It’s Day 2 of the the 12 Days of Blogging 2010, and today we have a subject that is near and dear to my heart – Twitter! While I know others disagree, Twitter is hands down my favorite social media platform, and today’s list features 11 bloggers who have shared some awesome tips to help you make the most of this network. Remember, if you’ve written about this topic, please feel free to add your post’s link at the end via a comment!

Yes, links are highly encouraged in this series – please share so your knowledge can help us all! Just make sure they’re relevant to the topic!

1. Should You Be On Twitter? by Erika Napoletano at Redhead Writing

Of course you should be on Twitter. Right? What the hell could somebody spend an entire post talking about when it comes to that question?

There’s a reason this post, by the fabulous redhead Erika Napoletano, is first on today’s list. Not everyone needs to be on Twitter. In fact, some people are better staying away from the platform. From Erika’s post:

Social media requires a strategy, whether you’re Suzy Sunshine looking to find fellow knitting fans or Bob the Business Owner seeking new customers.

Ask yourself right now: why are YOU on Twitter?

I research, compile and present social media strategies to a wide range of businesses throughout the year and I always enter each research stage with one assumption: this business should NOT be on Twitter. That is, unless I find evidence to the contrary.

Should you be on Twitter? To find out and read more posts, visit Erika at Redhead Writing, where she talks about online strategies. You can also follow her on Twitter @RedheadWriting.

2. Mannequin Networking – Why Twitter Automation is Bad by Scott Stratten at UnMarketing

Whenever you talk about Twitter, you have to mention Scott. I’m pretty sure it’s a law, at least in Canada. I’m also pretty sure that if you put “un-” before a word, you have to send Scott a dollar, so I’m going to refrain from calling this an un-link or un-recommendation. But I digress. This post on UnMarketing pretty much sums up Scott’s core philosophy on Twitter – it’s about engaging, not about a plastic sales pitch. From the post:

Automating tweets is like sending a mannequin to a networking event. Stick a post-it note on it, and roll it in, to multiple events around the world! Think of all the Chamber of Commerce mixers you could cover! Different time zones! Let the relationships windfall begin!!! Boooyaa!!!

You can’t deny it – it’s a good use of the term boooyaa. I like the triple o action. Beyond the word choice, though, there’s something else you can’t deny – Scott is undoubtedly one of the best tweeters out there, and this post is just scratching the surface. So, check out his entire site, UnMarketing, for more tips and follow him on Twitter @unmarketing.

3. My Opinion on Ads on Twitter [or Sponsored Tweets] by Darren Rowse at TwiTip

Ok, this post *technically* breaks my rules, since it’s from 2009, but it’s too good not to include – it’s about the highly controversial practice of collecting money through sponsored tweets. Also, it’s from Darren Rowse, so definitely worth breaking the rules. You may know Darren best from Problogger, but he also runs TwiTip, which is completely dedicated to Twitter and features tons of guests posts every month. This specific post is great for those considering sponsored tweets. Writes Darren:

A number of people have asked me recently what I think about running advertising in Twitter streams.

Should it be done or avoided? What impact might it have on you as a Twitter user if you do run them? Are there times you should and shouldn’t use ads to monetize your Twitter account?

My opinion is pretty simple. I know no everyone will agree but it’s probably somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of opinions on the topic. Some argue that Ads should never be used on Twitter – others argue that you should monetize your account in any way you can.

Darren’s post gives a good overview of the debate and some smart advice for tweeters considering this money-making technique. Check out more Twitter tips at TwiTip and follow Darren on Twitter @problogger.

4. Using Twitter Search to Help People by Marian Schembari

I absolutely love this Twitter tip from Marian Schembari. Love. We’re talking chocolate cake level love here, people. If you’re trying to build you blog, using Twitter’s search function to find new readers is super smart – and Marian gives readers a really good rundown of how to do it successfully. From the post:

Unless you really hone in on search terms, you get bombarded with a lot of spam, retweets, completely irrelevant tweets and messages in other languages. So you have to target people by language. Click on “Advanced Search” and choose “Written in” and then the language of your choice. You can also specify location, hashtag, specific users, dates, links, even “attitude.”

