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Twitter Issues, Tissues for Short

Two facts are known through the web and tech community regarding Twitter: 1) It has quickly moved from a simple ‘what are you doing?’ tool to the poster-child of the micro-blogging phenomenon 2) It has been having huge scaling issues which has been causing service outages over the past several months. Both facts have created BIG issues for Twitter (Tissues).

I cannot add anything to the second Tissue, others have blogged about the technology and architectural framework issues that Twitter is experiencing. Ironically, Tim O’Reilly messaged his interest in blog post detailing some hypothesis about Twitter’s issues via a tweet itself. I definitely recommend reading it. Anyway, technology is one major Tissue, let’s leave it at that.

Secondly, micro-blogging has taken hold. This is also a major Tissue. Quite simply, there are so many things in the world you can convey in 140 characters (the character limit that Twitter allows in a single message). Anything you can think of, even notifying others of earthquakes, can fly in seconds over Twitter.  Because of this dynamic, many are shooting their thoughts over Twitter instead of blogging.  I find myself tweeting much more than blogging because I find I can convey much of the thought in two sentences so why ‘go on’ about it.  So we are witnessing a change in human behavior or at least the behavior of early technology adopters, we still must admit most of the world doesn’t blog or tweet.

Anyway, one could argue this dynamic is basically causing Twitter to slowly but surely handle all of the messaging load from every blogging platform out there, a major Tissue. In fact, now even when people blog, they shoot a note out via Twitter that their blog post is posted.  When they use FriendFeed, Tweets are fired out.  When people reply, Tweets are fired out. So Twitter’s success, adoption and use cases is what is causing all of the Tissues to begin with and could lead to Twitter’s downfall, the ultimate irony.

It is this irony that I find the most fascinating of all.  I’m personally rooting for Twitter.

BTW, I could have used Twitter to convey much of this via Twitter instead of blogging. In fact, I did to make a point.  And don’t forget to find my tweet notifying you all that I published this blog post ;) .

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  • As you suggest. I too have reduced my blogging frequency and increased Twittering. It's simplicity makes it easy, but the real key for me is the fact that its a living, vibrant community. People may visit my blog, but Twitter is a place where people live and interact
  • Doug, you are right, its beauty is in its simplicity. Micro-blogging a meme is simple. But Twitter's simplicity and ease-of-use is what is killing it as well. The infrastructure (at the moment) cannot keep up. The move to FriendFeed is gaining momentum every day as well.
  • I really feel that Twitter should drop the whole "what are you doing" bit, and just position themselves officially as a microblogging platform. Every time I try to explain Twitter to someone, I find myself saying "you're supposed to use it to tell the world what you're doing right now, but nobody actually uses it for that."
  • guess you are right Aaron but always a good think to have a simple message to explain yourself in a few words to new users. The advanced users figure out other uses anyway just by watching others so it isn't like it is limiting the potential or use cases.

    Surprised Twitter hasn't put a message out to users yet that says "can you please just say what you are doing like you are supposed to, that is all the system was built for. look for a new system in August where you can do other things as well like reply, promote your blog posts and use it as a messaging system" :)
  • Richy McCutiePants
    Lou - I think your website is great. Your views on micro-blogging are both inspiring and thought-provoking. In fact, I was recently at a Dungeons and Dragons convention, and I realized that a lot of the druids and warlocks that I met there share the same views as you. What a wonderful community you provide for us.

    By the way, you are extremely photogenic! Any chance we can get some coffee the next time you're out here in Cheyenne, Wyoming? We have really great coffee here. I think you would love it.

    Let me know!
  • lol, well Richy McCutiePants, all I can say is thanks. I love hearing that I have such a positive impact on those who read this blog!

    I also didn't know that Cheyenne, Wyoming is known for its coffee, great tip.

    Take care Wes! I mean Richie.
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