Category Archives: Twitter guidelines

by Alexandria | 1 June 2018 · 8:33 am

How to Do Twitter, for Writers, Part 17: Don’t Follow Fake Accounts

In case you didn’t realize this, Twitter has a serious problem with fake accounts. They may be spam, phishers, bots — who knows. But I thought I’d let you know how to spot some of these phony accounts. Today is a #DoNotFF day, my dears. pic.twitter.com/IPpW09bQwg

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

#DoNotFF any account that has no tweets. I mean, honestly, if you’re going through the trouble of setting up an account, and Twitter offers you several “first tweet” options, how hard is it to not post anything. No tweets should = No Follow#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

I hate to be cruel about this one, but you should not follow anyone who sends you unsolicited DMs, especially if they’re autoDMs. They’re against Twitter’s rules as of Nov 2017, and people are still finding ways to break those rules. Why reward them? #DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Don’t follow accounts that have very few tweets, sometimes as few as 2-3, yet has thousands of followers. These are fake accounts. Other fake accounts are “following” them in order to snare real accounts. Be Twitter smart.#DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Don’t follow accounts if you cannot read the language in which the person is tweeting. This seems like common sense to me, and I’m certainly not saying that everyone needs to tweet in the same language, but if you can’t read what they tweet #DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Don’t follow accounts with nothing but RTs. This is a huge warning sign of automated accounts. Remember that you want interaction on Twitter, especially if you’re a writer or an author. Even if it’s other authors who are RTing, that’s not engagement. #DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Do not follow an account that has a few original tweets in the beginning, but then has nothing but RTs. These are fake accounts that are trying to pretend they are real people. They soon go to automation because that’s how they make money. #DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Don’t follow accounts with click-bait tweets. If you don’t know what that is, you need to learn fast. Here are some examples:
You won’t believe what these child-stars look like.
Man’s wife dies and he finds this in oven.
Teen pops pimple and finds this.#DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Don’t follow accounts because they’re verified. Some countries have an inordinate number of ostensibly verified accounts: if you make the mistake of following back, you get followed by hundreds, literally, of other verified accounts from the same place #DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

If you get followed by more than one account with the same profile pic, header, and pinned tweet, do not follow any of them. They’re either bots or the owners have gotten into trouble for doing something against Twitter rules. #DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

If you get followed by more than one account with the exact same tweets, do not follow them back. These are also bots. They’re automated so it’s not too hard to see when they’re not a real person behind the account, but I’ve been tricked a few times.#DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Unfollow anyone who claims that they’ll do things for you if you only do about a hundred million things for them first, especially if it involves your doing things that financially benefit this person. Yes, there are writers who do this kind of crap.#DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Do not follow anyone who offers to sell you Twitter followers. Not only is this against Twitter’s rules, but you won’t get human followers. They’ll be bots, and if you’re hoping for book sales from followers, nothing will happen if they’re fake followers#DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

These suggestions are my personal ones, but feel free to protect yourself like this as well. I don’t follow accounts with no BIOs, no tweets, no header, no profile picture, locked (I mean, I can’t see what they’re writing), no real name (just bill394857)#DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Don’t follow anyone who has dozens of accounts with variations on their name, like author2, author3, author4, author5. This indicates that the person has broken Twitter rules and been suspended permanently. They’re only here for themselves. #DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

Tractus Fynn @TractusFynn suggested looking at the number of Likes on an account before following back. 0 Likes = 0 involvement and 0 participation. Also, you might add 0 Replies = way too selfish to follow back as no “social” in social media. #DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

If you think of any other red flags about accounts, please do let me know. I feel like I’m forgetting some of the obvious ones. I’ll RT them so others can avoid these fake accounts. Remember that you want engagement with real peoples, not with bots. #DoNotFollow #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 1, 2018

♦

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by Alexandria | 25 May 2018 · 8:52 am

How to Do Twitter, for Writers, Part 16: Keep Your Account from Getting Locked, and What to Do if Twitter Locks You Out

Though Twitter announced that some changes were coming to its platform on the 25th of May, they’ve already changed some things that affect how often you can tweet on your own accounts, so I thought I’d let you know about them.#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/xzJHuXpdmM

