Clearing out your virtual life is always a good resolution for the New Year.

You know the sort of thing: unsubscribe from email newsletters, unfriend the Facebook bores and declutter your Twitter network.

As Twitter’s popularity has increased the network is increasingly being abused by automatic Tweets from other social networks and applications.

Without any social content these are nothing more than tweets from machines and that plainly isn’t social. It’s spam. Regularly automated abusers are unfollowed.

Here’s a list because we all love a list. I’ve scribbled down some of the auto-Tweet frustrations shared by people in my network and added a couple of my own.

I fear that I’ve sprayed my network with at least two of these machine-based tweets this week. Guilty as charged. I must do better.

Automated follow
My week on twitter: lost 23 followers, gained 0 followers, 0 RTs, because I auto my tweets

Virtual achievements
I’ve just got a virtual @xbox gold star for another pointless achievement

Automated YouTube tweets
I just liked another smiley cat video on @YouTube

The No One Clicks Daily is out
Featuring a machine-curated list of articles tweeted by those I’m following

Domestic Foursquare check-in
I’m at my house. Alone. Again

Tweet in your sleep
A link that makes me looks smart and is good for my @klout. Please RT but don’t reply because I’m asleep

Instagram: because we are all photographers now
Another snap of my lunch with an arty-farty filter

Do please feel free to make further additions in the comments.

What I am going to do is ask you to stop and think before you start creating your page. Ask yourself if your customers are on Google+? If not why would you want to create a profile on yet another network?

There’s a strong case to be made for media businesses seeking to syndicate content and scoop up clicks to be first to Google+. Tech titles eWeek Labs, SlashGear, and TechRadar have already signed-up.

This makes sense. Early users to Google+ are tech savvy. But this isn’t engagement; its syndication.

If your business is anything other than media your customers, for now, almost certainly elsewhere.

There are some reasons for businesses to be on Google+ such as governance, IP protection, future proof your audience, and to explore the integration between Google+ with other services such as Google Places.

This was the rationale raised by people in my Twitter network this morning.

To date Google has failed in its attempts to build a social network and for now Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter dominate. Its challenge is to persuade audiences to move from these existing networks.

My test for a new technology is the speed with which members of my family adopt it. So far I’m the only person on the network.

As Jas Dhaliwal (@jas) said for now at least it’s likely that Google+ will consist of thousands of empty pages.

The fabric of social networks made up of trusted relationships means that content is forwarded on at speed.

McDonalds was the latest brand to discover this on Sunday evening when a link from a Canadian newspaper was circulated on Twitter.

The company stood accused of banning its staff from wearing poppies.

It’s a sensitive issue that inevitably generated outrage among Twitter users that didn’t stop to follow the link and spot that the story was 12-months old.

It had all the hallmarks of a Twitter smear.  McDonalds refuted the allegation yesterday.

It’s another example of the need for organisations to monitor social networks so that they are aware of the conversations that are taking place both about themselves and their markets and be quick to call out bullshit.

Social media lacks an editorial function unlike traditional forms of media. Users need to think and fact check before they share content.

I’ve received numerous direct messages (DM) warning “Bad blog going around about you, heard or seen it yet” and “Found a funny picture of you!”

Keeping your Twitter account secure

1. Be careful where you click. If a message or short-URL looks dodgy then it probably is dodgy.

2. Password isn’t a password. Harden it.

What to do if your Twitter account is hacked

1. If you spot a rogue looking Tweet or DM let the ‘sender’ know so that they can take action and secure their account.

2. Delete any messages that you didn’t create. They will almost certainly include links to dubious or harmful content

3. Revoke access to third-party applications. If you’ve used your Twitter username and password to access other web applications these services have access to your account. You can change this by logging into your account and heading to account > applications >.

4. Update your third-party Twitter apps such as Tweetdeck with your new password otherwise you’ll be locked out of your account due to repeated login attempts.

There’s a useful resource on the Twitter site with more information on what to do if your account is hacked.

Fear of missing out is a term that psychologists have coined to describe obsessional behaviour towards social networks. The anxiety associated with potentially missing out something in a Facebook post or Tweet is so strong that we find it impossible to disconnect.

I discussed this back in back in April with Simon Proudlock, an old mate from university, now a chartered psychologist.

