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> "Twitter got bought out by a low-attention-span, overconfident billionaire who started pulling out Jenga blocks to see whether the system would fall over, and

> "Twitter got bought out by a low-attention-span, overconfident billionaire who started pulling out Jenga blocks to see whether the system would fall over, and when it did, we all got crushed by the falling blocks." I've spent years mocking Twitter for it's short character limit (designed IMO for the low-attention-span trend) and the siloizing/bunkering effect of Facebook and groups (where never a contrary opinion is tolerated, much like with many of Reddit's subreddits). As an experiment I created a Twitter account for the first time when Musk took over the platform. It's not terrible but not great either - there are some decent sources of information and interesting accounts to follow, but the search function is still very poor, and there's what feels like a lot of algorithmic optimization of engagement going on. Finding interesting and informationally accurate accounts to follow is a bit of a struggle, but once you do it's not too bad. I doubt it was drastically different in the past.

Isamu 4y ago
>designed IMO for the low-attention-span trend Actually the original idea was about posting to the web from SMS, back in the days of limited message size
- chime 4y ago
  And a precursor to group texting before it existed and when texts were 10c each for most people not on an unlimited plan.
gonehome 4y ago
The other wrong thing about that quote is that Twitter hasn’t fallen over - it’s operating the same as it ever was.
- ISL 4y ago
  Yep. I've ported myself over to Mastodon in case it is needed. The primary community that I interact with on Twitter has done the same. With that backup in place, everyone is still interacting on Twitter. The network effects are still quite strong. Search and useful recommendations are still excellent on Twitter.
deaddodo 4y ago
> and there's what feels like a lot of algorithmic optimization of engagement going on. Finding interesting and informationally accurate accounts to follow is a bit of a struggle, but once you do it's not too bad. I doubt it was drastically different in the past. I have never been able to use Twitter without this being dropped blatantly on my face. You can't go straight to a Twitter user's profile and read their own messages in a meaningful manner, let alone the main feed or search feed. And don't get me started on the threads and the arcane magic necessary to follow them completely.
- BlueTemplar 4y ago
  Yeah, every time I tried to use Twitter, I got the impression to be dropped into some kind of jungle where you couldn't see past a couple feets (posts) before your view getting blocked and you getting lost...
dibt 4y ago
The algo gets on my nerves sometimes. I don't need to see tweets from Jordan Peterson just because someone I follow, follows Peterson. I like using saved searches to find stuff that has a minimum amount of engagement: https://twitter.com/search?q=filter%3Afollows%20-filter%3Areplies%20min_faves%3A10%20min_replies%3A1%20min_retweets%3A1&src=saved_search_click https://twitter.com/search?q=filter%3Afollows%20-filter%3Are... Click the three dots to modify or save the Advanced Search. The saved search stays in your search field for easy access. You still get some of the good parts of the algo in the 'Top' section of the search results. Lists are a really nice way to dampen the more noisey accounts. I haven't found a way to specify a list in the search results. Also, you can follow a lot of relevant people, and then specify 'people you follow' in the search. Then if you search for a current event, you can get info from people you trust more.
msravi 4y ago
> and there's what feels like a lot of algorithmic optimization of engagement going on It's pretty easy not to see these algorithmic optimizations. (1) There's a link on the top right of the home feed that allows you to turn on a chronological feed instead of the algorithm-organized feed (2) Add accounts to a list instead of just "following" a feed (3) Use an app like twidere that allows you to quickly switch between your home feed and list feeds (with the added advantage that twitter promotions and recommendations of accounts to follow are filtered out) The net result is pretty good. I maintain separate lists of people on either ends (and center) of the political spectrum and it's easy to look at what they're saying and arrive at your own opinion/conclusion.
- hamilton987 4y ago
  [dead]
thefz 4y ago
Anything paragraph-length and it needs to be broken in numbered tweets to create a "thread". It's horrible for anything different from its base use case.

Isamu 4y ago

>designed IMO for the low-attention-span trend Actually the original idea was about posting to the web from SMS, back in the days of limited message size

chime 4y ago
And a precursor to group texting before it existed and when texts were 10c each for most people not on an unlimited plan.

gonehome 4y ago

The other wrong thing about that quote is that Twitter hasn’t fallen over - it’s operating the same as it ever was.

ISL 4y ago
Yep. I've ported myself over to Mastodon in case it is needed. The primary community that I interact with on Twitter has done the same. With that backup in place, everyone is still interacting on Twitter. The network effects are still quite strong. Search and useful recommendations are still excellent on Twitter.

deaddodo 4y ago

> and there's what feels like a lot of algorithmic optimization of engagement going on. Finding interesting and informationally accurate accounts to follow is a bit of a struggle, but once you do it's not too bad. I doubt it was drastically different in the past. I have never been able to use Twitter without this being dropped blatantly on my face. You can't go straight to a Twitter user's profile and read their own messages in a meaningful manner, let alone the main feed or search feed. And don't get me started on the threads and the arcane magic necessary to follow them completely.

BlueTemplar 4y ago
Yeah, every time I tried to use Twitter, I got the impression to be dropped into some kind of jungle where you couldn't see past a couple feets (posts) before your view getting blocked and you getting lost...

dibt 4y ago

The algo gets on my nerves sometimes. I don't need to see tweets from Jordan Peterson just because someone I follow, follows Peterson. I like using saved searches to find stuff that has a minimum amount of engagement: https://twitter.com/search?q=filter%3Afollows%20-filter%3Areplies%20min_faves%3A10%20min_replies%3A1%20min_retweets%3A1&src=saved_search_click https://twitter.com/search?q=filter%3Afollows%20-filter%3Are... Click the three dots to modify or save the Advanced Search. The saved search stays in your search field for easy access. You still get some of the good parts of the algo in the 'Top' section of the search results. Lists are a really nice way to dampen the more noisey accounts. I haven't found a way to specify a list in the search results. Also, you can follow a lot of relevant people, and then specify 'people you follow' in the search. Then if you search for a current event, you can get info from people you trust more.

msravi 4y ago

> and there's what feels like a lot of algorithmic optimization of engagement going on It's pretty easy not to see these algorithmic optimizations. (1) There's a link on the top right of the home feed that allows you to turn on a chronological feed instead of the algorithm-organized feed (2) Add accounts to a list instead of just "following" a feed (3) Use an app like twidere that allows you to quickly switch between your home feed and list feeds (with the added advantage that twitter promotions and recommendations of accounts to follow are filtered out) The net result is pretty good. I maintain separate lists of people on either ends (and center) of the political spectrum and it's easy to look at what they're saying and arrive at your own opinion/conclusion.

hamilton987 4y ago
[dead]

thefz 4y ago

Anything paragraph-length and it needs to be broken in numbered tweets to create a "thread". It's horrible for anything different from its base use case.