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

I’ve been managing the Twitter @MigraineMantras for a month now, and it’s become dramatically evident that the more followers you have, the more lax Twitter’s rules are regarding some behaviors it deems “suspicious activity.”#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

I’ve never been locked out of my own personal account, nor out of my publisher’s account, but two weeks ago I was locked out of the MigraineMantras account, apparently for RTing too many posts within 1/2 hour. I was reading each post before sharing.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

Yesterday I was sharing posts, not RTing them, but reading and then typing original tweets, and within half an hour, Twitter locked the account. They didn’t just want me to verify my phone and email, as they did two weeks ago. Last night, they wanted a CAPTCHA, too#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

When you get locked out, you cannot see your account or gain access to it. You are told it’s “locked” — not suspended — and you are asked to verify that you are human. Literally. Not to verify that you own the account, but that you are human.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

I had to fill out one of Google’s “I’m Not a Robot” CAPTCHA, which then allowed me to verify my email, which then allowed me to get a text to my phone to verify my phone… and then Twitter let me back into the account.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

And now, this morning, in this thread, which I do by replying to my previous tweet, I am sending out more tweets in a minute than I was sending out yesterday at the MigraineMantras account. The only reason for it that I can see is that this account has more followers#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

If I get locked out, I’ll be sure to let you know, but since I do these threads every Friday (and do ArtSaturday threads each week, that are even longer), I don’t think it has to do with how often you tweet, but with how often you tweet/RT based on # of followers. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

If you tweet too often within any hour, you get Twitter-Jailed, which just tells you that it won’t send the latest tweet and you should try again later. You have to jump through several hoops to prove you’re human when your account gets locked.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

I’m sending about 1 tweet per minute this morning on this thread, and so far, I’m not locked out. Twitter clearly has different “rules” for different accounts. If you’re not a celebrity (who seem to have no rules or limitations), your # of followers seems to be key.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

MigraineMantras is not a new account: it’s been open almost a year now. It had a couple hundred followers when I started managing it. Now it has about 800. MM had a few hundred tweets last month, and now it has over 5K. It has a lot fewer followers than this account #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

So here are my best guesses, and some suggestions, based on my experiences with the other account. The fewer followers you have, the fewer times you can tweet or RT at any one time without proving you’re not a bot.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

The fewer followers you have, the fewer times you can RT in a short period. Spammers and bots tend to fill their TLs with RTs (one of the giveaways: no original tweets) so clearly Twitter is going after “aggressive” RTs. Be warned.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

On Monday Blogs, I RT a lot, a LOT!!! and I’ve never been flagged or asked to verify that I’m human. Also on Saturday Archive Day, and Sunday Blog Share. Never asked to verify. The fewer followers you have, the more breaks you should take between RTing other posts#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

You can get locked out for following too many people a day, and that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with your own number of followers, but still, I caution you: don’t follow more than 100 new accounts per day (that’s a 3rd-party app recommendation).#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

Don’t UNfollow more than 100 people a day either. Even if you have a 3rd-party app (paid version) that allows you to UNfollow more, please be careful. Twitter has gotten crazy over all the real accounts while ignoring the spam/bot/phishing accounts.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

Here’s my advice for all you writers and authors here on the Twitter: The fewer your own followers, the fewer tweets/RTs in any one sitting. RTs = tweets according to Twitter rules. There are no published numbers, but there seems to be a correlation with followers.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

Twitter seems to make a distinction between actually conversing with peoples, making a Thread via replying to your own previous tweet, and just tweeting separate tweets. Talking “too much” gets you Twitter-jailed, not locked out.

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

Tweeting too many separate, unrelated tweets, i.e., tweets not in a Thread, seems to be considered “aggressive” if you have fewer followers. That is apparently regarded as “aggressively RTing” and can get you locked out & asked to verify that you’re human.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

Keep the phone number & email connected with your account current because Twitter has gone on a “verify that you’re human” rampage & is going after all of us that are active in a normal, social media kind of way. You need phone/email to verify & unlock your account.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

If you do get locked out of your account (you won’t have to guess: Twitter locks it with a Lock Screen and tells you that you’re locked out), verify immediately. If you want even a few minutes, Twitter assumes you’re a bot and erases all your following#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

Failing to verify you’re human within a few minutes after your account has been locked activates Twitter’s Unfollow Bug, which is not a “bug “but a way for Twitter to ostensibly go after bad accounts. It erases all the accounts that you follow, NOT your followers#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

