Chk Out Our Nw SVNGS Acct!

Welcome to 2013!

Since we have safely arrived to this new year (sans a Mayan apocalypse or Justin Bieber becoming president) I feel obliged to tell you that if you are currently composing tweets like the one in the headline for your credit union's Twitter account, you should cease immediately.

At this point in time, the veil of social media has been lifted; we know that the person behind your Twitter account isn't some young tween, furiously tweeting from the confines of one of your branches. It's probably Carol from the marketing department, or a firm you've hired to manage your social presence, and that's fine.

Tweeting like an illeterate Beanie Baby, however, is not.

I've seen this from big and small brands on Twitter, and while it may* have made sense during the eve of Twitter, at this point it's much better to reevaluate your message and fit it within the constrains of 140 characters.

This article from Experience Farm shows that not only can it make your brand look silly, it can be hard to read:

At a luncheon last year with a group of very bright design students, the topic of text-speak came up and the majority agreed that when they had to work to decipher a tweet or status update . . . they tuned out the message and generally avoided engaging with the person using Textese because they had to work harder to understand what was being said.

This insight struck me like a bell. Why on earth would I make it more difficult for my followers/fans/clients to understand my message? Seems counter intuitive to what social media represents.

Plus it just looks silly. You've been warned!

DeAndré

*The argument can be made that it was silly back then, as well. But much like other terrible things, lots of other people we're doing it too, which made it mildly acceptable.

DeAndre Upshaw is a former Young & Free Texas Spokester. He's a marketing professional living in Dallas and a Beyonce enthusiast. DeAndre is the host and executive producer of The State of Awesome. Follow him on Twitter and check out his personal website.