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Mike Tyson says he is learning to be silent. Photograph: Rex Features
I’ve never been a great fan of yours, Mike Tyson (@miketyson). There was the rape conviction (a low point), and that time you mistook Evander Holyfield’s ear for an amuse bouche (grim) and to be honest boxing really isn’t my sport (zzz). But credit where it’s due: since you joined Twitter last year a more mature Mike Tyson has emerged from his laptop: “I am mastering the art of silencing my tongue. Wish I had mastered it earlier but just grateful I have the tools to do it now.” Here’s a few more pointers on being a Twitter knockout.
Don’t go on like a stuck record
There is a limit to how many times people want to read about the new, improved Tyson (“Back then I used to tell the world ‘I’m Mike, the baddest man on the planet’, now I look at that Mike and say, ‘Hey Mike, you’re a schmuck’”) without wanting to click “unfollow”. I thought that you might have grasped this and were ready to inject a little variety into your timeline when you tweeted: “I understand why people have reservations about me because of my past but I’m giving up on trying to convince people on who I really am.” But no, it’s still going on.
Don’t believe the hype
Twitter can be a lovely place for a celeb, with followers, some of whom are your biggest fans, tweeting praise. It’s important for the humble Mike Tyson v2.0 that you don’t buy into this. Setting aside the fact that fan tweets such as “I learn more from your tweets @miketyson than I do in a whole year of college. True philosopher,” aren’t true, paying too much attention to this kind of thing will turn you into a Twitter bighead. Next you’ll be retweeting compliments. (Oh, you already are.)
Plug your interests
Some of my favourite tweets are by people enthusing about their passions. For you they are your family (“A family that prays together, stays together”), being a brilliant vegan (“I’m really enjoying this vegan thing. Its a good example to my kids”) and selling as many downloads of your mobile phone app as you can (“My iPhone App just hit 1.5 million downloads!! Thank you for the love”). Keep up the positivity.
Lots of love @scouserachel
