14 comments

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  Gangles

  10 months ago

  I wonder how this will affect services such as @HashTags (http://twitter.com/hashtags)
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  Parker

  10 months ago

  I think that David Jones said it best a few months ago: "Anyone who has time to follow more than 300 people needs a job"
  
  and @gangles - interesting point. I hadn't thought of that!
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  Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins

  10 months ago

  @gangles and @parker...
  
  Services like hashtags are already getting screwed by the API limitations, so it's pretty clear here that Twitter isn't concerned with a lot of the effects on third party tools.
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• 

  Laura_N

  10 months ago

  I don't think there are many bragging rights for following lots of people. Being followed, now that's a different story.
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  mathewi

  10 months ago

  I think some people want to show they are following a lot because it
  means they are more social-media aware than others, even though it's
  impossible to be part of a "conversation" with thousands of people --
  at least not in any real meaning of the term.
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• 

  Daniel Gibbons

  10 months ago

  Regardless of this tweak, are you seeing any evidence of Twitter shifting into the mainstream? I still barely know a single person outside of the tech community who has heard of Twitter, and those who have simply think it's a mostly useless toy.
  
  The tough thing is Twitter is completely useless when you first get started (no followers and it's hard to know who to follow) and quickly becomes useless again when you're following lots of people. I don't think this latest change will do anything to make it really useful for normal people.
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  mathewi

  10 months ago

  I've had the same experience, Daniel -- most of the people I mention it to have heard of it, but have no idea why anyone would want to use it. And several people have tried it, but don't really know what to do with it once they get on it.
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• 

  antje wilsch

  10 months ago

  me three
  
  (normal) People don't know how to get followers or how to respond to people they're following but who aren't following them. To them it's just useless noise to most people except the same people over and over who like to hear themselves talk.
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• 

  antje wilsch

  10 months ago

  PS those new up and down "voting" things sit on top the names on the page here and I had no idea what they meant......
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• 

  Scott Kinoshita

  10 months ago

  It sounds like Csutoras must like spam or having more information than he could possibly use. I only use Twitter to follow people who A. I really do want to know what they're up to and B. Are active enough for Twitter to be useful. I don' t need Twitter for anyone else.
  
  As to Gibbon's point -- I don't think Twitter is something you'd want to sign on to on its own. If you are person who already has followers -- and I don't mean on Twitter, I mean regular consumers of the media you produce -- then Twitter is a useful tool to offer them. So there shouldn't be a 'useless' period when used properly -- you should sign on because you have someone to follow or you have people following you already. If you're following too many people you're defeating the purpose of the tool again.
  
  I could see Twitter being useful for normal people in the following capacities:
  - Weather updates
  - Sports updates (favourite teams only)
  - Update notices for favourite websites that don't update on a regular schedule
  - Celebrity updates (favourite celebs only)
  
  This of course would also require the media producers to want to use Twitter appropriately. I don't want an update that it's going to be a bright sunny day on my phone, but "Severe Thunderstorm" or "Tornado Watch" most definitely. For sports, I actually wouldn't mind play-by-play tweets -- not to my phone, but Twitterfox; a little pop-up in the lower right corner to let me know what's going on. I don't care about celebrities but there are a few websites I enjoy that are updated sporadically -- but once again, not to my phone.
  
  So I think it's just a matter of another tool not being used for the job it was meant for.
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• 

  alistairc

  10 months ago

  Mutual following does allow the direct messaging function, so even if you're not following 2,000 you may be stating your willingness to let 2,000 people message you confidentially.
  
  But I agree with your basic point, particularly with Twitter's search capabilities through Summize: If you were following 5,000 people you were probably filtering that output somehow to make sense for it, and you can just as easily filter with Summize or something similar.
  
  A.
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• 

  Kimberly

  10 months ago

  Matthew - I completely agree, following 2,000 tweets is ridiculous. Plus users have to contend with Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc, etc. to deal with. Sometimes too much, is too much!
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  AGORACOM

  10 months ago

  Mathew, broken record time for me again. Twitter is yet another "cool" tool created by bored tech geeks that the masses are never going to embrace. Not because they don't understand it - because it doesn't add any further value to an already over connected world via e-mail, SMS, IM, cell phones and Facebook.
  
  I've been using it since Mesh 2008 and see value in following about 30-40 people that are relevant to my business (You, Kedrosky, Evans, etc.) but shoot me if I follow 200 people, let alone 2,000.
  
  Still too much emphasis on "cool" and not enough on utility in the Web 2.0 world.
  
  George
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• 

  Lester e.a.Wilson

  2 weeks ago

  I must say,everyone is raving about twitter and how you can get thousands of people to follow you.
  
  I don't know what all the fuss is about,as said before,how many people really follow 2,000 people.
  
  Just putting your name on a list and say you are following someone,does anyone seriously thinks that people really do?
  
  I know for a fact i don't.
  
  I wish people would grow up and tell the truth!!!.
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