When others didn't share I didn't play with them anymore: twitter, you listening?

Or...it's called social NETWORKING for a reason!

Once again, in a massive twitter fail, twitter has jumped first, asked questions later. (and then not really listened to the answers!)

2800+ follow me. Of those, I follow 1800+ people. I listen to ALL of them. And their friends. If they say something I find interesting, I click over, and often follow them, too. It is how I find new people, and local people, events and tweetups, in order to actually, you know, meet real people and connect in real life. I have met a lot of really great people, both online and off. And a lot of that is attributed to seeing all replies.

And I would hope if you are following my stream, you do the same. But that isn't going to be an option anymore. Because twitter has taken that choice from you. The settings for @replies used to have three toggles:

• all replies
• replies of all you follow
• replies from those you follow to all of their followers.

You had a choice. Now, you don't.

The entire reason for social media is, well, social. To limit the options is not the wisest course for twitter to have taken. Power users like @chrisbrogan,@kevinrose @GeekMommy and others, who ooze social media and tweet things I really want to know? I will miss replies unless I am following all 10,000+ of their followers. I don't have time for that. This is just short-sighted on twitter's part. The value of twitter has always been discovery of new users, and the conversations that arise. Twitter has effectively crippled themselves. And explain how this will help those who do social media business on twitter?

What set twitter apart was the ability to hear ALL of the conversations or as much as you would like. It is like drinking from a firehose...not all want to do it, but some of us enjoy getting soaked in the conversation. Now, our streams became significantly less wet. If I wanted a drinking fountain, I would do iChat. I am looking to be immersed in the fountain of social media. I want to be soaked to the skin! So twitter has miscalculated here. Judging from the way #fixreplies is trending, I am thinking they will have to address this, whether they want to or not!

And twitter isn't the only option out there. There is Facebook, a platform that is gaining popularity with the last update. I can still see the things my friends (and theirs!) are up to. I can follow their friends, if I choose to do so. I have said before that Facebook feels like I am cheating on my boyfriend, Twitter, but breaking up is hard to do...not impossible.

Or there is @Scobleizer's baby, friendfeed, which uses all types of feeds to create a "superfeed" that is customized by you. You can add RSS, all of your social media sites...lots of choices.

Part of the problem here is that twitter has never cared what their user base wants...unless we are Ashton Kutcher. We have never been important to them, and they have made that clear from the beginning. Every time they change things, they announce, and that's it. Take it, and like it.

Facebook changed their user agreements based upon feedback. Entrecard changed their policies based upon what their users said. But twitter has remained unresponsive. I suspect this isn't about "convenience" for users, as much as scaling a terrible and shaky foundation. Twitter has always maintained it is not a messaging platform. And it was never created to be. And yet... that's exactly what it is. See: Identi.ca ...the open-source system that actually gets it right from the ground up.

Rather than punish users, the very users who have made twitter a household name, that gets them recognized on CNN and has Oprah following, they need to turn towards the myriad of build problems, the fail whales and the missteps, rather than remove features that users are actually well...using.

And, they need to listen to their users. Or their users just might not be there when push comes to shove.

Agree with me? GET SATISFACTION and tell Twitter exactly how you feel about this new change.

ETA: there is a work-around. start tweets without the @, so it becomes a mention rather than a reply. Then everyone will see it. As in, "Hey @namegoes here,..." But it's annoying, and the point is, we shouldn't have to do that. Also, it breaks threading on messages (so you can actually go back and figure out what someone was talking about!) and doesn't allow for RT through the web interface. We had the option, now we don't. And that's limiting. How many will not change their tweets as they post, and how many conversations will we miss out on because of it?

UPDATE: Twitter listened, and brought back @replies, sort of. But ony if EVERYONE doesn't start with either the replies arrow or tab, or doesn't start with the @... still not there yet, twitter, but we can see you are trying. Kind of.

T, who is beyond frustrated by their idiocy

Twitter Blog: Whoa, Feedback!

Weasels totally don't make good pets and he's not that hot, anyway

Social Media. Admit it, it's a time suck. You know it is. There are 400 bazillion places to sign up your name, and you have to anyway, so people don't snarf your really cool moniker. Because, you never know when someone will take your uber-hip name and go and post on kick-yer-puppy sites or I Hate The Blind and then people come to your blog and leave you hateful comments and you have to explain that, "No, that wasn't me, it was an impostor who was pretending to be me, I would never hurt sweet little innocent puppies (they're so cuuute) and blind people rock" but if it was weasels, that would be a different story, because weasels are mean and fast and will probably get in your bed and bite your butt, so that's why they don't make good pets and why this post isn't about the care and keeping of weasels. But if it was, it would kick ass and be the best post ever. But it's not.

And social media like twitter, Facebook, a thousand and one Ning networks, blog directories, blogs, blogs, more blogs (I pretty much only read the stuff from my Blogroll anymore and the people who leave comments here...sorry, I know you are a kick ass writer, or you wouldn't be in my Google Reader, but I just can't keep up with that crap. It just sits there, mocking me and multiplies exponentially. Once in a while I read a post or two, but they just keep adding up, kind of like Octomom's progeny. So know it isn't that I don't love you, I am just freaking overwhelmed!) Besides, since the bloggy-bloggy thing is a community, I want to be able to comment on the blogs I read, and there's only so much time in the day. CPS frowns on ignoring children in order to read blogs. Apparently, kids gotta eat. Regularly! Who knew? If you want to be in my blogroll, let me know, and I will send you the proper forms and I assume you have a notary near you? And can mail chocolate? As you know, I prefer the dark stuff.

