( CNN ) -- Twitter has become a vital tool over the past few years , allowing folks to chronicle everything from the Hudson River plane crash to performances of Romeo and Juliet . A recent study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign suggests the microblogging site can improve relationships in RL ( that 's Real Life ) . But it 's also become a venue by which people may -- to put it plainly -- overshare . There 's a big difference between tweeting about something personal in an interesting , relevant fashion ( like when blogger David Chen live-tweeted his naturalization oath ceremony ) and telling your poor Twitter followers every thought that crosses your cranium ( `` I like pigeons ! '' `` Quarters are shiny ! '' `` My left boob is bigger than my right ! '' ) . It can be tough to recognize when you 're beating the TMI drum just a little too loudly -- the need for a reaction from your followers can often outweigh your better judgment -- but sometimes a simple edit is all you need to avoid the dreaded `` unfollow . '' Observe : . The TMI tweet : `` OMG ! I 'm going to Hawaii with my super hot GF & we 're gon na lie in the sun ! ! # FYeahCruise ! '' Why people hate you : Hmm , let 's see : You 're going on a freaking cruise while the average follower is sitting in a cubicle counting down the miserable moments until another sad Happy Hour with his/her single friends . Maybe people are , I dunno , jealous ? Twit fix : `` Excited for a well-deserved vacay . Can anyone suggest must-see spots in Maui ? '' If you share your joy while also asking for advice , you engage your followers , thereby alleviating the tedium of their comparatively bleak days . Be sure to tweet back at those kind enough to answer . The TMI tweet : `` I just ate a bagel , some chips and a Dr. Pepper . My tummy hurts . '' Why people hate you : First , you said `` tummy . '' Second , NO ONE CARES . Third , you 're whining , and that 's annoying . Twit fix : `` Just had a great wrap at Grey Dog Cafe in Manhattan . Get the marinated tofu -- healthy and delish . '' If you insist on telling everyone what you had for lunch , at least have a good lunch . Moaning about pretty much any banal First-World problem on Twitter rates high on the annoying scale . Instead , offer your readers some kind of value -- i.e . a fabulous alternative to the brown bag lunch Mom packed ( yes , some of your followers likely still live at home ) . The TMI tweet : `` I just went on the best date ever with the hottest guy ever and I think I love him ! '' Why people hate you : In this case , you 're more likely to inspire fear rather than outright hate ( unless your jealous ex follows you -- and he totally does ) . If your new love interest sees your tweet , it could come off as a little intense and scare him away . Plus , it sends a signal that you 'll probably dish more sordid details as the relationship develops -- and no one wants his sex life to become a trending topic . Twit fix : `` For some reason I have this jam stuck in my head [ insert link to ambiguously lovey-dovey song here ] . '' ( Tools like Song.ly and Blip.fm make this super easy . ) If homeboy happens to see this tweet , he will be sweetly intrigued . Also , you 're providing your followers ( remember them ? -- the people who actually read your tweets because they care what you have to say ? ) with a new tune . Everyone wins . The TMI tweet : `` [ Insert name here ] is about as intelligent as that kid in pre-K who sat in the corner , eating googly-eyes and drooling on the teacher 's shoulder . '' Why people hate you : Ha . Your followers actually would love you for this -- [ insert name here ] , not so much . Twit fix : Twitter feuds are about as classy as vajazzling ( which is to say , not at all . ) Just refrain from getting out the claws , or if you must let your negative ions rip , limit your rants to an e-mail to your snarkiest friend ( the one with whom you get frequent gossip hangovers ) . Better yet , may we suggest creating a venomous blog complete with an alter ego ? Hey , it worked for us ...
Meet Andrea Bartz and Brenna Ehrlich , CNN.com 's `` netiquette '' columnists . The need for a reaction from your Twitter followers can often outweigh your better judgment . TL;DR A new study finds that people who use social media are more likely to be engaged with the content they share than those who don't.