Download the PDF: Thou Shalt Tweet! 15 Commandments for Government Agencies on Twitter
7. THOU SHALT NOT REGISTER ALTERNATE ACCOUNTS
“Any accounts engaging in the activities specified below are subject to permanent suspension.”
- Serial Accounts: You may not create serial accounts … with overlapping use cases.
- Username Squatting: As far as Twitter is concerned, this includes “creating accounts for the purpose of preventing others from using those account names.”
- Inactive Accounts: accounts that are inactive for more than 6 months may be removed without notice
So what can you do to avoid copycats, spoofers and spammers? Report any account that seems to be spoofing yours for malicious purposes but please be careful how you go about it (see commandment 5 on bullying)
Complete Listing of All 15 Twitter Commandments
This guide evolved from a post by Alain Lemay on GovLoop titled “Who Not to Follow On Twitter: A Guide for Public Sector Employees.” Alain is a Senior Web Communications Analyst for the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Agency in Canada. He graciously donated his time to assist in producing the 15 Commandments for Government Agencies on Twitter Guide in tandem with the GovLoop team.
- Thou Shalt Listen Before You Leap
- Thou Shalt Use Thy Profile Information Properly
- Thou Shalt Have a Disclaimer
- Thou Shalt Not Be a Bully (Nobody Likes a Bully!)
- Thou Shalt Tweet Regularly
- Thou Shalt Integrate My Tweet Approval Process
- Thou Shalt Not Register Alternate Accounts
- Thou Shalt Not Automate Thy Tweets
- Thou Tweet In the First Person
- Thou Shalt Not Bait and Switch
- Thou Shalt Not Spam
- Thou Shalt Be Selective About Who You Follow
- Thou Shalt Monitor Thy Account
- Thou Shalt Contribute to the Conversation
- Thou Shalt Measure for Success