4 ms·

They're not using it for its purpose. See: http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_meta_name.asp http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_meta_name.asp Description: Defines

by tdavis 18y ago

They're not using it for its purpose. See: http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_meta_name.asp http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_meta_name.asp Description: Defines a description of the document The "document" in this case is a specific tweet which can best be described with its content since it is a self-imposed summary as-is. In short, you're wrong.

RossM 18y ago
This is one of the things that I feel is most misunderstood in HTML, the page's information should be specific to that page where possible. It's tempting to have a description that describes all your pages simply for easiness (hell W3S goes ahead and does it wrong in that example) but it should define what the page is about, an abstract of a document if you will.
sjs382 18y ago
w3schools is not an authority and has no affiliation with the w3c. With that said though, I see your point. I still stand by the fact that Google should be the one to parse this information and Twitter shouldn't be preparing it specifically for Google. Similar to how some YahooSearchMonkey developers are doing it with yahoo: http://csarven.ca/temp/ysm_serp-07.png http://csarven.ca/temp/ysm_serp-07.png http://identi.ca/notice/2691626 http://identi.ca/notice/2691626
- buugs 18y ago
  Why should google go out of their way to fix shortcommings of anothers website, twitter will be brought extra traffic by those not using twittersearch and google has nothing to gain by replacing twittersearch.
  - sjs382 18y ago
    Because Google's goal is "to organize the worlds information." Twitter's goal is not "to make organizing our data easier for Google."
    - tdavis 18y ago
      Twitter's goal should be "to properly use html tags/properties in a way that does not ruin search results". If Twitter provided no meta description, Google would be forced to create their own description, which you could then blame them for getting wrong. Instead, Twitter uses the tag inappropriately, which Google trusts. This isn't Google's problem; it is Twitter's. Whether or not Twitter cares is a different story entirely.
      - sjs382 18y ago
        Whether twitter cares or not, Google should care. That's what this issue boils down to. It's a problem with the Google user's experience, not the Twitter user's experience, despite who's fault it is.
- tdavis 18y ago
  Straight from the latest HTML 4 spec: The META element can be used to identify properties of a document (e.g., author, expiration date, a list of key words, etc.) and assign values to those properties. No matter where you choose your source, meta elements apply to the document. The document is not the web site. It is an individual page such as a tweet, a user's profile, or the homepage. Is that authoritative enough?

by tdavis 18y ago

RossM 18y ago

This is one of the things that I feel is most misunderstood in HTML, the page's information should be specific to that page where possible. It's tempting to have a description that describes all your pages simply for easiness (hell W3S goes ahead and does it wrong in that example) but it should define what the page is about, an abstract of a document if you will.

sjs382 18y ago

w3schools is not an authority and has no affiliation with the w3c. With that said though, I see your point. I still stand by the fact that Google should be the one to parse this information and Twitter shouldn't be preparing it specifically for Google. Similar to how some YahooSearchMonkey developers are doing it with yahoo: http://csarven.ca/temp/ysm_serp-07.png http://csarven.ca/temp/ysm_serp-07.png http://identi.ca/notice/2691626 http://identi.ca/notice/2691626

buugs 18y ago
Why should google go out of their way to fix shortcommings of anothers website, twitter will be brought extra traffic by those not using twittersearch and google has nothing to gain by replacing twittersearch.
- sjs382 18y ago
  Because Google's goal is "to organize the worlds information." Twitter's goal is not "to make organizing our data easier for Google."
  - tdavis 18y ago
    Twitter's goal should be "to properly use html tags/properties in a way that does not ruin search results". If Twitter provided no meta description, Google would be forced to create their own description, which you could then blame them for getting wrong. Instead, Twitter uses the tag inappropriately, which Google trusts. This isn't Google's problem; it is Twitter's. Whether or not Twitter cares is a different story entirely.
    - sjs382 18y ago
      Whether twitter cares or not, Google should care. That's what this issue boils down to. It's a problem with the Google user's experience, not the Twitter user's experience, despite who's fault it is.
tdavis 18y ago
Straight from the latest HTML 4 spec: The META element can be used to identify properties of a document (e.g., author, expiration date, a list of key words, etc.) and assign values to those properties. No matter where you choose your source, meta elements apply to the document. The document is not the web site. It is an individual page such as a tweet, a user's profile, or the homepage. Is that authoritative enough?