Facebook, I don't really know why I am there. Twitter is my love, and I hang there pretty regularly, and kind of feel like when I visit Facebook, I am cheating on my boyfriend. Only he doesn't know it? And you know, this new guy, the one I am steppin' out with? I am beginning to see he really isn't that hot, in fact his teeth kind of separate in the middle and he yaps about football all the time and constantly asks what my name is, and gets it wrong, a lot. Today it's some Celtic thing and tomorrow he calls me a hippie name...and he mentioned something about my True Nature being Vulcan, maybe he is brain-damaged. And he always wants to know what I would take to a desert island (which is strange conversational fodder and I think he is feeling me up out because he is going to kidnap me and take me there and then I'll have to escape using dental floss and bamboo to make a killer raft because I have seen Gilligan's Island and Survivor, thank you) and he's always yammering on about people I don't know and don't care about, but they know my friends or something. So apparently I am supposed to care that they are getting groceries or upset that Dollhouse is being cancelled or something. So, yeah.

There was this one awesome thing he told me, quizzed me about What Random Object I Was and I ended up being a Fishbowl, which is totally not me, I am not all see-through and shallow...

"A clear sphere, your purpose is to hold something interesting, without being so interesting yourself. However, if you weren't there, another life would go down the toilet...."

So then he says:

You're stranded on a desert island. You brought one item, and now you're really irritated that you brought it.

• What is it?
• Playstation 3
• Duct Tape
• A weasel
• Dental Floss
• Box of tissues

Facebook was also all flirty and told me I could answer "a weasel" to every question about the Random Object, so I tried that, too... then I was a Drinking Straw:

"An excellent suck-up. Despite your festive exterior, you're ultimately hollow inside. However, you're bendy, and that flexibility will help in your search to find the chocolate milkshake to fill your hollow recesses."

I like chocolate. And milkshakes. I wonder if weasels like milkshakes...?

T, who clearly needs to spend less time online

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The Social Media Fishbowl

The Blogosphere is abuzz over David Prager and the fact that he was twittering and Ustreaming while a perfect stranger walked into his house, used his bathroom and passed out in his bed. I am late to the party, but I have been thinking about this, and I kind of understand it.

Don't get me wrong, I am not that far gone. There is no way this Mama Bear would stand by while someone played Goldilocks in my bed, and I'm sure most others would feel the same. If I was sitting at my computer when the person walked in, yeah, I would probably tweet it. But then I would be screaming, calling the police, and locking myself in the nearest room, in that order.

I think however, I get how this kind of thing happened. In this age of social media, with everything so connected, it can feel like living in a fishbowl. I have found the humor in every day situations, In times past, some would have said it was material for their novel. These days, we are standup comedians, and... it's all comedy material. :tap tap:: is this thing on? Some have said those who are involved in social media are self-absorbed. On the contrary, we are usually outgoing, (at least online) and want to share our lives with others. We see the value in people. It isn't that those involved are narcissistic, as we have been accused. We simply want to share in the experiment that is the Internet. If someone spends a great deal of time on the phone, he is not branded a narcissist, he is seen as socially agreeable.

So then, why is someone who spends time networking with friends considered less than that? I have many friends online. Some I have met and some I may never meet. Yes, there are degrees to those friendships. Some are lifelong, some are buddies, some are mere acquaintances. But they all matter to me. I have helped many with autism information, and I remember details about people because I genuinely care about what happens to them. And if they drop me a line and need my help, and it is within my power to do so, I will provide it. That's the beauty of social media.

Years ago,it was all about BBS systems. Later it was forums and email loops.Not to mention chat rooms, where people connected in real time. This is just an offshoot of those, as the Internet evolves. Today, it is possible to connect to more people than ever before. It is not narcissistic to be involved with others. On the contrary, it's what makes you human.

T, who really loves the rise of social media

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Find Me

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typeamom where I'm Special Needs Editor

I am the Orange County Special Needs Kids Examiner,I cover local and national special needs topics with an emphasis on autism. If you have information or a topic that needs to be covered, shoot me an email. sendchocolatenow at gmail. You know the drill.

Or, you can tweet me.

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I wrote over here about living with autism...each comment was a fundraiser for Autism Speaks

Autism Sucks

A Thank You From Me to You

I know you are busy, and have a lot of other things you could be doing. I want to sincerely thank you for participating on my blog. I notice, and I am grateful. I hope that just a small portion of what I write is helpful to you, or touches you. If you leave asking questions you hadn't thought of, then my job is done. Each of you is important to me, always feel free to get in touch with me.

I email. send me any questions or comments sendchocolatenow@gmail.com

I tweet. a LOT. Do I say interesting things? You be the judge. Feel free to tell me what you think. I can take it. @sendchocolate if you want to follow..I follow back, too.

I play nice with others:

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I have lots of toys... not all are listed.

Thanks again. You are valued.

T.