Feature: How NOT to Tweet with Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin’s Twitter is the internet train wreck of Social Media.  You know it’s really awful, but at the same time, you can’t look away.  And if you’re a masochist like me (and face it,  if you’re here, you probably are), you keep coming back for more.

Today’s lesson is coherence and concision.  On Twitter, you’ve got 140 characters to work with, and by hell you better make sure each one works.

This tweet fails.  Let’s see why.

Sarah starts out with a question, which is good.  Twitter is AMAZING for questions.  Your followers can instantly send back replies or forward it onto their followers to an answer.

However,this question is awful.  It’s almost rhetorical, it leaves her open to attacks, and she wastes 2 characters by spelling “out” instead of typing “w/o.”  A better question for her to ask is “Do you like my new $15,000 down jacket paid for by FOX News?”  or “Want to see me make Sean Hannity my bitch every day on FOX News?”  These questions have simple yes or no answers, but can also facilitate discussion.

The next part of her tweet is crappy grammatically.  “w/team” Sarah?  Your missing indefinite article is important.  Also, the missing spaces between “fair&balanced” make it more difficult to read.  This sentence is so long it would be a great stand-alone tweet, but in this form it is some awful carry-on attached by the periods to the rest of her tweet.

The last part of her tweet is a disaster.  “Please join us!”  Who is us?  Are you plural Sarah?  Do you mean Fox News?  Do you you mean the GOP?  WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?  Worse still is how do I join?  You give no link, no terms, no nothing.  If I google “us” I get “US Magazine”  Should I subscribe?  I might, because they at least know how to write three coherent sentences.

What have we learned?

• Questions are good, but keep the possible answers simple.
• Use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
• Be specific.
• Provide appropriate follow up information in a link.

Any questions?