I recently posted my Brief List of 53 Twitter Rules, guidelines for how I choose to use Twitter. I got a great response, and one person commented they liked Twitter “because there weren’t rules.” There are all kinds of rules, formal and informal, from a multitude of sources, that we follow every day, often without thinking about them. Some of these are legislated, and some of them simply come from community values.

Twitter, like all social networks, has a Terms of Service (TOS) that reflects the company’s intent of creating a safe environment in which people can communicate without harm to themselves or others; protections to shield the company from lawsuits and other legal liability; and the desire of the company to preserve its intellectual property and ability to make money. In addition to the TOS, there are also The Twitter Rules.

When I wrote my earlier post on this, I was clear that I was writing my rules, adding “I wouldn’t presume to tell you how to use Twitter.” My rules are based on a combination of factors, like why I am on Twitter, my personal standard of ethics, my perception of community values, and Twitter’s TOS.

Rules have numerous origins. If you believe human life is sacred, you probably agree that murder should be illegal. There are both moral and legal proscriptions against murder. Other rules are strictly legislative, like the imposition of fines for overtime parking. Most drivers would agree that parking for more than one hour in a one-hour zone is not immoral, but there are still penalties for doing so.

And finally, some rules, which we informally agree to follow, are either self-imposed or imposed by society. For example, if I told you there were rules concerning conduct during a business meeting, you might take the libertarian or anarchist view, “Hey, no one makes rules for me!” So if I suggested you shouldn’t show up for a meeting drunk and unshowered, would I be imposing arbitrary rules on you? It’s not illegal to do so. It’s not even immoral. But there are penalties.

Twitter, and every other social network, has written/legislated rules, moral/ethical rules, and some rules that are derived from community values. You don’t have to follow these rules, but if you don’t have an understanding of community values on Twitter, and the basic standards of conduct people expect, you will have a lonely existence and could find your account suspended.

Here are three of my rules, from my previous post, and an explanation of where they came from:

• Don’t tweet anything more than four times. I came up with this rule for myself before Twitter banned recurring tweets. I tweet a link to a new blog post a maximum of four times, at different times each day, over the course of three to four days, to make sure I reach the most people. As the Twitter Rules state, you are spamming “If you post duplicate content over multiple accounts or multiple duplicate updates on one account.” This is an example of a rule that was based on community values and became a legislated rule. If you break it, you are considered a spammer and could have your account suspended, or at the very least, annoy your followers.
• Put enough info in a tweet so that it can stand on its own. No one can see your ongoing “conversation,” so a tweet that simply says “I hear ya” is of no value. This rule is suggested for those using Twitter for business or professional reasons. If you use Twitter as a kind of AIM/MySpace 2.0, and tweet with a few friends informally, who’s to say there’s anything wrong with a tweet that doesn’t stand by itself?
• Delete lame tweets. Clean up your timeline. This is an example of a rule that most people probably don’t follow. Social media purists might object to this practice. But I don’t.

For many, social networking is a leisure activity that takes place outside of school or the workplace. After a day of following someone else’s rules, it’s liberating to sign on to Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace and engage in a little free expression. But one of the things that has made social networking so popular is that it is so social, that it partially replicates the social interactions we have in the physical world, and therefore requires similar structure and self control. Or you could be a sociopath.

Tags: The Twitter Rules, Community Values, TOS, Terms of Service