This post as been a long time coming after been subjected to what I like to call “twitter abuse”. Twitter abuse can come in many different forms, such as: excessive tweets, tweeting outside of normal waking hours, excessively long tweets, and the list goes on. I’ve warned several of the people I follow of this, but they seem not to listen or care about the abuse. So, I’ve scoured the web and have assembled as list of rules for “Twitter Etiquette.”

1. Never send more than 140 characters. What part of 140 chars do you not understand? The 140-character limitation leads to concise thought– if you need to tweet 5 times in a row (and they’re not @ someone else), write a blog entry.
2. Spread out your tweets. Don’t tweet five times in a row (though I think we have all done it before). Consider quality vs. quantit.
3. Limit your daily tweets to 10-15. For God sake most people or only awake for 16 hours a day and I don’t need to know what you are doing in 15 minute intervals. Twittering 30-plus times an hour pushes other people’s messages off followers’ homepages, and sends mobiles into convulsive twit-fits (to say nothing of excessive SMS charges). If you have a lot to say, but still want to engage with followers without alienating them, consider making more liberal use of DMs. Also, don’t you occasionally need to use the restroom? Please don’t take your phone in there. Thanks.
4. Keep private conversations private. If you’re deciding what movie to see with your girlfriend, no one else needs to receive those updates. If someone is not following both parties in the conversation then you only get half of the info. DMs are a better option in these scenarios.
5. Remember everyone can hear you.
6. What’s rude in life is rude on Twitter.
7. Plug moderately. Lots of people ignore this guideline, but if you’re almost exclusively using Twitter to plug your blog posts, events, or products, or to ask people to vote for one of your projects, you’ll lose some followers.
8. Content, content, content. For me, at least, seeing a bunch of “ME TOO!” and “YEAH!” twitters are a big turnoff. Interacting with other Twitter users is important, but I want to see your thoughts, too. Don’t think it’s silly to post what you’re having for dinner, or what you’re doing at work. Just post!
9. Block mass followers. They seem to be peddling porn, or stealing other people’s tweets, or worse. Block them, so that they can’t see your tweets or find other people to follow from your list. The more you twitter, the more you attract these types. It’s sort of gratifying to block them.
10. Leave when you want. If you want to stop following someone, stop. There’s no need to send a breakup note. Unless you’re having Twitter sex.

Wait. Do people have Twitter sex? Yeah, of course they do. Direct messages (from a secret Twitter account) are an ingenious way to communicate with slightly creepy, but intriguing, one-night-stands. Besides, what dedicated Twitter user remembers their own cell number?

There’s my compiled list. If I’m following you consider this your warning!

You can return to your mobile devices now. People are wondering what you’re doing.