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Bigger to me is the VP of Product - Josh McFarland - just bailed out 30 minutes ago too: https://twitter.com/crazyfoo/status/811331557608652800 https://twitter

by aresant 10y ago

Bigger to me is the VP of Product - Josh McFarland - just bailed out 30 minutes ago too: https://twitter.com/crazyfoo/status/811331557608652800 https://twitter.com/crazyfoo/status/811331557608652800 AKA outside of Dorsey, who is a split / shared CEO, who is in charge of Twitter?

johns 10y ago
I hope using a tweetstorm to announce his departure was a subtle shot at the company's inability to ship a product the way people want to use it.
- madeofpalk 10y ago
  I know I might sound like a vim user, but tweetstorms are honestly one of my favourite parts of twitter. Maybe there could be a better UI for authoring and displaying them, but there's something I really enjoy about reading a story 140 characters at a time.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - dopamean 10y ago
    Judging by the amount of noise I've heard recently on this topic you may be the only person who like that.
    - sandworm101 10y ago
      It's cute. It's part of the medium. Books must have pages. Tweetstorms must have 140char tweets.
      - trhway 10y ago
        >Tweetstorms must have 140char tweets. seems to be matching the pacing of a graphic novel.
        madeofpalk 10y ago
        You know what, that's exactly it. The comparison of the pacing perfectly captures what makes it feel so unique.
  - md224 10y ago
    I've been saying this for a little while now: Twitter should really try to capitalize on Tweetstorms. What they don't seem to realize is that Tweetstorms enable Twitter to be a kind of inverse annotation platform. Most annotation platforms enable large chunks of text to be dissected by readers, but a Tweetstorm is the opposite: the author specifies the exact segmentation of the text as they release it, and each segment can be individually commented on or shared. It forces authors to present their ideas as a sequence of small interlocking arguments. The medium enforces rhetorical granularity, for better or worse. I can't be the only person who sees this potential. Come on, Twitter, build this out... I'll even let you hire me to work on it. :)
    - lhnz 10y ago
      What is there to build out? I guess it could be made more obvious for those that don't get it, but it's already being used in exactly the way you describe by Twitter's power users.
      - walterbell 10y ago
        Integrate it with W3C annotation standard, extending the standard to incorporate tweet storm strengths.
      - md224 10y ago
        You're right that it's already usable, but it could be even better. For example: 1) Making it easier to compose Tweetstorms (third-party services like WriteRack exist, but it would be nice to have official support). 2) Enhancing the display of Tweetstorms to make them easier to follow. Right now, the UI for viewing Tweet replies is the same regardless of who's replying to who. Twitter could make it so that a person's replies to themselves (the building blocks of a Tweetstorm) have a unique look-and-feel compared to replies from followers. This would emphasize the Tweetstorm as a distinct type of posting, rather than something jury-rigged out of self-replies. 3) Not Tweetstorm specific, but make it easier to have and follow branched conversations. Sites like Reddit have this down already, while Facebook and Twitter seem reluctant to let anything go beyond one level down. Let people branch! It would actually make things easier to follow, and it would also allow for something (sort of) novel: branched Tweetstorms! Linear text is so 20th century! :)
  - prawn 10y ago
    Same. My thought for this, and I wanted to build a media industry specific alternative to Twitter using it, was to allow a tweet/story to have depth/paging. So, imagine your timeline is a regular, vertical stream. But any tweet could have paging on the horizontal axis, and you'd hit next or swipe to continue reading. Anyone browsing could read the opening tweet and ignore the rest if they wanted. Subsequent tweets within the first could have a video, image gallery, etc. Analytics would show the writer how many people delved how far into the content. So, for a sports story, some people might scroll past, or read the first couple of sentences, but a strong fan would read every detail down through the analysis and stats. Not sure why they haven't tried this. They could supplant some news that currently exists as links outside of the app.
    - jpt4 10y ago
      Are you familiar with Ted Nelson's hyperorthogonal data structures [0]? [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigZag_(software) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigZag_(software)
    - madeofpalk 10y ago
      > I wanted to build a media industry specific alternative to Twitter using it Considering really the only people on Twitter is just Media people...
      - prawn 10y ago
        Which is why I'm surprised that the media lap it up rather than collectively building something they have more control over. Of course, it would take an industry organisation to arrange that and in my experience those bodies aren't really capable of doing something at that scale.
