I've been on Twitter for about a month now.At first I couldn't see what the fuss was about, but after a bit of tinkering I decided that the best way to use it was to be selective about who I followed, and to make sure that I was only updating it with the type of things which I would want to read (interesting links, news etc). Entering into a conversation with someone about shower gel was quite an eye-opener for how dull my posts can be unless I actively try to fight it!
Now that I'm using Twitter in a way that I find useful, I really like it. But I definitely think there's room for improvement. I've made a list of things that I'd change if I could, and I'd be really interested to hear what you think. Please tell me if you can think of any others, and please also feel free to tell me why you disagree with any/all of my points.
1) Change the character limit from 140 to 200. This is probably the one that people will disagree with the most, especially people who have been using it for longer than I have. I'm fed up with having to rewrite Tweets into txt spk, just so they fit into the space. How was the 140 character limit decided upon anyway? Did they work out the average character length of a sentence, or was 140 just chosen arbitrary? Why not 130? Why not 150?
1.5) People often comment on the fact that Twitter doesn't actually seem to make any money, on account of the lack of advertising etc. Why not allow people to post 200 character posts if they pay, for example, £10 a year? I'd happily pay for Twitter if the price was reasonable and it guaranteed an advert-free service. I'm sure other people would too. If ever Twitter looks at the bank balance and sees "$30 million out, $0 in", maybe this would be a good idea.
2) "@(username)," "RT:" and the first hashtag in a tweet shouldn't be part of the character limit. Especially because it means that all good/important tweets actually have to be less than 140 letters long, to accommodate for the fact that people who want to RT your tweets have to insert that extra text.
3) Twitter should detect hashtags and link to the search.twitter.com results. It seems silly that if I want to see who else is using a tag, I have to go to search.twitter.com and type the tag in, instead of just clicking on it.
4) There should be a button to report spam Twitter accounts! Why should I have to follow a spam bot (@spam) and direct message it with a spammer's username? Seems a trifle long-winded.
5) It would be interesting if Twitter could analyse the text in your Tweet before posting, and suggest hashtags based on popular searches/tags of the moment.
6) Haven't thought the logistics of this one through properly yet, but it would be awesome if tweets (esp. from phones) could include location info, so you can see on a map where people are tweeting from/who is tweeting near you. Could work with geotag info from phones, or based roughly on IP location from computers (though that wouldn't be terribly accurate). Would be brill for finding people twittering from protests etc, so people could immediately see everyone who is tweeting from a certain place. Naturally this wouldn't be part of the text of a tweet, just something that is stored behind the scenes. If that screws up the existing architecture too much, perhaps the location info could be sent by the phone/web client as a second tweet immediately after the first one, but with a rarely used ASCII character at the start to tell Twitter to use it for location info rather than as part of a normal Twitter feed.
So, am I right? Am I wrong? Am I handsome and wonderful? Feel free to let me know all of your opinions. ALL OF THEM.
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chris_coltrane- Chris Coltrane
- www.chriscoltrane.com
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But even though there's a limit on SMS messages, does that mean that there should be a limit on Twitter? If the limit were raised to, for example, 200 characters, then people could still tweet via SMS with the limits imposed on a text message, but people from the web or from Twitter clients would get a bit more freedom.
I'm not sure what the breakdown is for twitter use on different clients to be honest, but reading twits would be a problem on different devices if there wasn't a standard message length.
Especially in the US where receiving SMS costs money.
If a significant number of people receive tweets by SMS, and have to pay for the privilege, then the character limit is unavoidable. But if it's only, like, less than 2% or something, then maybe it would be possible to do something like that.
But I don't really know why. See http://microblink.com/2009/01/14/wo
Also, you're half right. SMSes aren't limited to 140 characters - they're 160. It's something to do with encoding, or a wrapper. Can never remember which.
But then couldn't you use that argument with any similarly small number? If you can't say it in 150 characters, it's not worth saying. if you can't say it in 130 characters, it's not worth saying. Both those arguments are just as fair. I can definitely see that Twitter is a service for only brief updates, don't get me wrong, but many times a week I find that 140 characters is just ever-so-slightly too small.
Thanks v. much for that link, I'll give it a read now :)
If you use tweetdeck or destroytwitter, they will allow you to automatically search based on hashtags.
And using an iPhone client such as Twinkle will allow you to see people posting in nearby areas based on GPS etc.
In regards to Twinkle, how does it work out where people are?
Well, on the iPhone, Twinkle uses 'My Location' to provide the GPS co-ords. Then their servers handle the 'Near Me' functionality.
Or something like that ;)
im gonna attempt to answer your questions
1) 140 is the length of a text(except on my phone it tells me it 160 but whatever) and i think it was originally conceived to be updated out and about doing your busy life thing. but obviously lots of people have internet on their phones now and they update using twitter aps so the length thing is probably slightly redundant. also since people have to use 2 texts if it longer anyway, they may as well be received as 1 tweet.
but i think has more to do with the concept of the company and that the whole point is that its really short and i know its not a huge jump to 200 but erm something about a slippery slope.
2)yep. pretty much spot on. im no genius on a computer but maybe its complicated working something like that into the existing programming (i really have noooooo idea) also that could lead to some @abuse particularly from spammers who coul theoretically@everyone and not lose any characters
3)i didnt know this didnt happen on the twitter page! i use the twitter app on my netvibes homepage and that auto-links the #tag search thread thing (hope im not getting to technical for you!) and i dont use any other twitter apps elsewhere so i dont know if anyone else does but it does seem like a rather sensible thing to do.