If your account does get locked, verify that you are human immediately, and then when the account is unlocked, STOP whatever you were doing before the account got locked. Get off the Twitter for a while. It’s a warning. Heed the warning, my peoples.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

This thread has been going on for almost 40 minutes, with a new tweet every 2 mins, and Twitter has not locked me out. I assume it’s because I have more followers here. I’m tweeting more right now than I was on the other account yesterday.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

So, while Twitter is cracking down on all of us who are, in fact, real humans and who are using social media the way it was designed to be used, by talking, sharing, etc., Twitter is ignoring the autoDMs offering $800K USD to “lucky profile”#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

I’ve come to the conclusion that the Unfollow Bug is not a bug at all: it is specifically designed to erase all the accounts you’re following if Twitter suspects you are not human and locks your account. If you get locked, verify yourself, and then take a dang break.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

The Unfollow “Bug” doesn’t immediately erase all the accounts you’re following: it happens after you have NOT shortly verified that you are human. No verification = Twitter’s stripping all the accounts you are following taking you to 0. This is NOT your followers.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

If you verify within 24 hours, all the accounts you are following are automatically restored (2-3 hours later). Again, the Unfollow Bug doesn’t seem to be a “bug” in the way Twitter has been allowing us to use it for at least 7 years. It is in Twitter’s design. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

If you are following someone who suddenly unfollows you AND EVERYONE ELSE THEY WERE FOLLOWING, showing 0 FOLLOWING, it means they’ve been locked out and have not verified their account. Don’t unfollow. Wait a few days. They’ll “re-follow” you & everyone else.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

Use caution and restraint in following, unfollowing, tweeting, RTing until you have more followers. A lot more followers. Or until you get verified by the Twitter. Or until you are a celebrity. Then you can do whatever you want as far as I can tell. Happy weekend.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 25, 2018

♦

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by Alexandria | 18 May 2018 · 9:02 am

How to Do Twitter, for Writers, Part 15: Encourage People to Follow You

Good morning, my Lovelies. Let’s talk about some Twitter #WritingTips to get people interested in following you back. I’ve seen some relatively new writer and author accounts lately who might need the advice. So, some things to do and some to seriously avoid. pic.twitter.com/qwBj0g37be

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

Let’s talk about the things you should seriously avoid first. Don’t thank people for following you by sending them links to your work, even if it’s free, or by telling them things that should already be in your BIO, header, or pinned tweet. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

In fact, don’t send your followers anything, especially not anything with links, unless one of them has specifically requested it. Sending unsolicited links is spam and will get your account permanently shut down. Don’t send an automated Thank You either.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

If someone follows you (& you’re not a celebrity with a bazillion followers), it would be nice if you would at least look at their account. You may decide you don’t like what they tweet so don’t want to follow, and that’s fine. You don’t have to follow everyone back.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

Don’t send automated Direct Messages (autoDMs) for any reason. They’re against Twitter’s rules as of Nov 2017 and can get your account permanently suspended. Someone has to specifically request a DM for it to be ok to send one. Following is NOT a request for a DM. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

How do you persuade people to follow you back? It’s not as difficult as you might think, and it doesn’t require any overt persuasion. Be social. Think of others. Sometimes, you’re going to have to talk to people, and on Twitter, you’re talking to everyone.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

How do you talk to someone if no one’s following you? Look for #writers, #writing, #amwriting, or any other topic by hashtag in Twitter’s Search bar. Read the tweets. Look at the accounts of the ones who have interesting tweets. Follow those accounts.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

If I like someone’s original tweet enough to RT, then I definitely follow that person. If you like an original tweet, then share it on your own TL by RTing it. If you like it but don’t want to RT it, Like it by picking the Twitter heart. Comment on it by replying. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

These tips will probably not work with celebrities who have millions of followers, if only because they most probably have all their Notifications turned off, so they don’t even know when someone is talking to them. These tips work for the rest of us, however.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

If someone talks to me, I reply, but I also look at that person’s account. I tend to follow back the people who follow me AND talk to me. I mean, I live on a mountain in the middle of a desert, my peoples. It’s lonely up here. Social media can be a good thing. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

