Last week the micro-blogging service Twitter announced changes to their Terms Of Service. Some of the changes include the determination that your tweets are indeed yours (a copyright issue), that Twitter will be able to run advertising next to (and based upon) your content, and that Twitter-Name-Squatting is not permitted.

The TOS also identifies The Twitter Rules as a plain-english guide to behavior on the service. There are two things in the guide that Public Service Agencies should definitely take note of. One good… and one not so good…

Impersonation

*Impersonation: You may not impersonate others through the Twitter service in a manner that does or is intended to mislead, confuse, or deceive others

This is good news for Public Services that have not yet set-up a presence on Twitter. FireCritic had pointed out that the Twitter Username AustinFire was already taken when they decided to set up a presence on the service. There was an associated news article that pointed out what the user was doing wasn’t illegal since the information was readily available on the department’s website, but they were using the department’s official logo.

Although the logo was removed almost immediately after the users running the account, @paulvx and @ghawi, received a cease and desist from the department, Twitter has suspended the account. This shows that Twitter is committed to authenticity and has no problem helping agencies to protect their intellectual property.

Spam

Spam: If your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates

Twitter has a long list of what they consider as “suspicious” activity related to spamming. The “if your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates” line is a tricky one. While it is only one reason in a list a quick look at the FEMA Twitter FemaInFocus account shows that every single update they have on their page has a link to more in depth content with no real “personal updates“.

This is not unusual for a Public Service who uses Twitter to monitor news and as a broadcasting tool for their content. With only 140 characters available for use, linking has become the default method of communicating longer and more detailed messages for all Twitter users. Will Twitter possibly consider these postings to be SPAM and therefore suspend the account?

I honestly don’t think there will be any suspensions of legitimate Public Service Agency accounts due to this reason, but it is something to keep in mind if in fact something does happen that causes a suspension of your Twitter account.

Don’t forget to follow PIO Social Media Training on Twitter @piosmtraining

About The Author

Dave Konig has authored 135 articles for PIOSocialMediaTraining.com

Dave has been involved in Social Media since 2005 through the current major services and some defunct ones as well. During this time he has been able to hone the craft by testing out the theories of others, creating his own philosophies, and gathering a better understanding of the mediums involved through networking and most importantly actual practice.

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