Even the best cities contain places where, as any resident will warn, "you just don't go." So it is with Twitter. While journalists are falling all over themselves writing about how amazing Twitter is, the popular service has at least eleven unsavory characters whom you would do well to avoid. Any regular interaction with them will only make you wonder why you signed up to Twitter in the first place.

The Guy Who Only Tweets Links to His Own Stuff

It's only human nature to be a bit narcissistic, but this guy takes it to unbearable extremes, using his Twitter account solely to broadcast links to his own blogs, websites, or causes. Before long, anyone unfortunate enough to be duped into following this guy realizes that nothing which wasn't written, funded, or founded by him will ever be found there. Not exactly the most eclectic or interesting guy to follow...

The Guy Who Only Tweets Links to Other People's Stuff

This guy is crying out for attention too, but in a slightly different way. Rather than only tweeting links to his own material, this person attempts to show how "in the loop" they are by only tweeting links to other people's stuff - ie, the latest chain letter, Bush-bashing blog post, or "omg, this is sooo funny" YouTube clip. Over time, the Twitter accounts of such people become time capsules of anything and everything that was circulating around the Internet at any given period. Unfortunately, seeing as all those links were already circulating, devoting whole Twitter pages to them really helps no one.

The Guy Who Tweets Every Mundane Detail of His Day

While Twitter is admittedly all about the question "what are you doing?", this person pushes it beyond what even the site's creators envisioned. Whether it's real-time updates about mowing the lawn, taking a dump, or changing the channel, the person who tweets every mundane detail of his day succeeds only in boring his followers to tears.

The Guy Who Follows Anyone & Everyone

The same people who used MySpace for seemingly no other reason than to amass as many "friends" as possible have taken Twitter by storm, following anyone and everyone in an attempt to appear popular and well-connected. While it's great to follow true friends and people you are genuinely interested in hearing from, simply following as many anonymous people as possible makes one look desperate. And desperation, as we all know, is a stinky perfume.

The Guy Who Only Uses Twitter As a Shameless Marketing Tool

Cut from the same cloth as the guy who only tweets links to his own stuff is the guy who only uses Twitter as a marketing medium. It's not that marketing in and of itself is bad. Plenty of people have managed to market their products via Twitter without annoying or irritating anyone. The problem is when a Twitter page transparently exists for no other purpose than spraying people with affiliate links, "amazing" offers, and shamelessly promotional material that gets on everyone's nerves while padding the creator's bank account.

Tags: twitter, list