Twitter screwed the pooch...
...and the pooch is feeling violated.
Recently in the last 24 hours, the big brains in charge of running Twitter decided to make a small tweak (in their heads) to the @reply system for ALL users. Basically, you can no longer see replies from people you know to people you do not know. For some this is no big deal and it is a fragmented or partial conversation, but to most who REALLY use Twitter, this is a MONSTER issue.
About half of the friends I have picked up through Twitter is due "eaves dropping" in on those half conversations. I was curious and decided to be social and find who that other person was that my friend was talking to. Another great thing to seeing these replies is that you could pick up very valuable information in these fractured dialogues. An example if you will: I have a son who is High Functioning Autistic. I have picked up about a half dozen friends on Twitter that have autistic children as well. I would monitor conversations of my Twitter friends with those that were not my friends and there would be resources posted in their tweets as links and tips that I could use to help me and my family make my son's way in the world that much easier. Now that is gone. I can only see posts that are just posts from my friends or replies to me and my other friends. Not non-friends. There is another more superficial reason too. Due to the influx of celebrities on Twitter that actually talk to the little people like myself, I will never see those replies to others. It is really cool to see them talk to others. With these celbs, there are also fake celebs and fictional characters on Twitter. They hold quite a few very entertaining conversations with others and I will not see those anymore. I have also made quite a few friends from that.
For the past 3 hours I have been monitoring the trending topics on twitter and by far the hottest debate is this very issue. Don't believe me? Check this out...
http://www.twitscoop.com/search?fixreplies
http://www.twitscoop.com/search?twitterfail
The updates on these searches at 3am my times are coming in fast. Thousands are pissing and moaning (including myself) about this change in the policy. Twitter had this to say...
The Importance of Discovery
Spotting new folks in tweets is an interesting way to check out new profiles and find new people to follow. Despite this update, you'll still see mentions or references linking to people you don't follow. For example, you'll continue to see, "Ev meeting with @biz about work stuff" even if you don't follow @biz. We'll be introducing better ways to discover and follow interesting accounts as we release more features in this space.
http://blog.twitter.com/2009/05/small-settings-update.html
Personally I think it is a load of crap. I believe they are having issues with keeping up and this way they can back off the load on the servers. As I see it, this move will ease the load off the servers but not in the the way they want it. They will start losing people left and right because they will be bored from a service that is closing itself off from true discovery.
What are your thoughts? Is twitter making a mistake here? Am I wrong or am I on to something?
Recently in the last 24 hours, the big brains in charge of running Twitter decided to make a small tweak (in their heads) to the @reply system for ALL users. Basically, you can no longer see replies from people you know to people you do not know. For some this is no big deal and it is a fragmented or partial conversation, but to most who REALLY use Twitter, this is a MONSTER issue.
About half of the friends I have picked up through Twitter is due "eaves dropping" in on those half conversations. I was curious and decided to be social and find who that other person was that my friend was talking to. Another great thing to seeing these replies is that you could pick up very valuable information in these fractured dialogues. An example if you will: I have a son who is High Functioning Autistic. I have picked up about a half dozen friends on Twitter that have autistic children as well. I would monitor conversations of my Twitter friends with those that were not my friends and there would be resources posted in their tweets as links and tips that I could use to help me and my family make my son's way in the world that much easier. Now that is gone. I can only see posts that are just posts from my friends or replies to me and my other friends. Not non-friends. There is another more superficial reason too. Due to the influx of celebrities on Twitter that actually talk to the little people like myself, I will never see those replies to others. It is really cool to see them talk to others. With these celbs, there are also fake celebs and fictional characters on Twitter. They hold quite a few very entertaining conversations with others and I will not see those anymore. I have also made quite a few friends from that.
For the past 3 hours I have been monitoring the trending topics on twitter and by far the hottest debate is this very issue. Don't believe me? Check this out...
http://www.twitscoop.com/search?fixreplies
http://www.twitscoop.com/search?twitterfail
The updates on these searches at 3am my times are coming in fast. Thousands are pissing and moaning (including myself) about this change in the policy. Twitter had this to say...
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Small Settings Update
We've updated the Notices section of Settings to better reflect how folks are using Twitter regarding replies. Based on usage patterns and feedback, we've learned most people want to see when someone they follow replies to another person they follow—it's a good way to stay in the loop. However, receiving one-sided fragments via replies sent to folks you don't follow in your timeline is undesirable. Today's update removes this undesirable and confusing option.The Importance of Discovery
Spotting new folks in tweets is an interesting way to check out new profiles and find new people to follow. Despite this update, you'll still see mentions or references linking to people you don't follow. For example, you'll continue to see, "Ev meeting with @biz about work stuff" even if you don't follow @biz. We'll be introducing better ways to discover and follow interesting accounts as we release more features in this space.
http://blog.twitter.com/2009/05/small-settings-update.html
Personally I think it is a load of crap. I believe they are having issues with keeping up and this way they can back off the load on the servers. As I see it, this move will ease the load off the servers but not in the the way they want it. They will start losing people left and right because they will be bored from a service that is closing itself off from true discovery.
What are your thoughts? Is twitter making a mistake here? Am I wrong or am I on to something?
You are completely right! I also commented on my blog. This is all about taking the load off the servers. Because social media? IS social.
ReplyDeleteT.