From July 28, 2009 – These Top 10 Rules of Twitter Etiquette were originally posted in February 2009 by Michael Kwan and Morten Rand-Hendriksen in their respective blogs at Beyond the Rhetoric and Design is Philosophy. They resulted from observing a “Twitter battle” in the Vancouver area which they described as attempted social suicide.

A relatively well followed Twitter personality decided that a late Friday night would be the perfect time to “call another Tweeter out” as a “fake” and take what should have been a personal disagreement into a very public and very damaging shouting match. For well over two hours the attacks evolved from personal insults against one person to a frontal assault on all the people who tried to talk the guy off the rapidly narrowing edge he put himself on. By 2 am innocent bystanders were promptly stamped down, called retards and accused of everything from being stupid to being child molesters.

As the bizarre story unfolded it became clear that even seasoned web veterans are having a hard time grasping the new world of social media, in particular the fact that with great exposure comes great responsibility and that even a small misstep can have wide reaching and hugely damaging consequences. So they put together a list of 10 Twitter Etiquette tips to keep your online presence one you can live with both now and in the future. They are reposted here, with a few tweaks relevant to my political views and affinity for rabbits. Enjoy!

1. Avoid Personal Attacks at All Times

If you want me to follow you on Twitter, I want to see that you are a mature and civilized individual. If you go around spouting insults, spewing racist slurs, and otherwise attacking other Twitter users, you’ll quickly find yourself shouting into a black hole. No one will want to hear what you have to say. There’s nothing wrong with having a controversial opinion, but you should be discussing the issues in a calm and mature manner. Attack the issue, not the person.

2. Keep the Personal Vendettas Out of the Public Sphere

When you are in a nice restaurant, it is inappropriate to get into a shouting match with your dinner companion. This ruins the dining experience for the other patrons. This shows a complete and utter lack of class. If you have a conflict with someone, work it out in private. Interacting on Twitter is no different than interacting in any other public place. Take the fight to email, instant messenger, or a phone call instead. Resolve your issues there, because you never know who may be listening in on your war on Twitter.

3. Respect the Opinions of Others

Not everyone is going to agree with you all of the time. This is a fact of life. Whether you posed the question yourself or someone chimed in on their own, respect the opinions of others. This doesn’t mean that you have to agree with what they have to say, but it does mean that you should respect their right to say it. Going back to the first point, feel free to debate the issue, stating your case and why you feel the way that you do. That’s fine, but you should never escalate the debate to personal attacks.

4. Do Not Tweet While Intoxicated

When you are under the influence of alcohol or you are feeling particularly emotional, it is perhaps best to unplug from the matrix. If you’ve had more than a few drinks, there’s a good chance that you’ll say something you don’t really mean or express something that you’ll regret later on. You are not calm. You are not composed. When you are drunk, don’t grab your iPhone and start tweeting out your hatred of everyone and everything. This is social suicide; it’s like running toward a group of police officers waving around a loaded gun.

5. Get Out of the “Bar Fight” Mentality

Don’t pick a fight with the peacemaker. With the spat that happened over the weekend, one of the individuals went on to insult, attack, or belittle anyone who chose to get involved. Some of these people were simply trying to tell them to calm down or take the battle to a private arena. They were trying to help. They were trying to prevent the social suicide. In short, they were trying to be good Samaritans and peacekeepers, but in doing so, they entered the line of fire. If you are having a disagreement with someone online, don’t automatically assume that anyone else who gets involved is against you or out to get you. They could just be trying to put out the fire.

6. Keep the Private Private (Direct Messages (DMs) Are There For A Reason)

If you have something to say that is only of interest to one or just a few people, whether it be expressing your love, planning a lunch date or airing your grievances, use the Direct Message function. Not only are these things not appropriate for the public stream but there is little chance your followers are interested in your everyday practicalities, confessions of love and hateful bickering. In addition, there is no guarantee your followers are also following your friend so they might only get one side of the conversation. And finally, if you announce to the world where you are having lunch, the nutcase stalker you didn’t know you had might very well show up.

7. Don’t Flood the Stream

Twitter is less of a communication tool than a collective-stream-of-consciousness artifact. And in this lies both its appeal and its most serious annoyance. Unless Twitter users are utilizing some form of Twitter management tool like Hootsuite, the face of Twitter is the stream populated by a chronological list of the most recent tweets from all the people you follow. This is great in a kind of bizarre social gestalt kind of way until one or two of them start flooding the stream with tons of Tweets over a short period of time. And even though it might seem to the poster that they are just carrying on a (mostly one-sided) conversation, they are in reality taking over the feed for those presently watching. And like in any other social situation, whether it be a party, a meeting or a forum, dominating the conversation is rude and an excellent way of losing your followers. Twitter is a microblogging tool. If you have a lot to say, put it in your regular blog or write a book.

8. Apply the Foot-in-mouth Test Liberally

Twitter is a great place to prove you are suffering from a severe case of foot-in-mouth disease. 90% of the time the stuff you post on Twitter is completely benign. But there may come a time when you will post something that may anger someone either intentionally or unintentionally. So before you post anything, consider this: Would you want your kid sister, mother, future spouse, boss or mother-in-law to read it? Because chances are they will. If the answer is no, your rant is better left in your notebook or your therapist’s couch.

9. If You Can’t Say Somethin’ Nice, Don’t Say Nothin’ at All

This line of wisdom came straight from the bunny’s mouth – “Thumper” in the Disney classic “Bambi”. If you’re angry and feel like lashing out either directly or indiscriminately it’s better to step away from the keyboard and take a walk. In the heat of fury you are likely to say things you will regret but things said cannot be unsaid. Ever (see point 10). So rather than ruining your social life and insulting the people that respect you, remember that this too shall pass.

10. The Web Is Forever

It’s been said many times before but apparently it needs repeating: Anything and everything you put on the web remains there forever. Searchable, traceable, sourceable, ready to resurface years later. That’s the case for text, pictures, audio, and video and yes, Twitter posts. So that bat you planted in some guy’s face via a not-so-finely worded Tweet yesterday may very well come back to ruin your chances at a job 20 years from now.