by HM Wilson

Created on: October 02, 2009   Last Updated: October 03, 2009

These days, it seems like just about everyone is on Twitter. The immensely popular social network has attracted everyone from wildly popular celebrities to businesses to the average Jill or Joe. Lots of people are tweeting away (tweets are the short messages that people post on Twitter) and loving it. However, there are some common mistakes that, if you aren't careful, can detract from your Twitter experience.

What are some of the frequent mistakes users make on Twitter? And how can you avoid them?

1) Not being selective enough about who you're following. Quality should be valued more than quantity when it comes to building the ranks of those whom you follow. Otherwise, you may find your feed flooded with tweets that are of no use or interest to you.

2) Tweeting too often. This is a form of spamming. If you've either manually or automatically just had a dozen tweets posted in the last 15 minutes, you fall into this category. No one needs to be informed of your every move, no matter how fascinating you may think you are. This is true regardless of whom you are.

3) Divulging too much personal information. As with anything, you should be careful about how much personal information you divulge.

4) Spamming. If your sole purpose is to push a product or service on people, you will most likely find yourself getting blocked a lot. While Twitter can be a great way to promote whatever you're involved with, use common sense in your approach.

5) Expecting that tweeting about what you're trying to promote will automatically lead to a jump in views, members, customers, etc. While it is possible to achieve this, it isn't something that one should count on going in.

6) Being less than professional and getting caught. Tweeting that you spent the night out drinking, have a hangover and don't want to go deal with your jerk of a boss is just begging for someone from your company to read the tweet and find that, no, you really shouldn't have to deal with your boss or a paycheck from the company again.

Anything you put online has the potential to come back and bite you on the behind. That includes anything that you tweet about.

7) Believing everything you read on Twitter. Unless you go directly from the official page of so-and-so and link to them on Twitter that way, you can't even be certain that you are really following Famous Person X and not just Random Person Y.

Take for example J.K. Rowling. There have been a number of fake accounts claiming to be the author's; however, she has only recently joined the world of Twitter. Her stated reason for opening a Twitter account was to, in effect, combat all of the fake accounts being credited to her.

Keeping those seven things in mind will make your Twitter experience a lot more pleasant and, quite possibly, a lot more beneficial. Happy tweeting!

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