Twitter’s been having some growing pains this week, as I’m sure we’ve all noticed.
Yes, it’s frustrating.
But let’s have a little perspective: we pay nothing for Twitter. Speaking for myself, I’ve gotten a lot out of that $0 investment, including an amazing boyfriend, a new home, a wonderful tech community in Seattle, and a wealth of fabulous people that I genuinely consider to be my friends.
Twitter’s run by a few human beings, without whom we would have no Twitter at all. I’m sure you’ve had your own bad week, yes?
Let’s be good sports and cut out the endless “Death of Twitter” blog posts. Complaining isn’t going to do anything to change the situation.
Here are some things you can do to help Twitter:
- Send a supportive tweet to @jack, @biz, or @ev.
- Leave a positive comment on the Twitter blog or the Twitter Get Satisfaction page.
- Leave a positive comment on the next negative Twitter post you see.
- Use Summize search to find any replies to you while the Replies tab is down. Take a moment and find a non-Twitter way to reach out to those people.
- Call, Skype, SMS, or email a Twitter friend that you’ve only Twittered with previously. Use this downtime to connect in a new way!
- Go out and talk to a complete stranger - at the grocery store, the coffee shop, the bar, wherever. It’s like Twitter in real life!
- Host a Tweetup and meet your Twitter friends in person. Find a Tweetspot and invite your local Twitterpack.
- Convert that tweet that you can’t send to a blog post, and share the URL in the comments here.
- Refresh When Twitter Is Down. A lot.
- Get some perspective. @Phil801 found out today that his infant daughter has leukemia. Head to Phil’s blog and leave a supportive comment.
I have to agree that Twitter is really an amazing free service, and I have had a similar experience as you, minus the new home. But I would like to turn that minus into a plus, so if you care to share how you “monetized” Twitter for yourself to that extent I would be your instant and avid pupil. In fact I were able to make such a decent living as a direct result of Twitter I would have no problem returning a portion of that to Twitter itself!
Comment by PragueBob — May 24, 2008 @ 8:15 pm
I guess we all demand too much out of,what is after all,a FREE service.
Comment by Shane Floyd — May 24, 2008 @ 8:17 pm
Thanks for sharing about Phil, Marina. Twitter is still doing good, even through hard times, in spreading the word about people in need.
Comment by Jesse Stay — May 24, 2008 @ 8:54 pm
BTW, I’m trying to compile all his Tweets, photos, and blog posts into one place here - feel free to also leave support there if you are on FriendFeed. If not, feel free to subscribe to the rss for regular updates on Serenity:
http://friendfeed.com/rooms/phil801-baby
Comment by Jesse Stay — May 24, 2008 @ 8:57 pm
You’re dreaming dude. Twitter doesn’t care about users.
Comment by vaspers aka steven e. streight — May 24, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
@PragueBob Well, I got the home via the boyfriend (that I met on Twitter). But Twitter has certainly increased my income by introducing me to people who could use my efficiency consulting services in a manner where I could genuinely connect with them and get to know them.
@vaspers Whether or not Twitter cares about the users is almost irrelevant. (Although the Twitter team seem like really nice guys.) Users care about other users, so we want to support the people behind Twitter to preserve our community.
Comment by Marina Martin — May 24, 2008 @ 9:57 pm
Given that one of Twitter’s main problems at the moment is that it has way more users than its server can handle perhaps sending a tweet to the Twitter team is not the best thing you can do.
Comment by Riayn — May 24, 2008 @ 11:06 pm
I sent a tweet to Ev earlier this week to tell them to keep up the great work and not to worry about all the Twitter-bashing. He appreciated it. Busy or not, it’s always nice to know that there are people out there that support you.
Thanks for posting this Marina. Sometimes it’s easy to be enveloped by all the negativity and fail to see the bigger picture.
Comment by Sameer Vasta — May 25, 2008 @ 3:34 am
Great post, Marina.
It’s too easy for people to shoot something down as soon as there are problems. And you are right - it’s 100% free, so why all the complaining?
The best we can do as a community is to support the people who are working so hard to keep this going for us, and appreciate all of their sleepless nights.
