The Do's and Don't's of Fake Tweeting

By Sarah Mimms and Stephanie Palla  //  August 25, 2011 | 4:14 p.m.
Updated: August 25, 2011 | 6:09 p.m.

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., adviser Eric Fehrnstrom admitted Wednesday that he was behind the fake Twitter account @CrazyKhazei, used to poke fun at Democratic Senate candidate Alan Khazei. The Khazei campaign has subsequently said Brown should denounce @CrazyKhazei's tweets, and ask that the Twitter account be closed.

As our colleague Sean Sullivan has pointed out, fake Twitter handles are nothing new. Still, the recent Bay State dust up has reminded us here at The Hotline that there is etiquette to fake Twitter accounts. Below is a handy list to keep in mind if you too are planning on pulling a Fehrnstrom:

The Do's:

1) Get into character. When in the right hands, the gimmick proves to be effective. Columbia College of Chicago journalism professor Dan Sinke eloquently illustrates this point when tweeting from famed fake Twitter account @MayorEmanuel. An important amendment to this rule: make sure you are actually funny. This is one of the many downfalls of @FlitRomney.

2) Use animals. They are cute, friendly, and who can stay mad at them? Before the mouse's untimely death, @PoliticoMouse captivated Tweeps with banter and a history of "winning the cheese since 2007." The lovable rodent even had a frenemy in New York Times' @nyt_mouse, who also proved to be informative. Here's a sample tweet of the native New Yorker during the debt ceiling debate. @nyt_mouse: "Latenight newsroom pizza! RT @BreakingNews House Majority Whip: Members...stay nearby...we still expect to vote tonight-NBC News."

One candidate that has been overlooked in the Utah governor's race is Snowball, a feral cat who tweets about the issues from his @UTferalcat account. Snowball's decision to run grew in response to Utah state Rep. Curt Oda, who sponsored the so-called "feral cat" bill, allowing animals deemed pests to be shot. According to his bio, Snowball's decision to run was a way to give voice to "threats to the feral cat way of life coming from the Utah Legislature."

3) Keep it silly. The point of a fake Twitter account is to be real enough that even a reasonable person may at first do a double-take and wonder, "Is this legit?" That's where your flirtation with reality should end. It's an arguably fine line, but there comes a point where some Twitter accounts cross the line from funny into identity theft, and sometimes truly creepy territory. As a general rule, incorporating real life characters into a joke is a great idea. Referencing your persona's interactions with his real life wife and children, without punch lines, is creepy. If you find yourself typing the words "this really is (insert your persona's name here)," as @GeorgeBush did, stop and think about getting a hobby.

The Don't's: 1) Don't reveal your identity. One of the most important aspects of a fake Twitter account (or secret activities on a real one, former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.) is anonymity. The mystique associated with a fake Twitter account is not to be taken for granted. There is a scientifically proven direct relationship between the length of time you have an active, apparently author-less fake Twitter feed and the number of reporters who will spend all day and night trying to identify you. And, really, why are you doing this, if not for media attention? It should also be noted that this number quadruples in the month of August. Of course, they will eventually find you out, as Fehrnstrom found out this week. Should this happen to you, do not panic, and do your best to throw the media off your tracks. Fehrnstrom tried his best, tweeting from his @CrazyKhazei account "I just googled @ericferhn and that guy is a loser." We have every faith that you can do better. 2) Don't get carried away. We all fondly remember @MayorEmanuel's expletive-filled rants, like the time he begrudgingly helped White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley pack up his things to move to D.C. But as he racked up followers, the man behind the account started getting a little cocky, and things began to get a little weird. It began with mustachioed duck that the fake mayoral candidate dubbed Quaxlerod and ended with a series of acid-trip-inspired adventures with talking animals and a former mayor. As a former teacher once wrote on a paper of ours: This is where I stopped reading. The point is: keep it simple. You are not a celebrity, a comedian or a trendsetter; you're a guy with so little to do with your spare time that you are impersonating a politician on Twitter. Don't let it go to your head. 3) Don't mix up your accounts. Why is this so difficult for some people? Of course, this was a problem for Weiner and Fehrnstrom, but it's even hit @BarackObama who accidentally re-tweeted the location of the DC Empanadas food truck in January. Some tips: don't tweet from your phone, never tweet while intoxicated and just don't tweet photos of yourself in compromising positions to begin with. Use a different computer if you have to! These mix-ups were certainly funny (see "do" number one) and they did provide for some intense media coverage (see "don't" number one), but an incident like this is almost-guaranteed to get you fired. Don't say you weren't warned.

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