Archive for July, 2009
July 31st, 2009
Apple’s at it again, rejecting applications from the iPhone store with no rhyme, reason, or – in this case – refund – and this time, some application developers think they’ve gone way too far.
We’ve discussed Apple’s nonsensical iPhone application rejection policies in the past; everytime we…
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July 31st, 2009
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the “dangers” of using Twitter and other social networking sites to gripe about companies; when a disgruntled tenant recently complained about her landlord’s property management company not dealing with her mold problem to her satisfaction, she was slapped…
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July 29th, 2009
Today we’re trying a redesigned front page for folks who are new to Twitter.com. If you’re a regular around these parts, then you won’t notice the new look unless you sign out of your account. Helping people access Twitter in more relevant and useful ways upon first introduction lowers the barrier to accessing the value Twitter has to offer and presents the service more consistently with how it has evolved.
Twitter began as a rudimentary social tool based on the concept of status messages but together with those who use it every day, the service has taught us what it wants to be. From features invented by users to applications built on the platform, we’re still discovering potential. Twitter has moved from simple social networking into a new kind of communication and a valuable source of timely information. Also, it’s fun.
Learning By Experience
Defining a “tweet” for the uninitiated and explaining how to create an account doesn’t resonate with everyone. “Why would I want to do that?” is a common reaction. However, demonstrating the power of Twitter as a discovery engine for what is happening right now through our Search and Trends often awakens a sense of wonder which inevitably leads to a much more compelling question, “How do I get involved?”
More Work Ahead
The open and timely exchange of information will have a positive impact on the world and Twitter has a role to play. We have a lot of work to do when it comes to the quality of our search results and trend analysis but repositioning the product to focus more on discovery is an important first step in presenting Twitter to a wider audience of folks around the world who are eager to start engaging with new people, ideas, opinions, events, and sources of information.
We’ll likely continue to make changes to the Twitter home page as we respond to feedback and ideas. We’re eager to see if encouraging a sense of wonder and discovery leads to a better first impression of Twitter.
July 29th, 2009
There’s a been a lot of discussion and speculation about upstart Twitter developer Mesiab Labs, who announced recently that they’re soon to be launching a competitor service to Twitter retweet aggregator TweetMeme (which, we should mention for purposes of neutrality, we proudly use on Twittown)….
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July 28th, 2009
Tweets Don’t Last Forever
One of the coolest things about Twitter is how timely the microblogging platform is. Unfortunately, that’s also one of the drawbacks. Experts estimate that the average Tweet drops “off the radar” after about ten minutes. Since each Twitter user follows a different…
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July 28th, 2009
Full, two-way interaction with Twitter over SMS is now available for everyone who uses O2, the largest mobile operator in the UK. There are no extra fees associated with Twittering over SMS on the 02 network—standard or in bundle rates apply for updating your account and receiving tweets over SMS is free so Tweet your heart out!
To Twitter over SMS with your iPhone or any other mobile, head over to your account settings and activate your device. The Twitter shortcode in the UK is 86444 if you want to save it in your address book. Twitter started with a strong focus on texting and we continue to provide SMS access around the world.
July 24th, 2009
Many are seeing a wide variety of businesses using Twitter in interesting ways to create value for customers and consumers. As a result, we’re often invited by businesses and organizations to talk about Twitter and how it can be used to better engage with customers. Twitter is still a small team so it made more sense to do some research and make it widely available rather than personally visit businesses big and small.
We coordinated with business students and writers to surface some interesting findings, best practices, steps for getting started, and case studies. The results demonstrate how customers are getting value out of Twitter and suggest techniques businesses can employ to enhance that value. While this work was envisioned for businesses, it’s also useful for anyone using Twitter so have a look if you like.
Where To Find It
Twitter 101 is a suite of web pages that explains our findings. There is also a downloadable slideshow available as a PDF that’s more of an overview which folks can use to give presentations within larger organizations to teach others about Twitter. We’re focused on enhancing value across Twitter in general—these documents are just a first step.
July 23rd, 2009
One of the questions I hear most often from new Twitter users is, “How do I find people to follow?” It goes hand in hand with the question at the core of most Twitter users minds, “How do I get people to follow me?” I’ve had great success with building my “twittersphere,” the sum total of people I…
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July 22nd, 2009
We’re beginning to discover the value that customers and consumers are getting from businesses who use Twitter in smart and interesting ways. Businesses of all shapes and sizes are discovering the value too—whether it’s raising the bottom line or engaging more actively with consumers.
A small business like a bakery will send out a tweet that the cookies just came out of the oven and a few dozen local followers will rush over and buy warm cookies. The customers like it and the small businesses owners love it. Big companies are using Twitter in interesting ways too.
BestBuy has created a program they call Twelpforce. The idea is that employees from across the organization can interact quickly and easily with customers who have questions about products. This is a different approach but it’s smart—they’re building trust and fostering happy, informed customers. That’s good stuff.
We’ve been studying how customers and businesses interact and derive value from Twitter. From this research, findings, use cases, and best practices have emerged. We’re putting together a document based on our studies and we’ll find a spot on our web site to share it with everyone when it’s ready.
July 22nd, 2009
David Letterman was introduced to Twitter via Kevin Spacey on last night’s Late Show. Once Dave got past the concept of typing with his thumbs he was able to characterize Twitter as “a waste of time.” That’s generally how Twitter was characterized in 2007 so Dave’s only two years behind—we’ll give him a little more time to catch up.
