23 Jan
I Really Don’t Care Where You Are, Really!
Twitter has recently exploded with 3rd parties applications that post just about everything from where you are to how much you weight to, how popular you are in the virtual world. Well I hate it, and if I hate it, then the world hates it. We all know that I know what the world wants. Well I propose a solution, after the jump.
When looking through my feed of about 160 twitter friends or the most vocal 100 friends on facebook, 75% of of the posts are link spam,* location awareness applications, or cross post spam on the two sites. And the reason the facebook spam messages are much less, is because I have the option to block an application.
I make the corollary, to facebook applications. The reason these applications exist, is to do constant advertising by way of the only thing that matters, the facebook, or twitter newsfeed. Think about Ad.ly’s business model. They will pay you per tweet based on how popular you are.
“Well ChaimTime, I solve your problem; just unfollow those people.”
It isn’t that easy. I can’t just tell people what is right, and for them to listen. How do I tell my sister to stop using farmville, or someone who I generally have an interest in 90% of the time to stop using a program that they like. I am not in the business of changing behavior.
For the record I like Brightkite, gowalla, and in limited capacity foursquare. I see this as the next evolution of twitter and facebook. These services can be integrated well with the right personal posting policy. However, I don’t want to know where you are all the time. Especially when the message says, I’m at this place without a personal message of why you are at this place. I rather have the choice to know where you are, if I so choose.
My solution is this:
Create a second profile in twitter for your miscellaneous third party application posts. I am formally introducing @whereschaimtime , where I will post all my location services, and any other third party apps that auto post to twitter. What this does, is let people follow you, if they choose. If they choose not to, they always have the option of manually going there later. It also doesn’t fill up your stream with spam that that is unneeded.
I want the comments…
*Link spam is defined as a shortened link with a title that is too vague for me to understand without going to the actual link. A second determination is any link that I have already seen, which is most links. On a mobile device, shortened links are a pain because it opens the inline browser which on the iphone is gimped because it has to proxy through mobile safari.
Posted by Mazzie on 23.01.10 at 11:32 am
I appreciate the spirit in which this alternative is offered. I also understand completely what it’s like to be annoyed by trending behaviors in twitter. when twitter first changed it so that you only see @ responses to people you are also following and people tried devising work arounds, that drove me to the brink. It still irritates the hell out of me when someone .@ responds. Another huge pet peeve of mine is when people RT all the #ffs that mention them. And then there are the RT abusers – the ones who seem to RT every. single. tweet. from someone I am not following, and the ones who seem to check into twitter once a day, just to RT their favorite 10 or 15 tweets of the day.
I’ve actually unfollowed one person for an irritating habit mentioned above. And it was really not just that reason, but more of a final straw.
Your alternative suggests creating a new twitter account, which is easy enough. But the last time I tried to create one, it wanted a unique email address as well. So now, in order to follow your advice, I’m creating a new twitter account and a new email address – two new things to check, passwords to remember, etc., to link to an existing third-party account. Maybe I am incredibly lazy, or overwhelmed with email accounts already, but it seems like too much effort.
The good news with Twitter is 140 characters is a lot shorter than my diatribe here, and so scrolling past the stuff that irritates me takes considerably less.
But since you’re the second person in my proximity in 24 hours to lodge a weighted complaint against foursquare, and I got here through Eddi, who I seriously adore, I am definitely considering unlinking foursquare and twitter.
Posted by John on 23.01.10 at 11:32 am
Chaim, listen, I understand that you want to be different, but for all intents and purposes, you really are the biggest social network “whore” that I know. Now, some people may think that comes off a bit rude, but it’s not, and it’s not meant to be. Literally, I hear about new social networks from Chaim, and usually with the message “Are you going to join xyz?” At that point I find out that Chaim is already a member and trying it. Maybe the issue is that people as a whole need to try something and it looks cool, but there’s really no reason to try something new?
I still stand by my belief that social networks will again consolidate, similar to how everyone hates myspace at this point.
Posted by chaimtime on 23.01.10 at 11:32 am
@Mazzie, you are right. There is a barrier to entry, but I want to set the example. You may be able to add a period to your email, and twitter (and google) will see it as another unique email. I actually really like the idea behind gowalla and foursquare (currently use gowalla more). But I really don’t need to know that you are in starbucks in east nowhere, kentucky. Moving it to another account with all the other auto posters lets me choose; and choice is what drives this country.
@John, I think you are right. I also want to mention that so far comments are working. I don’t like the fact that I have to approve the first one, but it may be a necessary evil to avoid spam bots.
Posted by Tweets that mention ChaimTime » Blog Archive » I Really Don’t Care Where You Are, Really! -- Topsy.com on 23.01.10 at 11:32 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Eddi and Haim Cohen, Haim Cohen. Haim Cohen said: new post: http://chaimtime.com/2010/01/i-really-dont-care-where-you-are-really/ [...]