Twitter Usage Policy

For those unfamiliar with Twitter (at http://www.twitter.com), here is a quick description. Twitter is part "micro-broadcasting service" and part "instant messaging service" open to anyone for free on the Web. It depends, primarily, on two things: Updates and Followers.

When you type in a message of up to 140 characters, it gets sent as an Update to anyone who has signed up as one of your Followers. But just because you follow somebody doesn't mean they are following you. So, you need to spread the word a bit to grow your list of followers. You can see who is following others, and whom they are following.

Twitter is generally a safe tool to use, but as with any web-based tool, you should be careful not to disclose sensitive information, not to be lured into dangerous or risky situations and not to waste so much of your time checking for updates that your job or family life suffers. I use Twitter for business research and casual communication related to my business interests. Others may use it for more social purposes. It may sound confusing, but it's worth trying out, just to see what people are doing with it to improve their businesses and lives.

For a nice, one-page primer on Twitter, go to http://www.tweeternet.com (not affiliated with Twitter).

So, here's my general policy that guides me and lets others know how I use Twitter:

1) Privacy -  Please realize that Twitter is not a private space in any way. Update messages you post (or reply with - "@") may be seen by anyone who chooses to follow you. I will not  divulge any sensitive information entrusted to my care by individuals or companies. I respect the privacy of your Direct Messages (DMs). Please respect mine.

2) Content and Subject Matter - I will try to ensure that my content is constructive and interesting to my followers. My "streetsec"  Twitter account is primarily for people interested in empowering security awareness, or in my business observations. If I have content that I feel may be more suited to an entirely different following, I will create a new Twitter entity, and may announce it in my updates, or in this policy statement. I use Twitter to follow people and organizations that I feel will give me a broader viewpoint, or greater depth on a topic I'm interested in, and also to respond to people whom I feel I can help. I also use it for posing public questions, relaying relevant news topics, and announcing new content available at my websites (currently www.streetwise-security-zone.com, www.honeystickproject.com and www.securityviews.com).

3) Responses, Replies and Pitches - I enjoy engaging in Twitter dialogs. But I am also quite busy with my business. So, I may go for large parts of a day, or multiple days, without looking at Twitter. (NOTE: in Canada, currently, people are charged for SMS text messages to their mobile phones, so Twitter doesn't offer SMS updates here; and I'm not sure I'd turn them on, even if I could.) I don't depend on Twitter for timely information. You should not depend on it either. So, there's a good chance I won't respond to "@" replies directed at me, especially if they are more than a few hours old. But if you feel I should be made aware of something, (especially input you'd like me to put in a blog post, podcast or discussion forum at http://www.streetwise-security-zone.com) please send me a DM or use the contact info on my website to contact me. I may do the same for you.

4) Following and Unfollowing - I don't feel that it's always necessary to have a balance between followers and people I follow. I often act as a filter between technical or business leaders and non-technical people in the trenches.  While I may extend the courtesy of following you if you follow me, I generally don't have time to follow a large group of people in a way that I feel is effective.  But if you feel strongly that my work and content could benefit from me following you, I am open to receiving DMs that suggest a reason why I should follow you. So, please don't be offended if I don't follow you. I may follow you for a while, but if I unfollow you, it is likely that I find your updates irrelevant to my interests at the time, and/or distracting.

5) Spam, self-promotion and commercialization - I am open to people letting me know what they or their business offer, once or twice, if it is relevant. I will unfollow or even block you if you are sending spam via "@" replies or DMs.

6) Permission to use parts of this policy - I encourage you to develop your own policies for Twitter and any other Social Networking Sites (like Facebook, Linked In, MySpace, etc.)  Please feel free to use any relevant parts of this policy that you think are useful. I simply ask that you refer people to http://www.streetwise-security-zone.com for more guidance on empowering security awareness in staff and individuals. It's a movement I call "Governance by Graffiti".

Scott Wright
The Streetwise Security Coach
Email: scott@streetwise-security-zone.com
Phone: 613-693-0997

Acknowledgement: I decided to create this policy after viewing Rob McNealy's website. Rob started following me on Twitter, and I went to his site to learn more about him. He has a well-designed policy on Twitter usage, which had attracted many positive comments. So, I used his outline and created my own policy here. I congratulate Rob and thank him for sharing his policy. Creating this type of policy is a great idea that people should consider doing for all their social networking site usage. Rob's site is at:

http://www.startupstoryradio.com/twitter-policy-and-philosophy/