  - pjc50 10y ago
    Why? I like the content of some tweetstorms, but the UI for them is just so bad I feel they'd be better off as a blog post if they're written contiguously. (Exception I suppose is the live tweetstorm, where someone is just getting on their soapbox)
  - wattt 10y ago
    I personally really hate these. There is always one or two good posts that hook me in but then the bias/politics/etc gets revealed when you read the rest. My friends retweet them but in the end I just think the author (and my duped friend) are idiots. Maybe it is just who I follow...
- OoTheNigerian 10y ago
  FWIW, he used our product http://writerack.com http://writerack.com to do his Tweetstorm. I feel great!!
  - laser 10y ago
    Why are you getting downvoted? People seriously need to lighten up ;)
    - minimaxir 10y ago
      [self-deleted]
      - OoTheNigerian 10y ago
        It's not irrelevant. The person spoke about him using a feature he thought Twitter should have. Tweetstorms. From far away Nigeria (you may know it as Africa;)) we built something that filled the need and the head of product at twitter using it is the biggest endorsement one can get. Of course, I could have chosen to be more elaborate in my comment and be like minimaxir but sometimes few words are better. I am excited and i let it out.
        minimaxir 10y ago
        [self-deleted]
        OoTheNigerian 10y ago
        You aren't the author. I didn't read it as sarcastic and if people were talking about tweetstorms and I found out my tool was used to build it, I'm sure it is not irrelevant to point it out. You would get my point if you tried building something and had it used. It seems you have carried on with your monitoring behaviour from Techcrunch comment days. You can downvote and go in peace but please quit your lecture. Thanks.
      - 10y ago
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- clamprecht 10y ago
  What's wrong with reinventing TCP/IP over twitter? Sometimes they even appear out of order.
- gdulli 10y ago
  This is the company that leaked they were doing an algorithmic timeline, it was really unpopular and they said they weren't doing it, then it turned out to be a lie when they started rolling it out 2-3 weeks later.
x0x0 10y ago
Josh came in from the TellApart acquisition, an adtech/retargeting/data company, where he was ceo. I can't understand how he was vp product on a social network.
- chillydawg 10y ago
  Because it's not a social network? It's an advertising brokerage.
  - rahrahrah 10y ago
    Yeah? And Facebook isn't a social network either, it's an advertising brokerage? And Google isn't a search engine, it's an advertising brokerage? The Financial Times isn't a newspaper, it's an advertising brokerage? Spotify isn't music streaming, it's an advertising brokerage?
    - dmix 10y ago
      And users aren't important, just their eye balls.
    - tapoxi 10y ago
      Financial Times and Spotify make money on subscriptions.
      - kristianc 10y ago
        Actually Spotify lost $194m last year on subscriptions.
    - SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
      Didn't Facebook recently get called a "free content ad network"? I think that term describes most of those companies well, as it incorporates their business model. They just vary in what kind of content or service they offer with their ads. I dont think it's unfair to call a business what it is -- just like we do with farms or investment firms, though they greatly differ in how they go about that business model.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
argonaut 10y ago
He was A VP of Product. Not The VP of Product. The head of product is Keith Coleman, who was preceded by Edward Ho (interim, now also (interim?) head of engineering) and preceded by Jeff Siebert (both of whom are still at the company).
- mynameishere 10y ago
  So, they have one product but multiple VPs of product? Sounds like some trimming was in order.
  - argonaut 10y ago
    Facebook has multiple VPs of product. So does Google. This is common...
    - Karunamon 10y ago
      Facebook and Google aren't financially struggling. There's something to be said for "too many chefs" when your main issue is doing something, anything to make some cash. Perhaps some downsizing was truly in order. On the other hand, losing this many execs in this short of time almost never bodes well, which means their stock price is going to tumble even further without something drastic happening soon.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - balls187 10y ago
        > Facebook and Google aren't financially struggling. Because advertising on Facebook and Google pays off. Twitter, afaik, has struggled to be a relevant ad platform.
        cbsmith 10y ago
        Depends on what you mean by "relevant"... It took in nearly $550 million last quarter.
mikeryan 10y ago
Anthony Noto COO http://www.recode.net/2016/12/6/13814264/twitter-anthony-noto-growth-promotion-jack-dorsey http://www.recode.net/2016/12/6/13814264/twitter-anthony-not...

