, or face being reported

39. Finding mutuals

Click on the profile of an account and at the bottom of the bio you will see "followed by".

Click on that and you can see which of your followers are mutuals of the account (this example contains deets of a vile account).