While handling the Twitter management for your company, it might be tempting to tweet pictures of every little funny or intriguing thing you find on your daily outings. Oh, sure, these Twit Pics start out innocently enough: “Here’s Janice in accounting eating frozen yogurt!” or “Look at the new shoes we just got in.” And why shouldn’t we snap photos and tweet them? Followers love images and if we’ve happened to tweet something amazing, we could create Twit Pic viral gold.
However, not everything needs to be shared. Last weekend, after vomiting on stage, Justin Bieber took a picture of himself shirtless. In a word, eww. The post-barf photo shoot, to us, seems like a touchstone in bad Twit Pic etiquette. Brands, personalities and individuals have apparently lost their filter and are now tweeting photos of all kinds of things their followers never in a million years wanted to see. The gashes on heads of CEOs, bland photos of airport runways taken by execs and reality stars getting pedicures are just a few of the images sure to be framed and hung on the wall in Twitter photo Hell. Yikes.
To avoid becoming a Twit Pic tragedy, we’ve come up with a few priceless dos and don’ts.
DO tweet photos of new products, new offices, new employees. Twit Pics work wonders as visual press releases to announce exciting developments in your company. Don’t be afraid to use them as such.
DON’T tweet photos of any ailments of any kind. Ever. This sounds like common sense, but the number of professional people who post “Live from the ER” photos is horrifying. This means no busted ankles, no bloody foreheads, no post-surgery shots of any kind. It’s unprofessional, uninteresting and, worst of all, gross.
DO tweet pictures of events. Not all of your followers are going to make it your parties, fundraisers and openings. Let them in on the action by posting fun photos of your latest shindigs.
DON’T tweet tired memes. Regardless of how funny you think that picture of the llama is, trust us: someone has already tweeted that photo. A good rule to remember for branded tweeting is unless you came up with that clever meme, leave it alone.
DON’T tweet pictures of coworkers, anonymous partygoers and bosses without permission. Especially if there’s been a Happy Hour involved. We know… This, too, should be common sense but you can never be too safe.
DO use your Twitter gallery as a clever way to display photos of your logo. Lots of companies are strategically tweeting pics of logos and campaigns to create a cool visual look on a Twitter homepage. The results are thoughtful and super creative.
DO tweet photos often. Now that you’re not tweeting pictures of roadkill or bunions on your feet, feel free to snap and tweet away! Appropriate tweeted photos enhance your Twitter feed and hugely increase your chances of being retweeted.
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