by aresant 10y ago

johns 10y ago

I hope using a tweetstorm to announce his departure was a subtle shot at the company's inability to ship a product the way people want to use it.

madeofpalk 10y ago
I know I might sound like a vim user, but tweetstorms are honestly one of my favourite parts of twitter. Maybe there could be a better UI for authoring and displaying them, but there's something I really enjoy about reading a story 140 characters at a time.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- dopamean 10y ago
  Judging by the amount of noise I've heard recently on this topic you may be the only person who like that.
  - sandworm101 10y ago
    It's cute. It's part of the medium. Books must have pages. Tweetstorms must have 140char tweets.
    - trhway 10y ago
      >Tweetstorms must have 140char tweets. seems to be matching the pacing of a graphic novel.
      - madeofpalk 10y ago
        You know what, that's exactly it. The comparison of the pacing perfectly captures what makes it feel so unique.
- md224 10y ago
  I've been saying this for a little while now: Twitter should really try to capitalize on Tweetstorms. What they don't seem to realize is that Tweetstorms enable Twitter to be a kind of inverse annotation platform. Most annotation platforms enable large chunks of text to be dissected by readers, but a Tweetstorm is the opposite: the author specifies the exact segmentation of the text as they release it, and each segment can be individually commented on or shared. It forces authors to present their ideas as a sequence of small interlocking arguments. The medium enforces rhetorical granularity, for better or worse. I can't be the only person who sees this potential. Come on, Twitter, build this out... I'll even let you hire me to work on it. :)
  - lhnz 10y ago
    What is there to build out? I guess it could be made more obvious for those that don't get it, but it's already being used in exactly the way you describe by Twitter's power users.
    - walterbell 10y ago
      Integrate it with W3C annotation standard, extending the standard to incorporate tweet storm strengths.
    - md224 10y ago
      You're right that it's already usable, but it could be even better. For example: 1) Making it easier to compose Tweetstorms (third-party services like WriteRack exist, but it would be nice to have official support). 2) Enhancing the display of Tweetstorms to make them easier to follow. Right now, the UI for viewing Tweet replies is the same regardless of who's replying to who. Twitter could make it so that a person's replies to themselves (the building blocks of a Tweetstorm) have a unique look-and-feel compared to replies from followers. This would emphasize the Tweetstorm as a distinct type of posting, rather than something jury-rigged out of self-replies. 3) Not Tweetstorm specific, but make it easier to have and follow branched conversations. Sites like Reddit have this down already, while Facebook and Twitter seem reluctant to let anything go beyond one level down. Let people branch! It would actually make things easier to follow, and it would also allow for something (sort of) novel: branched Tweetstorms! Linear text is so 20th century! :)
- prawn 10y ago
  Same. My thought for this, and I wanted to build a media industry specific alternative to Twitter using it, was to allow a tweet/story to have depth/paging. So, imagine your timeline is a regular, vertical stream. But any tweet could have paging on the horizontal axis, and you'd hit next or swipe to continue reading. Anyone browsing could read the opening tweet and ignore the rest if they wanted. Subsequent tweets within the first could have a video, image gallery, etc. Analytics would show the writer how many people delved how far into the content. So, for a sports story, some people might scroll past, or read the first couple of sentences, but a strong fan would read every detail down through the analysis and stats. Not sure why they haven't tried this. They could supplant some news that currently exists as links outside of the app.
  - jpt4 10y ago
    Are you familiar with Ted Nelson's hyperorthogonal data structures [0]? [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigZag_(software) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigZag_(software)
  - madeofpalk 10y ago
    > I wanted to build a media industry specific alternative to Twitter using it Considering really the only people on Twitter is just Media people...
    - prawn 10y ago
      Which is why I'm surprised that the media lap it up rather than collectively building something they have more control over. Of course, it would take an industry organisation to arrange that and in my experience those bodies aren't really capable of doing something at that scale.
- pjc50 10y ago
  Why? I like the content of some tweetstorms, but the UI for them is just so bad I feel they'd be better off as a blog post if they're written contiguously. (Exception I suppose is the live tweetstorm, where someone is just getting on their soapbox)
- wattt 10y ago
  I personally really hate these. There is always one or two good posts that hook me in but then the bias/politics/etc gets revealed when you read the rest. My friends retweet them but in the end I just think the author (and my duped friend) are idiots. Maybe it is just who I follow...
OoTheNigerian 10y ago
FWIW, he used our product http://writerack.com http://writerack.com to do his Tweetstorm. I feel great!!
- laser 10y ago
  Why are you getting downvoted? People seriously need to lighten up ;)
  - minimaxir 10y ago
    [self-deleted]
    - OoTheNigerian 10y ago
      It's not irrelevant. The person spoke about him using a feature he thought Twitter should have. Tweetstorms. From far away Nigeria (you may know it as Africa;)) we built something that filled the need and the head of product at twitter using it is the biggest endorsement one can get. Of course, I could have chosen to be more elaborate in my comment and be like minimaxir but sometimes few words are better. I am excited and i let it out.
      - minimaxir 10y ago
        [self-deleted]
        OoTheNigerian 10y ago
        You aren't the author. I didn't read it as sarcastic and if people were talking about tweetstorms and I found out my tool was used to build it, I'm sure it is not irrelevant to point it out. You would get my point if you tried building something and had it used. It seems you have carried on with your monitoring behaviour from Techcrunch comment days. You can downvote and go in peace but please quit your lecture. Thanks.
    - 10y ago
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
clamprecht 10y ago
What's wrong with reinventing TCP/IP over twitter? Sometimes they even appear out of order.
gdulli 10y ago
This is the company that leaked they were doing an algorithmic timeline, it was really unpopular and they said they weren't doing it, then it turned out to be a lie when they started rolling it out 2-3 weeks later.

