Global Geek News Blog

Greetings Readers!

I have been surprised by the reaction I have received in last post about Twitter Etiquette.  I expected to get flamed, but not quite like I did.  I have decided to write a second post in response to the reaction I have received from the first post.  I also have some new rules that were brought to my attention after the original post.  Before I introduce the additions to my list of rule for proper Twitter etiquette, I shall respond to some of the comments I received over the last story.

Before I respond to specific issues, my “rules” are not something enforceable and are not intended to be.  They are for the benefit of the Twitter users and in hopes of keeping the Twitter service stable.  Twitter doesn’t need any help to crash, excessive usage doesn’t do them any favors.  That said, it seems that many people do not understand what Twitter is.

Twitter is a micro-blogging service, NOT a chat room or instant messenger.   If you want to have large discussions, use an IRC chat, not massive @ usage.  People who don’t care about your @ conversation don’t want their feed spammed with your conversation because you are too inconsiderate to move to an actual chat room.

I have had a number of people suggest that I stop following people that I had these issues with.  I don’t like doing that because occasionally these people Twitter something I find valuable.  In the months that I have used Twitter, I have followed probably 50 different people.  I stopped following four of the top users that I was following and it cut the tweets I receive by probably 75%.  While I won’t name names, but it is people like them that flood everybody’s Twitter feeds which ruin the experience for their fellow users.  I don’t like to stop following people, but if you have an unhealthy obsession with Twitter that creates a less enjoyable user experience for me, I will stop following you.  The purpose of my list is so that people don’t create a less enjoyable experience for others.

The final point I want to address that I have received some feedback on is my thought of multiple accounts.  While nobody seems to disagree with my idea of moving automated posts to a second account, many people don’t seem to understand my idea of having different accounts for different purposes.  The purpose of having multiple accounts is that followers may care about some things you post, but not everything.  By having an account for multiple things, you can have happy followers that care about that particular topic but don’t want to be inundated with messages that you post about other topics.  I will give you an example.  Say somebody hosts a large number of podcasts or blogs about several different topics.  If I enjoy some podcasts or blogs but don’t care about others, I don’t want updates about the stuff I don’t care about.  Having to sort through the posts I don’t care about to get to those that I do is both inconvenient and frustrating from a user experience standpoint.  Having choices is always better than being forced to take everying.

Now that my response to reader comments is over, I want to introduce a couple of new rules for proper Twitter etiquette.

1. Messages should not be split up over multiple Twitter posts.  There is a reason you only have 140 characters to post in.  Like I mentioned earlier, Twitter is a micro-blogging service.  If what you have to post about takes more than one post, it should be posted in a blog.
2. Twitter is not a chat room.  If you are having large conversations that involve multiple users, move it into an actual chat room.  There is a reason that IRC has been used for many years and is still very popular.  It is far better for a conversation than filling up peoples feed with @ messages about whatever you are discussing.
3. Posting the exact same message multiple times should be avoided at all costs.  If you are unsure that a message went through, check your feed before you post the same thing over again.  Nobody likes to be flooded with identical posts, especially if its something they don’t care about.

I have no plans to write a third blog post on this topic unless I see it necessary as I have other topics I would like to write about.  If I feel the need to respond to a comment, I will do so in the comments section.  Before you post a comment, keep in mind that my list is to improve the user experience of the twitter users, not attack your personal usage habits.

-Jeremy “pcnerd37″ Bray

With the explosion in popularity that Twitter has received, especially with the massive usage at SXSW, it has become very clear that some facets of twitter are beginning to annoy people. For the benefit of all twitter users, I have made a list of rules for Twitter usage.

1. Conversations that require more more than two @ replies should be moved over to a direct message. People not involved in the conversation don’t want to be spammed with conversation that should either take place at the water cooler or in private. I don’t care if you are trying to decide on a place for lunch with your twitter friend. If it doesn’t involve a large number of your twitter followers, don’t fill our twitter feed with your discussions.
2. If you are going to Twitter events, do it on an alternate account. For the sake of the sanity of those not at the event such as SXSW, we don’t need to be made jealous by your twittering of every person you run into or panel you listen to. Use a second account that your followers can follow if they want to know every detail about your event experience.
3. You should not twitter more than once every 15 min unless it is in reply to another twitter user. Certainly there are situations that make for an exception to this rule, but generally speaking, especially those people that are alerted via text message, get annoyed with constant twitters from a single person. It can also be very costly to those that get message via text message. I have stopped following several people for excessive twitter usage. You should never twitter more than 30 times in a day unless you want to lose followers.
4. Do not follow massive amounts of random Twitter users for no reason. I have had many random people follow me that only a handful of people follow, yet they follow thousands of people. You cannot keep up with all of those people and are generally seen as a spammer hoping people will follow them so they can promote their projects. As a personal rule, there is no way I will follow you if you follow more than a thousand people than follow you.
5. Automated Twitter messages should be done on a second account. I have noticed this problem primarily with Twitter users that use their account to announce things like when they are broadcasting on sites like Justin.tv. If you are going to enable such an automated Twitter messaging feature, use a second account for it so that if you have a bad connection and are constantly coming on and off, people don’t get spammed with messages they don’t want. Much like having a second account for Twittering about events, the same goes for automated Twitter messages.
6. Don’t post the same thing to multiple services. If you are going to have accounts for all the different services like Utterz and Pownce, post unique messages to each service. Don’t post the same thing to all of the services. Nobody wants to receive the same message multiple times because they follow you on multiple services. Decide what you want to post to what service and stick with it. Don’t post a single message to multiple services.
7. If you have many projects that you want to plug updates on Twitter, make dedicated accounts for each project. I admit to breaking this rule, but if you have a project that you post every change you make, or have multiple projects that have regular changes, they should have their own, dedicated accounts. It is always a good idea to keep business and personal things separate. Not only will this keep from annoying your current followers, but it will also allow people interested in your projects to stay up to date without getting messages about every aspect of your life.

If you want to keep your followers happy and grow in Twitter popularity, I highly recommend following these rules. These are the rules that I have come up with that seem to address the worst problems I find on Twitter. If you have more to add to the list or have an issue with my rules, please post your opinion in the comments. While I choose twitter, many of these rules apply for the other services such as Pownce or Utterz.

There are now even more Twitter Etiquette rules!  Check out Twitter Etiquette Part 2!

Follow me on Twitter!

-Jeremy “pcnerd37″ Bray

Gerry Riveros, Red Hat product manager for their latest product, Global Desktop Linux said that the new product was being delayed until September. The product includes the Linux operating system software as well as other software for running on the desktop or laptop.

The reason for the delay is that Red Hat wants more time to investigate the possibilities of the ability to play a wider range of video formats including DVDs and streaming media.

If Red Hat hopes to be taken seriously as competition for either Microsoft’s Windows or Ubuntu, media capabilities should not be an afterthought that is tacked on the end of the product development.

In today’s media and entertainment centric society, the entertainment software should be just as important to develop as the productivity software. If you want mass market penetration, you should try to target the largest customer base possible. By focusing on concepts like entertainment sooner rather than later, you allow yourself more time to create a better user experience. Rushed products rarely turn out good for the consumer.

The concept of User Experience has become a major player in modern software. Software should be simple and user friendly, while powerful enough to do the complex tasks many will throw at it. This is a concept that Microsoft has mastered and Ubuntu has a great grasp on. Making software powerful while not overly complex is a tough job, but a vital one if you intend to make an impact on the market.

You can have the best software in the world, but if its difficult to use, then the consumer will seek alternatives.

While I approach the new Red Hat product with skepticism, I look forward to seeing what it can bring to the desktop and how it can help the end user.