Category Archives: Twitter

by Alexandria | 22 June 2018 · 9:23 am

How to Do Twitter, for Writers, Part 19: Even More Fab People to Follow for All Things Writerly, Including Voice Like You Cannot Believe

Time for some old-fashioned #FF here on the Twitter, my Lovelies. Mostly the emphasis is on accounts for #writers and #authors, because these are #WritingTips, but there are some well written accounts here, too, so all of you can enjoy your time on Twitter more. pic.twitter.com/r2OguZw7EZ

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

#FF @AlmondPress for great writing tips and articles on everything from creating great villains to editing your own work. Inspirational posts about writer’s block, motivation, etc. Regularly posts lists of contests & paying markets for writers. Publishes anthologies. #WritingTips pic.twitter.com/5u3QBhGBGu

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

#FF The Insecure Writer’s Support Group @TheIWSG for motivational articles on how to keep writing when you don’t feel like it, How-to articles on finding agents or querying, and craft articles. A @WritersDigest Best Website for Writers. #WritingTips pic.twitter.com/P4Imtley80

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

#FF the iconic @WritersDigest because… it’s Writer’s Digest! Even if you think you know everything there is to know about your craft, this account tweets inspirational posts, its contests, publications, & great writing articles featuring editors, agents, & writers.#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/wLByCnq6DE

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

#FF Angela the Librarian’s @OneStop4Writers for tips and articles on making your characters more complex, showing non-verbal emotions, writing different genres and sub-genres, and acting more like a writer-entrepreneur (yes, being an author is a business).#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/bGqeApkKgl

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

#FF @Writers_Write for inspirational quotes on writing, quotes from famous authors, amusing comments on writer’s life, writing prompts, and articles on everything from your punctuation personality to online courses. Founded by #FF Amanda Patterson @AmandaOnWriting.#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/FoO6cj0ktJ

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

You wanna get off the front porch and run with the big dogs? Then #FF @PublishersWkly, the de rigueur publication of editors, agents, and all things books, bookstores, and markets for traditional publishing. Even if you’re Indie, you should be totally informed.#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/JbocXV70KS

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

Whether you’re traditionally, Indie, or self- published, you should be informed of what’s going with books published by the big Houses, so #FF New York Times Book Review @NYTimesBooks for all things books, including bestsellers, interviews with authors, and markets.#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/jJm3M0opha

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

What the NYTimes does for books here in America, @GuardianBooks does for books in the UK so #FF them, too, in order to stay informed. Articles about books and authors, past and present, with occasional, topic-relevant @Guardian articles thrown in, too.#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/Ms8NRpswjm

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

Whenever you get discouraged by the writing/marketing life, #FF @TinyBuddha for inspirational quotes and articles on #mindfulness so you don’t get overwhelmed. Anyone who told you being a writer or author was easy was lying, so comfort & reassure yourself daily.#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/tpH46YHl9J

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

It’s a real toss-up which of these should go first, so to avoid angering either of them, I’m sharing this #FF with both. For Voice like you cannot believe, all writers need to read the tweets of his royal majesty King Henry VIII @KngHnryVIII and of God @TheTweetOfGod #WritingTips pic.twitter.com/aiZyPkpJrM

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

Ernest Hemingway would not only have loved this account, he would have written articles for them. #FF @ArtOfManliness for all things manly and guy-like, seriously, with some of the best-researched articles on fishing, fashion, car-tinkering, parenting, and much more.#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/4oTRXchRaP

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

If you’ve missed any of my previous #FF or #WW you can go to my #Twitter for #Writers (and #Authors) page, where all the posts are in one convenient place. They cover everything you need to know to run a successful writer/author account. #WritingTips https://t.co/4wQ3msyY7F

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 22, 2018

♦

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by Alexandria | 15 June 2018 · 8:59 am

How to Do Twitter, for Writers, Part 18: Encourage More People to Follow You

Let’s talk about how to get more people interested in following you on Twitter for today’s #WritingTips. The key is providing good content and being engaged yourself. Otherwise, no one will even know your account exists. pic.twitter.com/ATsODEraqs

