Spurred by the annoyance of several notable brands (and some virtual unknowns) and their poor use of Twitter, this post has finally bubbled to the top of my consciousness. It’s my shortlist of things I view as pitfalls of Twitter usage. I know, I know, “It’s too young, there are no standards.” But let’s just assume for the sake of conversation that you are a brand (big or small) and you decide to dip your toe into the Twitter pool; whether you know it or not, much like every day conversation, there are some preconceived expectations of the audience you hope to enthrall. After all, you are using it to get customers to beat a path to your door, right? At least that’s what your wunderkind social media marketing guru must have told you: “Customers are on Twitter, we have to set up an account Pronto!” “James, that’s brilliant. I’ve heard about that Twitter thing on CNN.”

So, if have one iota of marketing or customer service sense, please listen up: