As a social media strategist, I see a lot of good and bad things being done on Twitter. One particular area I wanted to highlight is the importance of setting your tweets to public vs. private.
Setting your tweets to private is a big no-no on Twitter, that is if you want to attract followers and build your network. If you’re not interested in networking with other people, having others see what you’re saying so that they can add to it or share with their friends – and possible opening a few doors along the way, go ahead, set them to private.
Sure, you’ll be able to control who follows you – this way only the people you approve only see your tweets, but you can already essentially do that, simply by looking at the types of tweets someone writes. You can also go to www.twitter.com/username and see their profile directly too. This way you have an idea on what they typically talk about. Also, remember, you choose who to follow and besides, the whole point of Twitter (and any social network for that matter) is to attract followers and to network with others right? Definitely not doing that with private tweets.
Here are a few reasons why your tweets should be set to public
- Public tweets are seen by everyone (even those people you don’t know)
- With Google live search, you have a chance that your tweets will be seen by other people searching because public tweets are included in Google search results.
- They allow people to retweet (or forward) your tweet w/links, pictures, thoughts to other users
- More exposure = more connections and higher chances for conversions, visitors to your website, blog articles, new friends, etc..
For those Twitter users that want to make their tweets public again, you can do so by following these simple instructions for unprotecting your tweets.
- Login to Twitter
- Click your name (right side)
- Select “Settings”
- Uncheck the box next to “Tweet privacy”
- Click the “save” button
There you have it! Public tweets vs. Private tweets and why you should go public!
Would love to hear from Twitter users that have their tweets set to private. Why did you do it? What benefits do you think you’ll get using private tweets and are you serious about networking?
Leave a comment!