(Caveat: this is mostly geared towards personal users of Twitter. Not business users.)

(Caveat x 2: Yes, a previous post of mine was similar to this topic. And I didn’t hear from you, so I’m asking again. My blog, my rules. Right?)

I want to understand your Twitter rules. I want to know what you consider proper Twetiquette, or if you think Twetiquette is for jerks. I want to know what your criteria are for initial following, and eventual unfollowing (or not).

Oh, and I want to know why you think you’re interesting enough to follow. Or, for that matter, if you don’t care if you’re interesting enough to follow, because that’s not the purpose of your use of Twitter.

Do you pay attention to your following/followers count? Does your heart sink when a follower drops off, or soar when someone begins following you? (Yes, I want to know if Twitter makes your heart soar.)

Here’s mine:

I use Twitter because I enjoy it. I’ve met some very smart, very cool people via Twitter that I’m almost positive I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I’ve gotten involved in the social media enthusiast community in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area, almost all due to networking with other like-minded folks on Twitter. (Last week, I heard a best-selling author speak, got a free book and coffee mug, spent two hours surrounded by local geeks and was introduced to a funky clothing/dogwear product line… and it all started with Twitter.)

I think Twetiquette is a joke… for the most part. The bottomest of all bottom lines is that I follow who I want to follow, and vice versa. If someone is not using Twitter the way you want them to use Twitter – *gasp* – you can unfollow them. Better yet, block them so they fall of your Twittersphere for good.

Admittedly, I watch my following/follower count. I won’t unfollow someone interesting if my follower count drops too low for my nonexistent standards (which I’m not sure I even have), but I am careful about who I choose to follow back. Frankly, I don’t follow anyone who is entirely unoriginal. And likewise, I try to make sure I stay relevant and occasionally innovative, so I don’t bore the few people who made the social investment in following me.

Except when I feel like writing blog posts about things everyone has been talking about on hundreds of blogs for more than a year. Then I throw innovation and originality to the dogs for my own selfish desire to really understand what the people in my Twitterverse really think of all Twetiquette business.