If someone has followed you, replied to your tweets, and begun a conversation with you, then you might want to consider following that person back. There are plenty of good, interesting people here on Twitter, and some of them have new accounts. Talking is good. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

When you reply to someone’s tweet, make sure that you are talking about the subject matter of the original tweet. Nothing makes people block accounts faster than someone’s getting into replies and sending links to their books, blogs, websites, etc. which is spam. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

I liken Twitter to a dinner party where you don’t know very many people when you first get there. You go around to the different groups and politely listen to the conversations. When you find one that interests you, join in that particular conversation. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

Just as you would behave at a dinner party, think of others when you join any conversation. The point of being social is not to show how much you know, how special you are, how interesting or important you are — it’s to be social and entertain or engage others. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

When you’re on Twitter, it’s a dinner party, and you need to be a good guest: listen to others, talk about the things that interest them, share the things that interest you IF the others are also interested in talking about those things. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

So, when you’re actually on the Twitter, be sure that you talk to other people. When you’re not actually on — and no one can be on social media 24/7/365 — make sure you give your followers interesting things to read. Think of your TL as your own magazine. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

Whatever you do, do NOT fill your Twitter TL-magazine with nothing but advertisements for your own work (or for anyone else’s work, for that matter). An occasional tweet when you have a new story, poem, or book is fine. Non-stop MyBookMyBookMeMeMe is not fine.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

Keep the dinner party analogy in mind for when you are actually talking to people. Keep the magazine analogy in mind for when you are not on Twitter, but people may still be reading your TL. Give them interesting content to read when not talking to you. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

Be engaged: comment and Like other people’s original tweets. Be generous: share interesting information from other accounts by RTing them to your own followers. When people engage with you by following or talking to you, be social in return. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

There are plenty of writers and authors who talk nothing but writing and publishing all day long, and that’s fine. But many of them also share photos of their gardens or pets, talk about meditation or history or walking. You get the idea. It’s not only writing.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

If you genuinely engage with other people on Twitter, joining conversations that interest you, sharing good content by RTing, following people whose tweets you like, many of them will follow you back. Most of us follow accounts that interest us. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

In short, reply to interesting tweets. Talk to people about the topics that you’re mutually interested in. Be generous in sharing others’ content by RTing to your own TL. Be professional. Be genuine: show us there’s a real person behind the account. Be kind. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

Not sure how to find good content to share on your own timeline (TL)? Here are some of my previous suggestions for ways to find good stuff to share with other peoples.
Finding Content to Tweet via Topic Hashtags, Google Alerts, and Lists#WritingTips https://t.co/jnKqxrlAfT pic.twitter.com/E4RhsUrXmO

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 18, 2018

♦

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by Alexandria | 11 May 2018 · 9:48 am

How to Do Twitter, for Writers, Part 14: Twitter-Jail, Churning, and The Dread Unfollow Bug

I’m taking a break from # FF mentions this morning, my Lovelies, even if I do them old-school, and despite the fact that they’re popular, because I’ve had my first experience with Twitter’s Unfollow Bug (not on this account), and I need to tell you how it works. #WritingTips pic.twitter.com/ggHqq2OCkL

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Twitter’s dread Unfollow Bug, as it’s called, does not make you lose all your followers. Instead, it eliminates all accounts that YOU are following, taking Following down to 0, literally. That sometimes makes people unfollow you because they think that you unfollowed them first

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

In the past, several people have noted that Twitter’s Unfollow Bug seemed to strike on Fridays, and it hit the other account I’m managing — @MigraineMantras — late last night. Here’s how or why it happens.

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

In its attempt to get control of bot and spam accounts, Twitter now requires account holders to have verified phone numbers and emails. (Unfortunately, nude-ish women with blue hair, and retired US Army general medical surgeon doctors are not required to have these things.)

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

I think I’ve been asked to verify that I’m human maybe… twice in the last seven years. Until Twitter messed up its passwords a couple weeks ago. I’ve been asked to verify my phone number and email 3 times for each account since Twitter’s mistake.

