Monday, September 14, 2009

10 Tips for Buddhists on Twitter

From my previous incarnation as a green blogger, I know numbered lists are big in the blogosphere. Here's my shot at 10 tips for skillful tweeting . . . inspired by a whole morning spent checking out the Buddhist crowd on Twitter:
  1. When referring to yourself, tweet in the first person. No one's that important.
  2. Hold your fingers back before firing a tweet. Is your intention pure? Is your tweet self-serving, or is it for the greater good? Might it cause harm?
  3. Be grateful. Let people know when you have benefitted from their tweet, and make generous use of @s.
  4. Share the goodies. When you find an awesome tweet, make sure to RT (retweet).
  5. Keep personal complaints to yourself. Why spread the misery?
  6. Only tweet when you have something worth sharing.
  7. Practice compassion, and engage in random tweets of kindness.
  8. Be a real person, warts and all. That's what makes you interesting.
  9. Use Twitter in moderation. This stuff's addictive!
  10. Exert care in the way you build your 'Following' list. How many folks can you genuinely keep up with? Are they being mindful in their tweets?
Of course, tips are meant to not be followed . . . Have fun and tweet away, mindfully. :)


  1. However innumerable all Tweets are, I Vow to re-Tweet them all.

    However inexhaustible spambots are, I Vow to block them all.

    However immeasurable 140 characters are, I Vow to fill them all.

    However endless your timeline may be, I Vow to follow it.

  2. You are right. There is something poetic and zen like about Twitter. Thank you!

  3. Wow... now we are entering the age of the "tweetisattva!" LOL! very good... thanks for the reminders. :-)

  4. I wonder, would the Buddha have tweeted? Most probably yes . . .

  5. I love #5. I complain a lot of times. Time to be mindful and pull back and reflect on what I think of complaining about, to see if it's really the problem (shoes in the middle of the room masking feeling ignored by family).

  6. I am grateful to Ines Freedman for talk she gave at Insight Meditation Center, early this Summer, on topic of renunciation, including segment on unwholesome habit of complaining. Her words really hit home . . . If you are interested, you can listen to recording here: (7/2/09 talk)

  7. Caught your post on Twitter and it intrigued me. I love the one that says, "only tweet when you have something worth sharing."

    Here's one: Share something positive every day by looking at what you are grateful for in every circumstance.

    I have a friend who taught me to look as every event in my life as a blessing. She certainly is a blessing in my life.

  8. Yes, gratitude is a great quality to cultivate. Good for the health also - as per talk given by Gil Fronsdal few weeks ago, here: (play Gratitude podcast from 8/31/09)

  9. Marguerite's tip #2 was: "Hold your fingers back before firing a tweet. Is your intention pure?, etc... ". It's a great tip for the reasons given!

    However, my problem with fast fingers is at the last moment I notice I've spelled Google "Goggle", or Church "Chruch", or instead of RT I've typed "TR".

    It's always a finger fault that makes me yell "WAIT!!" but it's always too late...

  10. Yep, same with emails sent 'by mistake' . . . but, hey nobody's perfect, and there something to be said for spontaneity! I think people are pretty forgiving, especially on Twitter, and in blogging circles.