4)yep. but i do think they are working on this and that @spam was a quick solution to the problem that arose after their slightly unforeseen rise to fame.
5)yes! i never know what to #tag. also it kinda diminishes the impact when there are 3 or 4 floating about for the same subject.
6)im pretty sure some of the apps do have something along those lines (particularly from iphones) i cant think of the name but there is a pic app that displays the location the picture was taken at next to the picture. i sure ones exist for your actually tweets but like i said i dont use any.
also i should mention i have no information on weather they actually are developing any of the things that i say they might be. i just think it sounds sensibly and i think they are quite a sensible bunch.
and know i hope some of that made sense
And I think you're quite right when you point out that external Twitter apps do a lot of the things I suggested already. Even if Twitter doesn't provide them, it's great that it allows other people to add that functionality.
I share your curiosity regarding the 140 character limit... how? who? why?
...but then I also figure, a limit needs to be, in order to make Twitter tweet, with a certain frequency that makes it just enough but not too much & 140 has a certain je ne sais pas that is OK with me.
I would only suggest the addition of a links-box that would not be counted in the 140.
2:
My rose coloured glasses reveal a place with a 'tip jar' that lets us easily show our appreciation for this lovely, ad-free place. Make it easy and we will do it. I would tip every pay-day to say thanks... wouldn't we all?
I hate the idea of commerce on Twitter - even just purchasing privelege, begins a divide that will lead to a heirachy and eventually to a snobbery that would just be... ugly.
3:
Agreed - wise observation.
4:
Agreed - wise observation.
5:
Hmmm... hadn't thought of that, excellent idea.
6:
Is it just me or does that feel a little too intrusive? If I get a tweet from someone telling me they have caught site on my fluffy slippers... I might panic! I expect this would be a nice 'opt-in' extra, but I don't know that meeting in the flesh should be part of the whole Twitter 'thing'? Will ponder longer and get back to you on this interesting point.
Namaste,
Tina Louise
@tinalouiseuk
2) Indeed. I suppose it depends on how much profit they want. LiveJournal got along fine with just the paid accounts, but then the desire for more money appeared, and suddenly LJ was awash with adverts. If it were done sensibly, I'd happily pay for a service like Twitter. And indeed, I think it's important that we do, so that The Kids can use it for free. Then they pay for things when they get a little older, and so it goes on.
3, 4, 5) Thanks! :)
6) Yes, it would _absolutely_ have to be opt-in, never forced. I'd like to know exactly who was updating at, for example, a protest, but by no means should it be mandatory, ever.
x
3) Tags are clickable on the buggy but Livejournalesque Tweetree.com.
Big nod to 1.5) and 2), too.
Tweetree.com looks really interesting, but I fear it is not something that I can handle so close to midnight. I'll definitely look into it tomorrow. Thanks for the link! :)
xx
"Geek comedy. A lone computer programmer spends his spare time trying to improve someone else's business model - but all does not go to plan. Contains strong language."
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...*sob*
Also, the short message length has proven itself to be perfect for keeping the users contributing and reading. Lots of little headlines and sound bites that the audience returns to over and over again without ever feeling satisfied. Sticky content for the wireless Web 2.0 using masses.
So I wouldn't expect to see Twitter make any improvements. I'm sure an entirely new online addiction will be along shortly instead, with lots of new problems, but for some undefinable reason people will be even more eager to jump on it.
There have been many ways to post LJ entries of any length via a mobile phone for ages. Even with a free account. But let's just ignore this, as everyone else certainly has.
I'm not so convinced about Twitter's value being in the information it provides. Because essentially, it's all up on the web for free. It wouldn't be _too_ difficult to write a script which mines every update on Twitter and compiles them. Marketing companies could (and presumably can, and do) get all the info for free. Plus, I'm 100% sure that lots of big companies actively monitor Twitter to see what people are saying about the. I know that the company I work for does that, and we're relatively tiny.
The information itself is immensely useful, but while it's being given away for free, I don't see how they can make money out of it. Having said that, this is why I'm not a businessman!
It all becomes a bit Derren Brown really.
I don't know if Twitter really does anything like this currently. Facebook is reported to, but Twitter's plan may be something else. Perhaps to hook as many mobile phone users as possible, wait until all our movements are trackable via such devices, and then have adverts follow us around as in Minority Report? Or maybe it's all just a group of really rich people who truly believe that we're not wary enough of character limits. And also that there should be more casual internet stalking.
In my day it was all pen pals, CB radio and Teletext, grumble grumble...
And you're dead on with the lack of a 'report' button, you even have to follow the fucking @spam account to report someone! All I do now is just block as soon as I see following by a factor of ten to followers.
Would your filter groups work like LJ friends-only comments, where you can make Tweets that only the people who you follow can see? That'd be nice. It would make organising social events much easier, if you can define exactly who you want to meet.
I also hate how difficult it is to find anyone on twitter. I've only recently joined, mostly because noone else I know is on it, and all I'm doing on it atm is following Stephen Fry (because he's a legend) and Chris Moyles (because he was talking about it on the radio recently and I was curious).
Facebook on my mobile is much more useful than twitter at the moment and their status function (complete with space for comments) fit the purpose of twitter much better. Plus everyone is on facebook!
PS Turn your radio off when Chris Moyles comes on!