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Twitter defines spam in a large number of ways, almost all of them vague. Of course, sending unsolicited links is NOT vague, nor is attempting to send phishing links or malware. But all the rest of T’s rules are vague at best. You still need to be aware of them.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Twitter’s biggest definition of “spam” includes the word “aggressive.” You may not “aggressively” follow other accounts, you may not “aggressively RT,” you may not “aggressively” comment/reply. All of those kinds of behavior are treated as spamming. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

You may not use #hashtags unrelated to what you’re posting in an attempt to direct traffic to your account (Hello, all you people using # to try to sell your books… Hello…) You may not use # in an attempt to make them trend, e.g., by posting to several accounts.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

If you’re not new here, and if you have found a few people with whom to have conversations, then you may have already been Twitter-jailed. Being in Twitter jail is not because of spam or, as a matter of fact, because you did anything wrong.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

You get Twitter-jailed for talking too much. Yeah, I know, on social media, you can actually talk too much. That’s Twitter for you. IF YOU ARE NOT A CELEBRITY, you are limited to 2400 tweets per day, and this is broken down by hour, semi-hour, etc. so you can hit it.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

When you’re Twitter-jailed, you get a message that you’re over your daily limit. You’re probably not, really, since I think someone would know if they’d tweeted more than 2400 times already that day, but Twitter claims that you are. Traffic-control, I guess.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Though Twitter does not openly admit that some accounts get traffic-preference, it’s clear that the more of a celebrity you are, or the more followers you have, the more daily tweets you’re allowed to have and Twitter does not shut you down if you talk too much.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Twitter-Jail is NOT the Unfollow Bug: TJ does not lock your account. It also doesn’t request that you verify that you are human with your phone and/or email. It just won’t send your latest tweet (though you can send a DM to whomever you were having this great talk)#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Twitter’s Unfollow Bug starts by “noting suspicious activity on your account” and your account is immediately locked. This suspicious activity can be anything that Twitter calls “aggressive” : following, unfollowing, RTing, commenting. Anything, basically.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

When your account is locked, you cannot do anything at all. You can’t even see your account. And you don’t have to do much to get your account locked for “suspicious activity.” I was working for an hour and got the other account locked. I’ve never had that happen.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

In its automated attempt to stop automated bot & spam accounts from operating, Twitter seems to have redefined “aggressive” & made the numbers much lower. I hadn’t even hit the hourly limit for the account I was managing when it was locked. Not TwitterJailed. Locked.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Because MigraineMantras is actually owned by someone else and I am just managing it, my phone number was not the one which received the request to verify that I was human when Twitter locked the account. Unfortunately, neither was the owner’s phone.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

The phone number listed for “human verification” belonged to one of the previous account managers, who is in a different time-zone and who was already asleep. So, by the time I got the phone code, it had expired. By the time she got the second code, she was asleep.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

It seems that if you do not immediately verify that you are human when your account is locked for “suspicious activity,” the dread Twitter Unfollow Bug goes into action. Twitter basically assumes that you are NOT human and unfollows everyone for you.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

There are 3rd-party apps, like Crowdfire and ManageFlitter, that let you know everyone who is not following you back. If you use one of those, you can see, virtually immediately, any account that has unfollowed you. If you’re locked, it looks like you’ve unfollowed.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Some people use 3rd-party apps to unfollow every account that does not follow them back, or which has unfollowed them. When the account is locked, Twitter unfollows everyone for you, against your will. Your following = 0.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

There are some accounts that “churn,” which is when they follow people, wait for them to follow back, then unfollow those same accounts, hoping that no one notices, in order to increase the number between following & followers. Churning will get you suspended FAST.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

If people are using 3rd-party apps and see that you unfollowed them, they’ll also see that your account has gone to Following = 0. They usually then unfollow your account. So getting your account locked can make you lose followers, literally.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Several warnings about Twitter’s Unfollow Bug, now that it has hit the other account I’m managing and I know for a fact how it works. It does seem to hit quite regularly on Fridays (okay, Thursday night for us, but everyone today will see 0 following)#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

If you’re using a 3rd-party app like Crowdfire or ManageFlitter that shows you recent Unfollowers AND you also see that their account is suddenly Following 0, do NOT unfollow them. Wait. Twitter will restore the followers to that account. They will “refollow” you.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

If an account has unfollowed you ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE, it means that Twitter locked the account while awaiting verification that the person was human, not a bot. If “human” is not immediately verified, Twitter does the unfollowing. And it unfollows ALL accounts.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Do not unfollow these accounts back. If they are legitimate accounts, Twitter will restore all the Following once the account has verified that it’s run by a human, not a bot. It used to take 24-48 hours. Now it sometimes takes up to 2 weeks. Be patient.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