x0x0 10y ago

Josh came in from the TellApart acquisition, an adtech/retargeting/data company, where he was ceo. I can't understand how he was vp product on a social network.

chillydawg 10y ago
Because it's not a social network? It's an advertising brokerage.
- rahrahrah 10y ago
  Yeah? And Facebook isn't a social network either, it's an advertising brokerage? And Google isn't a search engine, it's an advertising brokerage? The Financial Times isn't a newspaper, it's an advertising brokerage? Spotify isn't music streaming, it's an advertising brokerage?
  - dmix 10y ago
    And users aren't important, just their eye balls.
  - tapoxi 10y ago
    Financial Times and Spotify make money on subscriptions.
    - kristianc 10y ago
      Actually Spotify lost $194m last year on subscriptions.
  - SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
    Didn't Facebook recently get called a "free content ad network"? I think that term describes most of those companies well, as it incorporates their business model. They just vary in what kind of content or service they offer with their ads. I dont think it's unfair to call a business what it is -- just like we do with farms or investment firms, though they greatly differ in how they go about that business model.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

argonaut 10y ago

He was A VP of Product. Not The VP of Product. The head of product is Keith Coleman, who was preceded by Edward Ho (interim, now also (interim?) head of engineering) and preceded by Jeff Siebert (both of whom are still at the company).

mynameishere 10y ago
So, they have one product but multiple VPs of product? Sounds like some trimming was in order.
- argonaut 10y ago
  Facebook has multiple VPs of product. So does Google. This is common...
  - Karunamon 10y ago
    Facebook and Google aren't financially struggling. There's something to be said for "too many chefs" when your main issue is doing something, anything to make some cash. Perhaps some downsizing was truly in order. On the other hand, losing this many execs in this short of time almost never bodes well, which means their stock price is going to tumble even further without something drastic happening soon.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - balls187 10y ago
      > Facebook and Google aren't financially struggling. Because advertising on Facebook and Google pays off. Twitter, afaik, has struggled to be a relevant ad platform.
      - cbsmith 10y ago
        Depends on what you mean by "relevant"... It took in nearly $550 million last quarter.

mikeryan 10y ago

Anthony Noto COO http://www.recode.net/2016/12/6/13814264/twitter-anthony-noto-growth-promotion-jack-dorsey http://www.recode.net/2016/12/6/13814264/twitter-anthony-not...