I was sitting here reading and thinking a lot about Twitter and how mis-used it is. It’s really funny how our personal etiquette really comes out while using social sites… Some people are just plain rude when it comes to socializing online. I can only guess they are the same way in person.

Thinking about this and being inspired by what I read at TwitterTips, I decided to write what I think are good etiquette rules for using Twitter. Some of these aren’t my brainchild and others are. They are in no particular order yet all have the same significants.

1. Always be Polite & Nice - This one is self explanatory. It’s like when you meet someone for the first time, you typically would say hi,  nice to meet you, the pleasure is all mine, thank you, have a great day, you know, just like you would do normally. Its also very important to take the time to reply to all tweets that come to your Inbox. Some tweets are auto replies and of course there is no need to reply to that tweet.

2. Don’t Be a Useless ReTweeter – This is one of my pet peeves with Twitter and tweets. So many people retweet things that really have no significants at all. Actually most tweets really have no great meaning so there is no sense in retweeting. Retweet the ones that have great significance, otherwise, let the useless ones die in Twitterland.

4. Do Not Repeat Yourself - We all know repetitive messages are crucial for Branding however, you must be careful not to overstate your message. I have found Social Media to be more of what the title says, social. People are not neccessarily looking to buy your product in a social setting so be smart about what you tweet. Gain loyality first and give free stuff away… eventually if you have what they want, they’ll buy it from you.

5. People Have Names – Use Them! I have always appreciated this… when someone uses and remembers my name in business, I remember them too. The same applies in the social network arena. Either use their real name or screen name, they will appreciate it.

6. Give Credit and Share - If you find something you like, share it and tell your followers where it came from. If someone tweets something interesting that you want to retweet, thank them and mention him or her in your retweet. Again, I know this is hard to do every time, especially if you follow many people, but once in a while is nice.

7. Don’t Be Pushy - When people try to promote their product, they usually take the wrong approach. I have seen tweets with a link to their product and the tweet contains no real information about what the link is. I usually ignore these tweets. Share a little about what your link is about. This is what people either say yes or no to and the headline is the most important part of any tweet.

8. Tweet & Tweet Often – I have been on Twitter for quite some time. The first few months I really didn’t do anything with tweeting. The next few months I dabbled in tweets. I have managed to steadily get better with tweeting. I have found that when I stop posting tweets, the traffic to my sites drop. THe bottom line is you have to tweet everyday, even multiply times a day to get anywhere with Social Media.