I used to unfollow people within a couple of days if they unfollowed me, but then I noticed it was always happening on a Friday, & sometimes it was people I’d had really good talks with, & a couple times it was friends. Real friends. Now I only unfollow once a month.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

If an account’s Following hasn’t been restored within a month, then you might as well unfollow them, too, if you want. Just don’t unfollow immediately, especially if they have Following = 0 because that is the Twitter Unfollow Bug. Twitter knows about it.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

How do you reduce the chances of Twitter’s Unfollow Bug hitting your account and eliminating all the accounts you’re following? don’t do anything “aggressive” on Twitter, and that includes following, unfollowing, RTing, commenting, etc.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

What does Twitter define as “aggressive” following or unfollowing, for example? It doesn’t tell you. On purpose. If it did, the spammers and bots would be programmed to stay below that number. But I can guess at some of the Twitter definitions for you.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

The fewer followers you have yourself, the fewer accounts you should follow or unfollow daily. Maybe even hourly. I’ve noticed that when I went over 10K followers, and since going over 20K followers, I can do more within a 24-hour period.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Third-party apps have follow/unfollow recommendations of < 100 each (Crowdfire -paid version) or < 20 unfollows (ManageFlitter – free) each 24-hour period. The most I’ve ever unfollowed within 24 hours is 200, but that is for this account, which has 21K followers.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

When I began managing the other account and was unfollowing some accounts that were not verified and that had never followed back in 2 years, I unfollowed no more than 20-25 within a 24-hour period. I never follow AND unfollow in the same 24 hours. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

I was not following or unfollowing yesterday on the other account when it asked me to verify that I was human. I was RTing some of the tweets of the accounts we follow. I’d missed the entire day with errands, so was working in the evening, unusual for me.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

I was RTing blog posts. Since I read every blog before I RT it, I couldn’t have been RTing in a way that I would define as “aggressive,” and I certainly RT more than that to this account on MondayBlogs, but Twitter has different rules for different accounts it seems.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

These next two suggestions are guesses, but here goes. The more followers you have, the more you seem to be able to RT in an hour/day. (Don’t get mad at me if I’m wrong about this, please.) You’ll have to use your own good judgment on this.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Suggestion 2 on RTs: If you’re using an acknowledge #hashtag, not one you made up yourself to promote your own books) AND if that # is trending on Twitter AND you’re using it properly, you seem to be able to RT more.
It may ALSO depend on your number of Followers.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Verify your phone number AND your email with Twitter. This is the only to prove you’re human in case of “suspicious activity,” which may be totally innocent on your part, and which obviously changes from account to account depending on the number of followers, etc.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

If you are managing an account for a business, please make sure that your personal phone number or a business number to which you have access 24/7/365 is the verified phone on the Twitter account. It the account is not immediately verified, the Unfollow Bug hits.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Whatever you were doing just before the account got locked and Twitter requested verification that you are human, STOP doing that, even if you immediately get the account unlocked. Whether following, RTing, following, STOP or risk account suspension.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

Account managers: remember that these rules are different for different accounts, apparently, though Twitter doesn’t admit such things. I’ve never been locked out before. Only been asked if human 1 or 2x in 7 years. Asked 2x each account since T’s password screw-up.#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

And that is everything I know about the Twitter Unfollow Bug, now that I had it actually lock me out of an account (that I manage), which then makes Unfollowing = 0.
So go forth, my lovelies, but do not do anything “aggressively” on the Twitter.
Happy Friday!#WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) May 11, 2018

♦

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by Alexandria | 13 April 2018 · 11:53 am

How to Do Twitter, for Writers, Part 9: Follow These Folks for Great Content

This morning’s #writingtips on how to do Twitter for writers is all about which accounts to follow: not necessarily so they’ll follow you back, but so you’ll have good content to share, have interesting articles to read yourself, and make connections.#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/mkNyl6pWvN

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Rachel Thompson regularly writes about social media & marketing for authors in her @BadRedheadMedia account. Though she has 2 books on these subjects, she constantly has this information #free on her website. Follow her & read her articles regularly. #WritingTips #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/rmKwEti8nY