Author, writer and broadcaster Grace Dent (@gracedent) has taken a more humorous look at the issue in her book ‘How to Leave Twitter‘. In it she describes the stages of Twitter addiction from resistance to entry, hiatus and then dependency.

All of Twitter is contained within the 200-pages of Dents’ book from bare-faced faux bragging to celeb stalking and from ‘twanking to twitchfork mobs.

Dent also attempts to tackle some serious issues albeit in a satirical way. Within the covers you’ll find gems such as:

• Photos sent via direct message are discoverable via photo sharing sites giving rise to the sport of spotting dodgy snaps in the Twitpic feeds
• A proposal for meta-Twitter for gossiping about what people are doing on Twitter (I always thought that was what direct message was for)
• A description of the pro-cat propaganda unit at work on Twitter
• Etiquette for following and unfollowing (inevitably people will get upset)

It’s a recommended read for Twitter addicts and sceptics alike.

I emailed the conversation to Adam Parker (@adparker), CEO, Realwire because I knew it would wind him up. He’s made it Realwire’s business to tackle the issue of PR spam.

Here’s Parker’s response.

“Badly planned PR is like buying a lottery ticket. You can believe that it could be you. The old I once sent a release out to a few hundred people from a list on a cold wet Friday afternoon in 1984 and it got picked up by an Financial Times journalist.”

By contrast Parker reckons that well targeted PR is like doing the lottery if you already knew two or three numbers.

“You should win the tenner at the very least and [you increase your chance of] decent prizes and even the jackpot,” he said.

Have no doubt Twitter is a business tool for marketing, conversation, PR, engagement, branding, awareness, customer service, plus much more (Econsultancy lists 26 business applications in its guide).

Used effectively, Twitter can bring you closer to your customers, generate traffic to your website, support customer service, extend your marketing and PR efforts, and boost brand awareness.

Businesses broadly have two approaches to Twitter: the first is a race for followers with minimal engagement and content broadcast from the smart phone or laptop of an enthusiastic employee; the second is more considered approach

Econsultancy’s Aliya Zaidi has written an excellent guide and I’m not just saying that because she has quoted me throughout the report. The 90-page guide covers best practice and insight from brands such as Dell, First Direct, Innocent Drinks, Walmart and Zappos.

My favourite examples of good Twitter use are firms that have a well-balanced mix of news, customer service and engagement while also adding humour and creativity to conversations. Speed’s clients’ aside two accounts that I’d spotlight are @harleystea, my local coffee shop, and @mmm_newcastle, a Newcastle-based deli.

Finally, if you are new to Twitter please don’t do another thing until you have read my new Twitter rules blog post. Aliya was kind enough to quote my post in her guide.

The report is £250 to download on a pay-per-view basis, but Econsultancy members can access all its reports for free (membership starts from £295 for a single user).

Related posts:

• Sage against machines: the new Twitter rules – 6 July 2011
• Twitter for business: the experts’ view (econsultancy) – 8 August, 2011

But that’s the sort of thing a sock-ironer would do. You iron your socks? You might want to rethink your priorities.

For the rest of us here’s a list because we all love a list. I’ve scribbled down the Twitter frustrations shared by people in my network during the last month or so, and added a couple of my own. I fear that I’ve broken at least three of these principles already today.

1.       Don’t retweet mentions praising you from other people, mentions from celebs or yourself. It’s plainly sycophantic

2.       Don’t use tools to mechanically build your Twitter network. It’s about relationships not numbers

3.       Don’t tweet when angry, depressed or drunk, unless you are deliberately trying to convey these traits in your feed

4.       Do try to reply to all tweet mentions. Twitter is a social media and not a broadcast media

5.       Don’t sign up to any application that automatically tweets on your behalf. It isn’t social

6.       Do verify stories circulated via Twitter and check links before you blindly retweet. It’s a global network of people not a replacement for professional journalism

7.       Don’t retweet your content more than twice a day. If your network wasn’t interested the second time it certainly won’t be by the third or fourth

8.       Don’t delete tweets and repost them throughout the day. Your network will catch you out

9.       Do give a reason for recommending someone for a #ff on a Friday. They are far more likely to gain more followers than if you don’t

10.   Do cite your source if you share content and declare any personal or professional interests

Thanks to @stedavies, @katiemoffat, @jopkins and @danhowe. Do please feel free to make further additions in the comments. Maybes we could get a #twitterrules meme going.