feb 1
2009

Twitter's Early Days

Twitter is three years old; one of the founders writes about its creation. "For months, we were in Top Secret Alpha because of competing products like the now-defunkt Dodgeball. "

15 comments

I'm new to Twitter but have now found 5 things I love about Twitter.

posted by Matthew Cain at 4:28 AM on February 2, 2009

There's been a lot of speculation about how Twitter will be monetized. I bet there are lots of people who'd kill for that level of free content being provided by their userbase.

Of course Twitter doesn't have to be used to generate income as this Twitter For Internet Marketers video on Youtube shows.

posted by John Taylor at 5:05 AM on February 2, 2009

Actually I think Twitter has a good following because of the lack of advertisements.

posted by Nick Demarco at 8:36 AM on February 2, 2009

I like twitter because everything is fragmented so i get a short summary without having to read too much

Mehaul

posted by Mehaul at 1:00 PM on February 2, 2009

Yes, reading is hard...when you're a spammer.

posted by CRZ at 3:49 PM on February 2, 2009

Yeah, this is some of the most interesting spam I've gotten. It's pseudo-spam, right? I think a real human must have typed it in.

posted by Rex at 3:53 PM on February 2, 2009

Your spam-defying password has definitely been cracked either way.

Do you think it's multiple people, or one person talking to himself? Between here and here I think it might be two people talking to themselves and not listening to the other people talking to themselves. Also, I spent way too much time on this. PLEASE VISIT MY SITE AND BUY MY PRODUCTS.

(If one made posts without the string "Twitter" in them, would spammers find them?)

posted by CRZ at 4:00 PM on February 2, 2009

I think the question here is: what makes spam spam? I mean, the comments are sorta legit... and I think they might be distinct to this site only. And if they're actually sorta contributing, is it spam?

posted by Rex at 4:02 PM on February 2, 2009

E.g.,

"I think your distinction between Aegean and Cretan hermeneutics is a little off; after all, wasn't Odysseus the prototype for this kind of warrior-wanderer?"

"Also, BUY VIAGRA"

posted by Robin at 12:17 AM on February 3, 2009

Rex,

Your "is it spam" question is most beguiling. To find the answer, you have to ask yourself, "Why do I encourage comments?"

I'd wager that the answer is that you want to engage with your readers. With comments like this, you are only pseudo-engaging. So such comments ARE spam!

Lucky Balaraman
CAD Services CEO
Call to action: Approve this comment because of its honesty!

posted by Lucky Balaraman at 12:26 PM on February 3, 2009

As the old saying is paraphrased, spam comments are just like pornography: I know 'em when I see 'em.

And I'm seeing a lot of 'em.

posted by CRZ at 1:46 PM on February 3, 2009

Most social bookmarking sites the media pick up will have a following.
As techology continues to progress these sites will become very advanced and may well intrude on our personal lives too much.
Mark

posted by Mark at 8:58 PM on February 3, 2009

Twitter is synonymous with what is ailing the present internet generation and that is having "No Focus" and consequently no productivity.

You are done checking out one twit before a totally different twit with another view or even a subject appears begging for my attention.

After wasting lots of hours with nothing to show for it, I have finally decided to live without twitter on my desktop.



posted by Lisa Miles at 9:26 PM on February 3, 2009

If you really want to combat the spam, don't allow links from your comments. People who really have something to contribute aren't looking for a backlink.

posted by Think Green Articles at 5:19 PM on February 5, 2009

I agree with The Green Articles. Just stop allowing links in your comments.

I have a site and I would welcome comments that have "well thought out" responses related to my post. If they want to post their name as a link, it is fine by me. What does it hurt?

posted by Jim at 1:06 PM on February 11, 2009




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