8 ms·

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.

by johns 10y ago

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.

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.

by 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.