Twitter Gets a Tweak

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Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 15, 2010 @07:08AM from the now-141-characters dept.

crimeandpunishment writes "Twitter is going multimedia. The text-messaging site has a new look with a new push. There's a new pane, making it easier for users to check out photos and videos (and in doing so, come back to the site more frequently and stay there longer, which of course means more advertising revenue). Twitter co-founder Biz Stone says, 'We are still figuring out all the new possibilities.' The new look is expected to roll out around the world over the next few days."

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Oh, thank you. by Anonymous Coward · 2010-09-15 07:09 · Score: 3, Informative

To the kind and wise and benevolent overlords of Twitter, I do humbly beseech you to focus your mighty efforts on correcting a little problem that prevents some of your modest and loyal servants from showing up in the fucking search results.
heh by Pojut · 2010-09-15 07:11 · Score: 2, Insightful

I'll tweak your twit!
But seriously though...I use Twitter primarily to follow people (game developers, musicians, etc), and many of these updates make that even easier to do. Overall, pretty happy with what's been done.

--
Living With a Nerd
1. Re:heh by zombieChan51 · 2010-09-15 07:12 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  That's about the sane reason to use twitter. I like following people who are working on projects or movies or something intresting and I can keep myself updated. Following someone who is just going to Tweet how their day was doesn't seem all that intresting.
2. Re:heh by Eponymous+Coward · 2010-09-15 08:21 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Why Twitter rather than RSS? I user a news reader to follow people but I can definitely see the trend is to using Twitter rather than RSS for announcing updates. Since Twitter is closed and RSS is open, this is a little disturbing to me.
3. Re:heh by nine-times · 2010-09-15 08:43 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I'm guessing it's because it's easier for people. To set up an RSS feed, you generally need to set up a site and set up the feed. Then you need to figure out a way to update that feed, and find software that you want to use to follow other people's feeds.
  Twitter has set up the site and the feed for you. You can get specially built software for your phone to update/follow those feeds, or else you can do it through SMS. And if you want to find other people's feeds, there's a single site you can go to.
  Not that I'm defending Twitter. I don't like Twitter or Facebook or any of those social networking sites, and I think it should all be done with open protocols and open software so you can set up your own sites and configure your own privacy settings. I think most people still wouldn't bother to set up their own site, and would still want some kind of searchable index of people to follow.
Limits... by Shadow+Wrought · 2010-09-15 07:12 · Score: 5, Funny

Of course the pictures are limited to 140x140 pixels, and the videos are limited to 140 frames, but, other than that; its an outstanding service!

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If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
Facebook vs. Twitter by iONiUM · 2010-09-15 07:27 · Score: 2, Interesting

I'm going to be honest here, I've used both twitter and facebook. When twitter first launched, my first reaction was "how is this any different than a facebook status?" The sad part is, there still isn't really an answer to that that doesn't start rambling on.
Really, with this update it seems that twitter is converging to a full social network-ish type site, and facebook is already incorporating changes to be more like twitter. Google is trying for both sides (buzz and me). I'm starting to get confused...
1. Re:Facebook vs. Twitter by D+Ninja · 2010-09-15 08:02 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  how is this any different than a facebook status?
  The answer from a semantic standpoint - nothing. The real answer is - Twitter is public by default, while Facebook is private by default (well...security/privacy concerns aside). This changes how people interact. For example, if I want to interact with developers that would otherwise not be interested in work that I am doing, Twitter provides a potential avenue. I can also specifically choose to follow only those people or organizations who I care to learn more about.
2. Re:Facebook vs. Twitter by Eponymous+Coward · 2010-09-15 08:26 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Facebook used to be private by default, but I don't think that's the case any more.
3. Re:Facebook vs. Twitter by eloki · 2010-09-16 00:21 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  No, the short difference is that friend relationships on Facebook are symmetric but on Twitter they're asymmetric. Just this minor difference changes the usage dynamic. People can be interested in my updates without my being forced to see their updates.
Re:I'm confused by NiceGeek · 2010-09-15 07:47 · Score: 3, Insightful

Twitter probably looked at all the 3rd party sites like TwitPic, Twitvid, etc and saw there was a demand.