7 habits of highly successful tweeters:1. Be positive2. Talk about others3. Create ‘social proof’4. Stay ‘on topic’5. Check spelling, limit # use6. Short bursts of activity are ok7. Increase direct mentions &reduce broadcast tweets

I just came across this scientific study explaining what the most effective habits were of successful users of twitter. This is the first study I read that examines what factors are associated with an increased follower-count on Twitter over an extended period of time. The study analysed in 2013 507 Twitter users and a half-million of their tweets over 15 months.These points might just be timely reminders of good Twitter etiquette, nevertheless it’s quality advice for every Tweeter.

The 7 habits of highly effective tweeters are:

• always send out positive messages• People are attracted to people who talk positively

• always talk about others• Self obsessed people gain less followers• Informers: 20% share information and reply to other users.• Meformers: 80% mostly send out information about themselves.

• Create ‘Social Proof’• Being retweeted is a sign to others you are worth following• Also those who gave a web address, a location and a long description were more likely to attract followers

• Stay on topic ( in our case Data Science)• This study found that people who remained more ‘on-topic’ tended to attract more followers.

• Check spelling and limit hashtag use• People hate the #random #use #of #hashtags.

• Short bursts of activity are ok• Twitter users who were bursty [10 tweets in 1 hour] from time-to-time tended to attract more followers.

• Increase direct mentions and reduce broadcast tweets• It pays; in terms of more followers to increase the proportion of directed tweets and decrease the broadcasts.