Do you wish the Twitter rules for dummies were short and sweet like a tweet? Your wish may be coming true. Twitter is now updating its rules about account suspensions as Elon Musk is at the helm on Twitter X. There are still some Twitter rules for dummies to know under Elon.
The one rule to be aware of today is all about violence. Any threats to it will not be tolerated on the social network.
According To Elon Musk: “The goal is a trusted digital town square, where a wide range of views are tolerated, provided people don’t break the law or spam. For example, any incitement to violence will result in account suspension.”
Table of Contents
Censorship Rules Disappearing
With the Covid-19 pandemic, Twitter began censoring tweets that they deem “could place people at a higher risk of transmitting COVID-19.” (May 2020.)
The new policy bans tweets denying expert guidance on the virus, encouraging “fake or ineffective treatments, preventions, and diagnostic techniques” as well as tweets that mislead users by pretending to be from health authorities or experts.
But with all the controversy surrounding this hot topic, who is to say who is right or wrong? Some doctors treating patients do not agree with the numbers or the treatments.
Why can’t they debate it? This is America, the land of the free, right? It was.
Love him or hate him, even the President’s tweet was taken down from Twitter. As he was later banned from the network. Did they not want the bad publicity?
Yep, he was completely taken off all social media in 2021. Big tech has censored him completely. Late last year Elon Musk reinstated the former president on the Twitter X platform.
However, it’s not just Twitter folks, it’s also Facebook, YouTube, etc. That’s why some alternative social media networks are growing.
Furthermore, some folks tweeting about this pandemic have had their Twitter accounts suspended.
However, under Elon President Trump’s account was reinstated and others that were suspended for misinformation have also been reinstated on the social network. Will Meta follow suit? There are rumors about it.
Twitter’s Take On Hate Speech
Yes, another update from Twitter in December of 2020 as things heated up before and after the election in the United States.
According to Twitter X: Our rules continually evolve to help keep people safe. Today, we’re expanding our hateful conduct policy to address language that dehumanizes people on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin.
However, who gets to decide what is hate speech? What one person deems hate speech another may deem it is not. There is no clear-cut answer on this one anymore.
Twitter Users Not Getting Answers – Maybe This Will Change?
Here is a sample from Jourdan who wrote to me on the blog here about his Twitter account being suspended. It’s a sample of many that I received after writing an updated post about the Twitter jail back in 2017.
After all, I too ended up in Twitter jail a few times over the years. But now other Twitter users were not getting any feedback, or so they’ve said!
More of these came to me via email since. Twitter X may be too busy these days with so many of these types of requests.
Twitter had not been as responsive as they were in the past. Some issues included:
- Not having a mobile phone number associated with their Twitter account.
- No emails are associated with their Twitter account. Or loss of passwords which is an easier fix!
- Breaking the rules 🙁 Obvious to some and not to others!
If your account has been limited – do check out the link via Twitter to help you! This link will lead to a form that submits a ticket if you cannot log in or report a problem.
And, no I do not have the phone number of Jack Dorsey or the old CEO of Twitter Parag Agrawal! However, I do see Elon Musk tweeting back at many people’s questions on the network itself.
Yes, I’ve actually been asked that several times over the recent months. Hopefully, Elon Musk and his team can remedy this in the coming weeks and months ahead.
The Twitter Commitments
So, why is Twitter doing all this now? The word is Commitment! They claim they want to be fair, informative, responsive, and accountable. Sounds great, right?
- Fair – We will enforce our rules impartially and consistently, considering the context involved.
- Informative – Twitter will inform you about actions taken against your account and why.
- Responsive – You can appeal decisions that have impacted your account.
- Accountable – We will be transparent about actions we take to promote healthy public conversation. Therefore, by publicly reporting the metrics we are using to measure health and by publishing a regular transparency report around violations of our rules.
I hope Twitter will be more responsive going forward. Anyone that has reached out to me I suggest you go thru the link above if you believe you did not break the Twitter rules! For anyone that did, I am sorry but you will not be able to get your Twitter account back.
I sure hope these Twitter rules for dummies will make it easier on you now.
What Are Some Things Twitter Deems Rule Breaking?
- NEW: media of private individuals without the permission of the person(s) depicted.
- Behavior that is directed at an individual, group, or protected category of people;
- You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people. We also prohibit the glorification of violence;
- And you may not threaten or promote terrorism or violent extremism;
- You may not promote or encourage suicide or self-harm;
- The report has been filed by the target of the abuse or a bystander;
- Users that have a history of violating our policies;
- The severity of the violation;
- Content that may be a topic of legitimate public interest.
- Spamming the Twitter feed.
- Direct message spamming.
- Follow and unfollow at a fast pace or through automation.
- Posting the same tweets on duplicate accounts that you own.
- Username squatting – A new term you can read more about below.
- Buying or selling usernames.
How Is Twitter Enforcing Twitter Rules For Dummies?
According to the Twitter rules page, this is what they have to say about their philosophy:
“Certain types of behavior may pose serious safety and security risks and/or result in physical, emotional, and financial hardship for the people involved. These egregious violations of Twitter Rules — such as posting violent threats, non-consensual intimate media, or content that sexually exploits children — result in the immediate and permanent suspension of an account.
Other violations could lead to a range of different steps, like requiring someone to remove the offending Tweet(s) and/or temporarily limiting their ability to post new Tweet(s).”
Twitter Rules For Dummies: Spamming The Feed
Many users do not understand the spamming term for Twitter. So, exactly what does spam to Twitter mean today?
You may not send automated Tweets or Direct Messages that are spam or otherwise engage in spamming activity.
Some examples of spammy behavior to avoid with automation include:
- Trending topics: You may not automatically post about trending topics on Twitter. That includes the use of automation to attempt to influence or manipulate trending topics.
