Comments on: Twitter Fiddles, Users Burn

By: Dean Peters

Dean Peters — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:27:30 +0000

It wasn't about noise, confusion nor any other user experience issue.

It appears now that it was a scaleability issue all along.

See their response to all the #twitterfail mail:

http://blog.twitter.com/2009/05/whoa-feedback.htm...

By: Tim A

Tim A — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:53:52 +0000

Agree with Ryan here. I THINK the default was to not see @'s for people you don't follow.

However, why not just leave this option in there? I'm guessing there are performance reasons perhaps.

I just checked the notices page under settings and this option has been removed. There is still the help to the right mentioning it though "The @ Replies setting can be confusing. Read the help article if you're unsure." Links to this help article http://help.twitter.com/forums/23786/entries/1459...

By: Steve Shu

Steve Shu — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:39:11 +0000

I can see the value in turning off the noise, but at the same time there should be an easy way for new or lighter users of Twitter to see the @reply traffic as opposed to making them jump through hoops. Not everyone is a well-entrenched Twitter user with overwhelming @replies. Just my $0.02.

By: Dean Peters

Dean Peters — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:14:02 +0000

@Ryan Coleman – 2% of 5 million users is 100,000 individuals forced to change how they use the system.

By: Dean Peters

Dean Peters — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:03:07 +0000

@Ryan Coleman – 2% of 5 million users is 100,000 individuals forced to change how they use the system.

What I wonder is how many of the 100,000 make up the ACTIVE 40% – which I suspect they do – and how many of the 98% make up the 60% Twitter Quitter Attrition Rate?

By: While Twitter fiddled, their users burned | Heal Your Church WebSite

While Twitter fiddled, their users burned | Heal Your Church WebSite — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:52:23 +0000

[...] Twitter Fiddles, Users Burn (yes, I ‘borrowed’ the title for this post from Mark Evans of twitterrati.com – thanks!) [...]

By: Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:42:32 +0000

"Before the change, you would have seen the conversation."

Not entirely true… A small % of twitter users would have seen it. Most already elected (I believe it was default setting) to not see @'s for people they don't follow.

There's a comment on this post > http://tinyurl.com/rctqsm that indicates only 2% had elected to see all @'s

I think this will blow over. It sounds like a big deal but I think it's a great evolution in how people will form tweets – it adds an extra layer of nuance to @'ing

By: markevans

markevans — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:36:58 +0000

Thanks for the insight and perspective about what Twitter users want from the service. What Twitter does won't please everyone but that's how business goes.

Mark

By: Twitter’s Tweak Takes A Step Backwards… « Talk is cheap . . .

Twitter’s Tweak Takes A Step Backwards… « Talk is cheap . . . — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:30:01 +0000

[...] Check out the full story at: http://www.twitterrati.com/2009/05/13/twitter-fiddles-users-burn/ [...]

By: Michael Ramm

Michael Ramm — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:06:17 +0000

THANK YOU TWITTER for doing something about endless drather of noise! There are PLENTY of ways for people to find new followers. They don't have to rely on one-sided conversations with people they already know.

I take my twitter presence pretty seriously. I try to engage in conversations with my (human) followers to make the experience enjoyable. To say that folks did not know that silencing the folks that you don't follow is a COP OUT! Whenever I join a new website, the first thing that I do is go through my Account Settings, and right there under Notices was a pulldown that let you specify how your Replies were handled (there was even an explanation, if I recall).

People seem to forget that twitter is NOT a democracy. People do not paying to use the service. Biz, Evan and the twitter team get to decide what happen to the service that THEY CREATED. I read one of my followers and he said "Put replies back to the way they were! You're going to lose a lot of people this way – epic fail" REALLY! You are going to leave twitter because you have a little more work to find new people. Come on, that is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard.

I applaud twitter for turning OFF the firehose to make this a better service, and more importantly, an enjoyable experience.