I hate Twitter

[familychoice]

There, I said it.

To be fair it makes me a few quid as I use my accounts to drive traffic to my ad infested pages but I still hate it. I hate the new interface which doesn't work properly with my version of Firefox, I hate the character limit, I hate the way search results are geared towards paying customers, I hate the way they protect paying customers by banning accounts that might tread on their territory.

Etc.

Thank you.

[Dom]

The interface is slow, and it takes too long to access certain features (like blocking people) but aside from that I quite like it. Some if it isn't consistent with other parts though, and I've found that clicking on something doesn't always do what I expect it to do.

The character limit is OK though, I think. Perhaps making 160 would be better, but at least people get to the point.


Twitter version: Interface OK, some bugs and niggles, character limit OK, nuke from orbitkthnxbye.

[robwhizz]

Never use the web interface if I can help it. It's awful. Considering Twitter is about quick, short messages, the bloated, slow interface doesn't really fit.

I mostly use it with a mobile app.

But I agree with you about deletion of accounts to protect the big boys. Paperghost tweeted something similar happening on Tumblr.
I think most social sites/services bow down to money.

[Steve Lampkins]

Someone uses the web version?

[Jem]

Someone uses the web version?

Me? I haven't found a client I like, yet .. :|

[familychoice]

But I agree with you about deletion of accounts to protect the big boys. Paperghost tweeted something similar happening on Tumblr.
I think most social sites/services bow down to money.

They boast that you can "Follow your interests - Instant updates from your friends, industry experts, favorite celebrities, and what’s happening around the world." But that's not true, with the high number of accounts when running a people search you usually only ever find paid accounts in the results.

I hate the falseness of their 'community' boasts, that "At Twitter, we believe that the open exchange of information can have a positive global impact." Right, search for 'japan earthquake' and you'll find
Matt_Alt (Co-founder of AltJapan Co., Ltd. We produce English versions of Japanese games, manga, and other fun stuff. Also: co-author of Yokai Attack! & Ninja Attack!) in the suggested people results. More an opportunity to sell some games when people search for information about the earthquake than positive global impact.

It could be dangerous too, when a company like this has such incredible control over what information gets found and what is hidden, or banned.

I don't like it, it dresses like a hippy but stinks of 'the man'.

[Dom]

Hmm, the only things I see forced upon me are the "promoted tweets" that you see whenever you do a search or click a hashtag, but I think AdBlock blocks everything else out. I never see ads in the side bar, or any "sponsored tweets" that companies pay for (I assume they still do them? I've never seen any...)

[robwhizz]

I don't think I've ever done a search on Twitter! I only follow people I'm interested in and read their tweets, never looked into it as a marketing tool.

[familychoice]

I'm not complaining about the ads, it's the way the 'People' search works that bugs me. To a casual user they might think they're getting the most relevant results for their search criteria, when in reality they're just being fed who Twitter wants to promote, and results are usually less than 20 suggestions.

That's not helpful, or representative of the content/membership of the site. If you were interested in cheese making, for example, it would be almost impossible to easily find a decent list of relevant people to follow using the search tools. Useful contacts will probably not be in the maximum of 20 results for 'people', and so you'll have to wade through every post ever made with the word 'cheese' and 'making' in it using the general search, which will take you years.

Twitter search has always been bad, but the results are skewed now as well.

I don't like the heavy handed account control either. I discovered a very, very good username that had somehow been missed by the masses. It wasn't a brand name or anything like that, all perfectly legal and above board so I set up an account, put in my details and posted a couple of 'hello' style tweets. I then followed a couple of people to get started. A few hours later I logged in and found the account had been suspended. You have to jump through a few hoops to get a reply from Twitter, but eventually they told me I'd violated their terms and listed a selection of misdemeanour's that I might be guilty of. And despite not having done anything in their list my appeal was rejected and the account closed.

All very dodgy.

[Dom]

I seriously think you should write a book about technology, and your experiences with it. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

[Steve Lampkins]

I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

I'd buy the e-book version.

The one that you download and its corrupted. Then your computer sets on fire.

[familychoice]

I seriously think you should write a book about technology, and your experiences with it. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

You can enjoy it on here for free. I am the world.

[sickpuppy]

I hate computers and all they entail. Why oh why did I chose this lifestyle. I could have been a milkman.

Fixed

[Jem]

I don't like the heavy handed account control either. I discovered a very, very good username that had somehow been missed by the masses. It wasn't a brand name or anything like that, all perfectly legal and above board so I set up an account, put in my details and posted a couple of 'hello' style tweets. I then followed a couple of people to get started. A few hours later I logged in and found the account had been suspended. You have to jump through a few hoops to get a reply from Twitter, but eventually they told me I'd violated their terms and listed a selection of misdemeanour's that I might be guilty of. And despite not having done anything in their list my appeal was rejected and the account closed.

See, that's the opposite of my experience. When I've tried to get usernames for clients with established brand names we've had to jump through hoops to provide proof to Twitter and even then they have turned around and said bog off, and allowed users to keep usernames which clearly don't make any sense applied to the user.

But I still like twitter

[familychoice]

I hate computers and all they entail. Why oh why did I chose this lifestyle. I could have been a milkman.

Fixed

Can you fix my fear of milk?

even then they have turned around and said bog off, and allowed users to keep usernames which clearly don't make any sense applied to the user.

Probably because they waved money at them.

[robwhizz]

I hate computers and all they entail. Why oh why did I chose this lifestyle. I could have been a milkman.

Fixed

Can you fix my fear of milk?

Leukophobia?

[sickpuppy]

I hate computers and all they entail. Why oh why did I chose this lifestyle. I could have been a milkman.

Fixed

Can you fix my fear of milk?

Fear of milk? Pull the udder one.

[familychoice]

Hmmm, it's happened again. A couple of days ago I stumbled across a superb username, perfect for one of my sites. Almost automatically the account has been suspended.

Looks like Twitter don't like people picking up good usernames.

[Steve Lampkins]

Change your name to the username by deed poll first.

[sarahA]

I'm waiting for Twitter to nab my account from me as I'm increasingly getting more and more replies/mentions for @sarahgeronimo25 who I believe was on American Idol and is very big in the far east (I think she's originally from the Philippines).

I would change my account name but I have it down as sarahG in so many places I could spend days finding and updating everywhere.

Now if only she offered to pay for it...