Don't tweet when angry or drunk – and other golden rules

FOR PEOPLE in the public eye, Twitter has turned out to be a hugely effective tool with which to project an image of themselves and their work that goes far beyond the profile offered by the official PR machine. That's when they get it right. When it backfires, it can be career-defining.

No one knows this better than the politicians at Westminster, where a recent BBC survey shows that half of all MPs now have their own accounts. Many have used the social networking site successfully to interact with constituents, fellow MPs and the press. Others - notably Labour's Diane Abbott (remember her "white people love playing divide and rule" tweet) – have got it spectacularly wrong.

One of the first MPs to embrace Twitter was Tory MP Grant Shapps back in 2008. Now the Housing Minister in David Cameron's coalition government, he has written a useful list of dos and don'ts for all tweeting politicians. Among the highlights:
 
Do it yourself. Getting someone else to tweet on your behalf comes across as insincere when the whole point of tweeting is that it's personal. Labour MP Tom Watson – scourge of the Murdochs on the Commons culture committee - learned this only too well with the recent debacle over a rogue tweet by his intern. Posing as the MP, they wrote: "I should log out out of my twitter so that my intern doesn't twit-rape me..." #SaveTheIntern quickly became a national trending topic.  
 
Don't get offended. Politicians need a thick skin anyway. If they haven't developed one, they shouldn't even think about being active on Twitter. "You'll just get sad!" says Shapps. "Since the medium is largely anonymous people will write in 140 characters what they'd never dream of saying to your face." He estimates that comments ranging from negative to outright abusive outnumber the positive by 2-1.
 
Never tweet in anger or when drunk. The temptation to reply immediately to an offensive message is strong – particularly if the message comes through on your smart-phone when you've just had a couple of drinks. Remember: "tweets sent in anger are nearly always a big mistake and could even become career-ending."
 
With 40,000 followers to date, Grant Shapps clearly knows what he's doing on Twitter. His full list of tips is well worth a read - and not just by politicians. ·