I’d say, if someone out there thinks they can do things better than the guys over at Twitter, more power to them - go for it. The reality is, it’s much harder than it looks to do what they are doing, especially from a branding and popularity perspective.
Positive or negative, you can’t argue they are getting a lot of extra publicity right now, which will probably work in their favour once all the bugs are worked out.
Comment by Susan Murphy — May 25, 2008 @ 4:17 am
Oh, and BTW I’d love to hear the story of how you met your boyfriend on Twitter!
I did it the old fashioned way - met my husband on LavaLife.
Comment by Susan Murphy — May 25, 2008 @ 4:18 am
I completely agree with you! It’s free and I love it - will stick with through thick and thin
I have gotten jobs, formed partnerships, and met MANY friends through twitter - good enough reasons to hang tight!
Comment by Kate — May 25, 2008 @ 4:56 am
Great post, Marina, love the site…good resource, and nice recommendations for interesting tweeps. Chris Brogan tweeted the url this am… gotta love Twitter
Regarding Twitter’s downtime: Us “East Coasters” are used to the slow way of doing things, and have lots of patience with implementing new practices and ironing out operational wrinkles. (pothole filling hah) As I said on Biz’s blog… on PEI, Strangers are always welcome, and beer and lobster feeds are always free for friends havin’ troubles.
Perspective… hell yeah. Thanks for the link to Phil’s blog, let’s remember what it’s all about.
Comment by isle — May 25, 2008 @ 5:30 am
Upbeat post!
The link to Phil801 was brilliant.
Good ideas; it’s nice to see things can get done without the entitlement-negativity. Good job!
Comment by Phil — May 25, 2008 @ 8:56 am
Twitter is having growing pains? I didn’t even notice!
Comment by Eric Hamilton — May 25, 2008 @ 11:58 am
It’s so strange… I finally decided to blog about our comedy show on Itunes and youtube and posted my first blogging experience “url” on twitter…. then…. well… it crashed.
Twitter crashed… and well… I think I might have crashed it…
I am sorry for crashing Twitter and might never blog again.
Watch “Two Guys Drinking At A Bar” - Starring Kevin Farley and Paul Preston
http://bp1.blogger.com/_Cw7o-mT_h3M/SDjdxDdPatI/AAAAAAAAACQ/2yicpPX29LI/s200/300.jpg
Comment by Mike J. — May 25, 2008 @ 11:59 am
But, I did learn about http://www.iminlikewithyou.com and its drawing/guess games last night because of Twitter. So, Twitter was comparable to dialup connections… slow… but still works for the important things.
Watch “Two Guys Drinking At A Bar” - Starring Kevin Farley and Paul Preston
Comment by Mike J. — May 25, 2008 @ 12:03 pm
I called my mom on skype to help Twitter out…but it’s not the same. I love posting things like in a row and I can’t do that on Skype… wait… did I just post in a row here?????
Watch “Two Guys Drinking At A Bar” - Starring Kevin Farley and Paul Preston
http://twoguysdrinkingatabar.blogspot.com/
Comment by Mike J. — May 25, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Star Wars was released 31 years ago today. I want to Twitter that.
Watch “Two Guys Drinking At A Bar” - Starring Kevin Farley and Paul Preston
http://twoguysdrinkingatabar.blogspot.com/
Comment by Mike J. — May 25, 2008 @ 12:07 pm
Hi,
Thanks for posting this, it is some nice perspective and I think I will try to do several things you mentioned.
But I will NOT be talking to people I don’t know in public, there’s no need to go COMPLETELY crazy. Besides, I’m not going outside just because Twitter is wonky…that big glowing day ball in the sky confuses and frightens me.
Comment by vidsaw — May 25, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
I really agree with this, any project will have struggles, just like any business does, during growth spurts. I really find myself annoyed at the constant complaining. No matter how often things happen.
You can complain if youre paying, otherwise, give them a break please.
Comment by craigsutton — May 25, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
Nah, I’m still just impressed when things like Twitter work. The bumps will get ironed out.
Comment by Mike J. — May 25, 2008 @ 9:11 pm
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