How Many Tweets a Day is Ideal?

I was just about to follow this person when I noticed they updated nearly 50 times a day. To me, that’s too many, so I decided not to follow them because it would have meant adding a significant amount of noise to my Twitter stream.

It did, however, put the spotlight on an interesting question: how many times should you tweet a day? And is there such thing as too many tweets?

The answer, however, is far from straightforward because people use Twitter in different ways for different purposes. Companies offering news/content may updates more than 30 times a day to highlight new stories, while individuals building personal/digital brands may also be active.

That said, I think the sweet spot for tweets/day is between 10 and 20.

It’s enough to let people “talk” a lot without being too verbose. At the same time, it provides followers with a steady flow of content without being overwhelming.

It’s like going to a party, and meeting new people. Most of the conversations are pleasant and interesting but then you run into the person who talks, talks and talks – while you desperately search for a way to escape.

Of course, the “10 to 20 Rule” is not set in stone but if you’re tweeting more than 20 times a day, you’ve either got too much time on your hands, providing tweets that aren’t interesting (e.g. going to have coffee at Starbucks; stayed up way too late last night, etc.), or just creating noise.

Truth be told, I’ve unfollowed some pretty high-profile people simply because they tweeted so often it became distracting – every time I looked at Twitter, they were sending along an update.