- Multiple posts/accounts: You may not post duplicative or substantially similar tweets on one account or over multiple accounts you operate.
- Username Squatting – Please note that if an account has had no updates, no profile image, and there is no intent to mislead, it typically means there’s no name-squatting or impersonation. Note that we will not release squatted usernames except in cases of trademark infringement.
Did you know attempts to sell, buy, or solicit other forms of payment in exchange for usernames are also violations? Hence, they may result in permanent Twitter account suspension. Another reason to be familiar with Twitter rules to know.
That’s why I’ve always recommended mixing your tweets up! For example, when I schedule them with MissingLettr I try to mix up something even if ever so slight. I haven’t had my Twitter account suspended since using this social media management tool.
Many of you may know about those nasty automated DMs like Mitch Mitchell who wrote about them back in the day. Of course, I know many of you would love to see them disappear!
Automation Twitter Rules To Know
Bloggers and brands especially love automation for their tweets. As a social media manager, I cannot blame them. Social media takes time! So, what are YOU to do?
However, be sure to know the Twitter rules for dummies before you tweet away.
First, you cannot like tweets in any automated way. I’m glad I don’t even know how to do this one.
Second, bulk or aggressive re-tweeting can be in violation of the Twitter rules for dummies. Twitter states you can ” Retweet or Quote Tweet in an automated manner for entertainment, informational, or novelty purposes.” So if you are being informational, you are okay!
Third, you can not automate following or unfollowing in bulk, aggressively, or in an indiscriminate manner. Hmm, what exactly does indiscriminate manner mean? That appears a little vague to me.
Lastly, do not automate adding to lists or collections. Another task many may not even know how to do.
I see Jeff Bullas only tweeting his own stuff over and over. He can do this because he provides informational tweets. And he tweets often! (At least every 15 minutes he has a tweet in his stream.)
However,, be careful as you only have 2,400 tweets per day set by Twitter rules.
If you go over that amount, you may get a suspension if you don’t follow the Twitter rules to know.
[FREE Video Training] Learn how to structure the perfect inbound marketing campaign for your business.https://t.co/6hjdym1b9k pic.twitter.com/kOLFtMuLLP
— Jeff Bullas (@jeffbullas) June 8, 2019
What About Twitter Follower Counts in the Twitter Rules For Dummies?
- Following (daily): The technical follow limit is 400 per day. Please note that this is a technical account limit only, and there are additional rules prohibiting aggressive following behavior. But if you have an old verified account that amount is up to 1,000 per day.
- Following (account-based): Once an account is following 5,000 other accounts, additional follow attempts are limited by account-specific ratios. And, it gets more complicated than that!
- Every Twitter account can follow up to 5,000 accounts. Once you reach that number, you may need to wait until your account has more followers before you can follow additional accounts.
- This number is different for each account and is automatically calculated based on your unique ratio of followers to following. That sounds like a magic number, right?
You can read more details on Twitter by following the rules here. These Twitter rules for dummies can still be quite complicated!
Twitter Automation Tools
Does this mean you cannot use a few automation tools left to do this? If you use them to a minimum you should be fine. In fact, I’ve been using Fedica for that. They send out emails weekly that show who unfollows you and you can unfollow them when you log in.
There is a FREE version and of course, a paid version of Tweepsmap. They abide by the rules and only allow you to unfollow or follow so many peeps per day.
Thanks for the Twitter tool tip! @tweepsmap pic.twitter.com/Lld03EZHPx
— Martin Lindeskog🗽🌐💎🫖🍵🧉🙃 (@LyceumPeripatos) May 30, 2019
It will be interesting to see how Elon views these rules, follower accounts, and tools on his network going in the future.
What’s The Average Twitter Peep To Do?
Be yourself. If you want to be informative tweet with a link. Or, to be personal you can add a photo or personalized video like Ryan below.
@Lisapatb 🙂 pic.twitter.com/YHDqZuOHny
— Ryan Biddulph | Blogging From Paradise (@RyanBiddulph) February 20, 2024
Then, if you want to be funny add a video or GIF image.
— Jennifer Bridges (@JenBridgesRD) February 21, 2024
But, always be polite!
Next, be sure not to auto-follow or unfollow others. Lastly, don’t publish others’ private information or try to manipulate others via your tweets. Sounds simple, right?
If you are going to use any tools to automate your Twitter account be sure to use them sparingly. Of course, you can use scheduling tools as long as you mix up your tweets from time to time.
Can You Get An Old Twitter Username?
No, you are not able to get an old username for your name. I’d love to have Lisapats but someone registered that years ago and never used it. Twitter does NOT accept requests to obtain old user names for your Twitter handle.
However, Elon Musk has been tweeting that he is reconsidering this one in the near future.
Maybe, you could reserve your kid’s Twitter handle now? As of February 2024, there has been no change yet on this one.
Where Will The Twitter Rules Go With Elon In Charge?
There probably will fewer Twitter rules under Elon Musk. He wants it to be a town square for discussions on all sides of issues. As long as no one threatens violence they can stay on Twitter and be free to speak their thoughts.
There will be a lot less censorship and people can decide for themselves what to read, who to follow, and who to mute or block on the social network.
Now in 2024, there are still people getting suspended for things on the Twitter X network like my friend who shared her recent suspension for a swear in a tweet:
Over To You: Twitter Rules To Know For Dummies
Do you keep up with the Twitter rules for dummies or do you just tweet away? Are you using any automation tools for your tweets?
For fear that you could be suspended by Twitter, are you doing anything different today than in the past?
Now, I’d love to know more in the comments about what other Twitter rules to know today. Be sure to share this post on your favorite social networks.
