I’ve tweeted over 16,400 times, yet I continue to make a rookie mistake: I post a comment to a tweet I am interested in, and then, 1-2 minutes later, I delete it.
Why did I originally write the comment? Usually because it’s a topic I am fired up about.
But then why did I subsequently delete it? Because upon reflection, I decided I didn’t want get into some heated Twitter exchange that day.
This is a flawed tweeting approach for several reasons.
First, once you post something online, you can’t fully delete it. It exists, and it can come back to haunt you.
Second, it’s a waste of time. Because of the passion component to whatever subject I am responding too, it can take me some time to write the initial tweet—up to 30 minutes to get the wording, links, and emojis just right. All for something I am going to delete after sixty seconds! What a waste.
Third, it can emotionally derail my day. I am a list and schedule kind of guy, and let me tell you, nowhere in my task list or schedule do I have a time block called “Respond Passionately to a Stranger’s Tweet.”
Now, granted, I don’t make this mistake often: perhaps once a month. But really, I should never make this rookie mistake.
My plan? To use my Twitter drafts function more frequently, which will give me time to reconsider the initial posting decision.