DISQUS

drew: How NOT to manage a community - Twitter Style.

  • Louis Gray · 7 months ago
    I think most of us agree that the change itself is relatively minor. It's a pain and not preferred, but not critical. What is a problem is that this is more gasoline on the fire - showing how Twitter's execs seem to be out of touch with how their users are utilizing their product, and smugly telling us they know best. As you said last night, you (and I, honestly) want to champion their product, but they keep making it hard through foolish mistakes and dunderheadedness.
  • drewolanoff · 7 months ago
    It's the smugly part that gets me. Like I said...it's not my company, what do I know? But to be a Google, you better act like a Google. And to me? Google knows how to communicate.
  • motownmutt · 7 months ago
    Exactly why I'm hesitant to promote the site to others; it's too unpredictable.
  • Mark Douglass · 7 months ago
    Couldn't agree more. The change itself I can live with, but not the way it was communicated.
    Twitter absolutely sucks at using their own product for community management / customer service.

    Nice post Drew.
  • israel · 7 months ago
    It's a tradition of Twitter to remove or add features that Evan or Jack evaluate as the "best" option for users.
  • Gilles M. · 7 months ago
    "I’m going to keep this brief, because I have more important things to do."

    Stopped reading right there. If you have more important things to do than share your thoughts, I have more important things to do than read them. I'm sure whatever you had to say was terribly interesting and insightful though.
  • andy · 7 months ago
    You have more important things to do than read this blog, like post a reply to it? You must be a very busy man... we're all very impressed.
  • drewolanoff · 7 months ago
    Thanks :) Point being is I don't work for Twitter. I don't get a Twitter Thank you check in the mail.
  • Jim "Genuine" Turner · 7 months ago
    They have those? Dammit I keep missing out on the "checks are written here" line.
  • Sold Out Activist · 7 months ago
    The actual reasoning for Twitter's removal of @replies to people you don't follow is that it reduces the work load. Originally, when a power user (scoble, obama, cnn) replies to someone, hundreds of thousands of timelines were updated with that tweet. With the new system, only a handful of timelines are now updated for @replies. Simple as that.

    Yes, if those power users make non-reply tweets, it would still be sent to the same hundreds of thousands. But Twitter is hurting for any decrease in their server load.
  • drewolanoff · 7 months ago
    Makes sense technically, why not take 3 extra minutes to explain that? :) Don't eff up and ask for forgiveness, fess up, get feedback and go about your business!
  • alizasherman · 7 months ago
    good rant Drew. Totally in agreement as are so many Twitterers. I blogged about this too on @webworkerdaily. The bloggers are buzzing!
  • RexDixon · 7 months ago
    Who knows what happens these days Drew. Community management here at Bit.ly is busy these days! :)

    Rex
    Bit.ly Community Mgr.