Ever since the dawn of the word “YOLO”, Twitter has been taking the social media airwaves by storm. When creating a Twitter there are several pieces of advice to take into account.

 

Twitter Handle

     There are several ways you can approach choosing your custom Twitter username. The two most commonly used strategies are using your full-name, which is always sensible, or you can create a pun out of your name. Puns are always admirable, but it must be well thought-out. If someone on Twitter already has the proper spelling of the username you want, then please spare everyone the irritation and do not add unnecessary letters or substitute a “z” where an “s” should be--just take that as a sign from the universe that it wasn’t meant to be. Here’s one of our writer’s as a mock example:

@DanLyons vs. @DanDLyons

Clever, yet effective.

 

Followers

     This is a more controversial area of Twitter. Some people believe that you should follow everyone back that follows you out of courtesy, while others would rather not follow back everyone to maintain a solid “following to followers ratio”. It’s more about personal preference, because of the fact that you could easily have underclassmen that you’ve never spoken to before follow you on Twitter which is kind of creepy...but also endearing.

 

Content of Tweets

      As we all know, there are several guidelines to constructing something that will generate maximum favorites. Although adults continue to warn about the dangers of social media “because it lasts forever”, I tend to believe that a harmless joke or observation here and there would make my future employers laugh rather than not hire me...I hope. Here are some helpful hints along with the types of tweets you’re likely to see out in the Twittersphere.

 

1. The relatable tweet:

     Please proceed with caution. Recent studies have been shown that 100% of people find that you’re unoriginal if you post something like:

Lol no Valentine’s Day date #foreveralone

     We all know you’re hinting at the fact that you actually would like a date on Valentines Day, but we’re just ignoring you. The relatable tweet can also include the use of being lazy, watching Netflix, food of any kind, or going to the gym.

Here’s a sample template:

I + (Love/Hate) + Relatable Subject = Terribly overdone tweet

 

2. The meme tweet: Everyone likes a good meme. But if you’re that guy that constantly posts funny pictures, because you have nothing else to contribute in terms of originality, then I would reconsider having a Twitter altogether.

 

3. The lyric tweet: We’re all guilty of this. Don’t look at me like that. But, in the case of lyric tweets, there are some repeat offenders. And I probably wouldn’t be lying if I said that a majority of those lyric tweets are country music lyrics. Sorry guys, the jig is up. If it’s not country lyrics, then it’s pretty much guaranteed to be popular song lyrics and also be “indirectly”— but still blatantly--directed at someone.

Ex: “Say something I’m giving up on you.”
We thank you for your unoriginal lack of contribution to Twitter.

 

4. The current events tweet: Okay, we get it. Ellen DeGeneres is hosting the Oscars. Bruno Mars had a great performance during the Super Bowl. For this category, it’s not about what the tweet is about, but how you tweet it. Clearly, it won’t be humorous if you simply state that the Beyoncé performed at the Super Bowl and then the power went out, but if you say something like this:

Beyoncé really meant business when she said “turn the lights off”

I will highly commend you for creativity on that one.

 

5. The hashtag tweet: Using a hashtag at the end of a tweet is acceptable, but for a rule of thumb, your hashtags shouldn’t be longer than the actual content of your tweet unless you are doing it ironically:

Snowday #swagfordays #wannabuildasnowman #makingforts2k14 #turndownforwhat

    Those are the most helpful hints to heighten your chances of Twitter stardom. In the realms of Twitter, the best advice to give is that is that less is more. Twenty years from now, I’d rather read back simple tweets that include observational comedy or thoughts, rather than tweets full of memes, hashtags, and complaints, because Twitter is a lot funnier without all of that nonsense.