Is ghost twittering okay?

Ghost twittering is one of the popular topics these days and the question is out there: is it okay to ghost your tweets? To that I’d like to answer with an unequivocal, “Yes and no.”

Ghost twittering is the Twitter world’s version of ghost writing. It means someone other than you is writing your tweets for you and often as you, which is what really irritates a lot of people.

While I don’t like the idea, I think ghost twittering is okay under certain conditions. If you are on Twitter as a company or other organization, it’s not only okay to have several people tweet on the account but probably expected. It’s another thing, however, when the account is personalized. When it’s perceived to be an individual, like a John Smith, it becomes a bit dodgy.

If you are perceived as being an individual, you can still have someone ghost the tweets if they are labeled as such (although, strictly speaking, I don’t think they’re really “ghosted”). As mentioned, though, it’s a bit dodgy.

Hiring someone or several people to tweet for you but not identifying them as such, as some celebrities are accused of doing, is not okay. It’s dishonest. It’s also stupid because, if it gets out that you are doing this, your credibility is shot. And I suspect you won’t have a sense for what people are saying in your name, which can really sink you in the septic tank.

There is also another problem with ghost tweeting, one quite apart from the ethics of the practice. It’s simply this: too damn many tweets. This is compounded if others are tweeting for you and you are tweeting yourself. It’s clutter. Noise. There is no editorial control, no discretion practiced in what is worth tweeting and what isn’t.

For me, the biggest single reason for unfollowing someone is too many tweets. In fact, that is the only reason so far that has prompted me to unfollow anyone.

Twitter certainly doesn’t need more noise.

Getting back to ghost twittering, however … I understand that not everyone is going to find it something they take to easily. I understand that some people feel they are too busy to do it. And I understand that some people don’t feel comfortable with writing (“tweeting”). Yet all the while, with the buzz around Twitter, they feel they have to be on it. Fine – have someone do it for you. But if the account is personalized as you, have the tweets done in the third person. (“John in Wash DC today. Wonder if he’ll chat with Prez?”) Be clear that it is not you tweeting but your “team.”

Pretending you are tweeting when you are not is simply dishonest.