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Anne Allen @annerallen has written several non-fiction How-To books for authors, including one on blogging tips and one on social media. Her blog is one of the Top 10 Bloggers for Authors, and she covers subjects of interest for writers and authors.#WritingTips #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/olqNRKXkeg

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Lydia Schoch @TorontoLydia is a voracious reader who loves sci-fi & fantasy; she blogs regularly on books & film adaptations. She also exercises, meditates, tries to eat healthily, & blogs on same, which all writers will find helps their creativity.#WritingTips #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/BiqTjN9HjG

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Lev Raphael @LevRaphael is the author of at least 25 books, and his blog, Writing Across Genres, is about writing and publishing and writing and books. He also follows back us lesser known authors and writers because that’s the kind of nice guy he is.#WritingTips #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/8w0kzskdMb

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Guy Bergstrom @SpeechWriterGuy is a journalist, a political speechwriter, and a novelist with a literary agent. He has a sister who’s a screenwriter, so you get all kinds of good writing advice from Guy, along with advice on surviving an apocalypse.#WritingTips #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/bCZiaTZity

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Joanna Penn @TheCreativePenn is a NYTimes and USA Today bestselling author who blogs and podcasts writing and publishing info. She posts lots of the information in her nonfiction books on marketing for authors on her blog. #WritingTips #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/srReVXD29l

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Jeff Goins @JeffGoins is another bestselling author who blogs and regularly shares advice on writing and publishing. He also interviews other authors. Jeff has lots of interesting information for all writers. #WritingTips #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/R4cDHBtBAV

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Lest you think this is just a really time-consuming #FF, let me remind you why I am suggesting that you follow these authors: they give good content. As in GOOD content. Always. Every single day of the week. Every single tweet.#WritingTips #TwitterSmarter

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Follow these authors because you will enjoy what they write, you will learn new writing techniques, you’ll get some tips on marketing your work, but, most important of all for this thread, you’ll find good content to share with your own followers. #WritingTips #TwitterSmarter

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Eric Barker @Bakadesuyo doesn’t write about writing, but not all bestselling authors write about writing, marketing, etc. Eric writes about mindfulness, improving your life, etc, & he backs it all up with research. His book came from his popular blog.#WritingTips #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/gvkWdmvI6f

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Elaine Mansfield @ElaineMansfiel7 started her blog to process the grief of becoming a widow. Though she still posts about grief, she’s since expanded the blog to include posts on mindfulness, Jungian psychology, and Greek mythology. #WritingTips #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/luPeqoXDdP

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

And if you’re wondering why I’ve included people like Eric Barker @Bakadesuyo and Elaine Mansfield @ElaineMansfiel7 in my Twitter for Writers today, then you need to expand your definition of accounts to follow. Writers are more than just writers. #WritingTips #TwitterSmarter

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Again, the point of this thread is to help you find authors, many of them bestselling, who regularly fill their Twitter feeds with information that is helpful to other writers and authors. Not all their books are about writing or marketing books. #WritingTips #TwitterSmarter

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Not all of these people follow me back. I’ve been following them, sharing their posts, RTing their tweets, and commenting on their work for ages. They have valuable information which you might like to read, RT, etc.#WritingTips #TwitterSmarter

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Stop thinking of your Twitter account as a way to sell your own books. Stop filling your TL with tweets about your books, your WIP, your characters, quotes from your own work, etc. In fact, stop thinking about YOURSELF in your own account. #WritingTips #TwitterSmarter

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Instead of thinking what you can get out of Twitter, begin thinking about what your followers can get from you in your TL. Fill it with things that are so interesting and helpful that they might follow you to see what you’re tweeting, RTing, etc. #WritingTips #TwitterSmarter

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

If you’re still dreaming of sitting on Oprah’s couch, having dinner with Stephen King, or chit-chatting about craft with JK Rowling, you need to come to terms with your own expectations of what writing & being an author is actually like for most of us#WritingTips #TwitterSmarter

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

Instead of thinking about what you can get from other people, think instead about what you can offer to the people who follow you and, by extension, people who don’t know you yet. Give good content to others & they’re more likely to read your tweets.#WritingTips #TwitterSmarter

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) April 13, 2018

♦

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