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

I’ve been handling the Twitter account for @MigraineMantras for almost 2 months now, and I’ve seen its followers increase from < 300 to almost 1K. But its tweets also went from < 300 to over 8K. So you need to be present regularly and send out interesting tweets #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Of course, if you’re already a bestselling or celebrity author, you can simply ignore this thread because you have your audience from the book sales. All the rest of you writers and authors might benefit from these #WritingTips, however, and I encourage you to practice these tips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Here are some Twitter basics to let people know your account is real, i.e., not a bot or phisher. How to Do Twitter, for #Writers, Part 1: Your UserName, Display Name, BIO, Profile Picture, Header, Pinned Tweets, Hashtags, and All That Jazz#WritingTips https://t.co/HYzyeRyJj2

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

You don’t have to tweet only about writing, but if you want to tweet only about writing, then for heaven’s sake make the tweets about something other than your own WIP and your own books and characters. Try to engage all others interested in writing with your tweets. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Make sure you fill your TL with interesting information and articles that you think your followers might want to read. You’re not expected to write all these articles yourself: that’s what the Internet is for. Find some interesting articles to share. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Here are some ways to find good content. No one expects you to write every single tweet yourself. Share interesting articles. How to Find Content to Tweet via Topic Hashtags, Google Alerts, and Lists#WritingTips https://t.co/jnKqxrlAfT

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Be on Twitter regularly. Don’t jump on once a week and expect people to follow your account. If you can’t be on at least every other day, you’re probably not engaging enough to get people to follow you in large numbers. Try a Twitter schedule for yourself. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Answer your legitimate Notifications (never answer trolls, haters, phishers, or spammers). This is part of engagement on social media. I’m guessing most celebrities have their Notifications turned OFF so they won’t be hammered by them. You need to answer yours #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Here’s a good article from Rachel Thompson @RacheintheOC @BadRedheadMedia on how to adjust some of your Twitter settings to protect against Trolls, but they’re just good settings even if you don’t have trolls coming at you. #WritingTips https://t.co/o2iwHTqL3N

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Fill your TL with interesting content, either by including interesting articles or by sharing (RTing) other interesting tweets. Answer your legitimate Notifications. Have a consistent Twitter schedule (after all, if you’re a writer, it’s one of your jobs now). #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Engage with others regularly. This means Reply to tweets that you find interesting. Follow accounts that have content you enjoy reading. Share (RT) tweets and articles that you like (and I follow people whose tweets/articles I like enough to RT). Engage!!
#WritingTips pic.twitter.com/Z58ZzX324u

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Be genuine. Now more than ever you have to regularly prove that you are a real person running your social media accounts. That means share some things in your tweets that bots cannot: photos of your pets, your fave vacation spot, your homemade dinner. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Like (❤) tweets that you actually like. Some people use those Likes, which are visible at the top of your account page, to determine engagement. Reply to people who talk to you (not to trolls). Those replies show up (Tweets & Replies): we look at replies, too. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

If you don’t have many tweets, make sure you tweet more. Everyone can see when you joined & how many tweets you have. If you’re on 3 years with < 100 tweets, why should anyone follow you? Tweet regularly. RTs = tweets. Talk to people. Give good content #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Tweet regularly and give good content in your tweets, including original tweets and articles of interest. Engage with others by replying, Liking, and sharing (RT) the info in their tweets. Follow accounts you find interesting. It’s not all about YOU on social media #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Be engaged with others (I mean, it’s SOCIAL media) by talking to them, answering legitimate Notifications, sharing and liking. Did I tell you that you should Share (RT) and Like things that interest you? That’s how most of us become aware of other accounts. #WritingTips

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

Be genuine and regularly prove that you are a human running your social media account. I know that seems self-evident, and it’s not too hard to spot spammers and bot accounts, but make it easy for people who are considering following you.
#WritingTips #OneOfMyFaveAuthors pic.twitter.com/azk98JV8Y4

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

And here’s a photo of our Doggie, who’s doing much better (she hurt her leg a few weeks ago: an old injury, re-injured — and she’s 11 now, so no more jumping off the porch after rabbits without consequences). Yes, I’m a mommy to Doggie and 7 Rescue cats. #BeGenuine #WritingTips pic.twitter.com/ZRIMvKe3vU

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

And if you don’t know how to connect your tweets in a single conversation so that you have a Thread, there are two ways (Twitter’s official way is only a few months old). Here’s how to Create a Thread #WritingTips https://t.co/KgmIESAFLF

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) June 15, 2018

♦

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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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