Convinced that you need to learn more about Twitter search as a tool to help you grow your readership? Head to Marian’s blog to read the full post. Don’t forget to follow her on Twitter @MarianSchembari.

5. 10 Steps to Creating a Successful Twitter Chat by Mack Collier

Mack Collier first came on my radar a few months ago when I finally caved in and decided to see what this whole #blogchat thing was about – people were clogging my Twitter stream with it, but in a good way, since they were helpful comments. My God. #Blogchat, which Mack runs every Sunday evening, has become a guilty pleasure of mine, and I even blog about the best tweets here on the BWE blog every week. There’s no official counter, but #blogchat is one of the largest if not the largest chats on the platform. Mack’s post on Twitter chats can help you learn how to run a successful chat of your own. From the post:

It’s definitely been a labor of love for me, and I am a HUGE proponent of Twitter chats.  So I wanted to write down the ten steps I’ve taken to build #blogchat up into the success it has become.  I would hope you can use this advice to start your OWN successful Twitter chat.

You can start a Twitter chat on just about any topic under the sun, so it doesn’t matter what your blog is about – this post is for you. Check out Mack’s blog for more social media tips and follow him on Twitter @MackCollier, especially on Sunday nights when he hosts #blogchat.

6. Hot Chicks Are Always Going To Have More Twitter Followers Than You by Robb Sutton at Blogging Labs

At first, the goofy title of this post just made me laugh…but when I took some time to read it, wow, Robb is right on the money with this one, in my opinion. It’s all about quality, not quantity when it comes to Twitter (and social media in general). Writes Robb:

You see it all the time. Some hot chick avatar has 75,000+ followers but they are following 82,000+ and you say to yourself, “man…I wish I had that many followers. I am going to do whatever I can to get them.” I am here to tell you that you should much rather have your 1,000 or even 100 followers rather than their 75,000+ that they spam on a regular basis.

You can check out more from Robb at Blogging Labs and follow him on Twitter @robbsutton.

7. Art of Retweets: Top 10 Ways To Improve Your ReTweetability by Ana Hoffman at Traffic Generation Cafe

Why do some blog posts get retweeted a ton while others fall flat? It isn’t just about getting someone with a lot of followers to retweet you (though that certainly helps). In this post, Ana talks about some of the easy ways you can improve your tweeted links so that they’re more likely to be retweeted. From the post:

Retweeting is a great way to share information and ideas, as well as bring a nice flood of social media targeted website traffic.

When you retweet someone, you show that you think enough of what they have written to share it with your followers and by doing that, increase their social media website traffic – one of the ultimate compliments on Twitter.

But how do you get tweeple to retweet your thoughts, pictures, videos?

I absolutely love the tips in this post – it’s a lot of information that I didn’t know about before. You can find more information about driving traffic to your website from Ana at Traffic Generation Cafe, and find her on Twitter @webtrafficcafe.

8. How to get Targeted Twitter Follwers Fast by Kristi Hines at Famous Bloggers

I know Kristi from her own site, Kikolani, where she recently published a massive list of female bloggers, but she also posts at Famous Bloggers, a multi-author site where there’s always an interesting discussion going on. Usually, I’m not a fan of anything that says social media is “fast” or “easy,” but as always, Kristi delivers in this post with some awesome tips that really do make finding a targeted following quicker. Writes Kristi,

When starting out on Twitter, one of the first things that people want to know after they have setup their profile and sent out a few tweets is how to find followers. Not just any followers, but followers who would be interested in what they have to offer.

As you may know, one of the ways to get followers is to start following people in hopes that they will follow you in return. So how do you up the odds that people you follow who are interested in your topic will follow you back?

To find the answer to that question, head to Famous Bloggers for the full post, and don’t forget to follow Kristi on Twitter @kikolani.

9. Protecting Your Private Parts On Facebook, LinkedIn And Twitter by Natalie Sisson at Womanz World

Ok, this post isn’t just about Twitter, but its an important one, so I wanted to make sure it didn’t get lost in the shuffle. As bloggers, we tend to live online, so we often don’t think twice about what we post to social networks. Unfortunately, that can have some bad results. Protect yourself! This post includes all you need to know about adjusting your privacy settings across some of the most popular social networks, Twitter included. Writes Natalie: