@mpesce and @nickhodge and @twitter - better?
Originally uploaded by bigmick
(Haven’t blogged for a while, so busy, but here is a quick one..)
I had a go at Twitter the other day, and it looked like I was having a go at some of my Twitter friends. Nick Hodge particularly. But I wasn’t.
I was lamenting that Twitter doesn’t do everything I want it to do. To be honest I was flat out and didn’t want to put up with any Twitter crap. And when I saw a conversation going on in MY twitter stream, I put my foot down.
Funny thing is, I have so many communication devices, that all do different things, and STILL I’m unhappy. Is there no pleasing me? Is there no pleasing you?
The reality is that it’s a constantly changing, evolving and tidal situation. From one minute to the next I want and need different things. How can 1 app do that? How can 10?
So Twitter comes out of that melee looking brave AND smart.
Brave - “Nope, we’re not going to let you write more than 140 chars and we’re not going to give you tools to have 1 on 1 conversations. This is Twitter. Love it or hate it, but this is it.”
Smart - “OK, sure, if you want to play around and make your own stuff up that does crazy stuff with maps, desktop apps, and blogs, great. go for it, here is the keys to the front (onramps) and back (offramps) doors. Enjoy, just keep the place tidy and listen to the guests”
The smart is a (you’d think) no-brainer. Don’t develop it all. Build a great core and open up the doors to let the champions decide how it fits with the world. OK, it’s not that easy.
The brave is hard. It’s a tough balance. I know, because I’ve yelled Woohoo when I’ve gotten it right and I’ve cried into my mouse mat when I got it wrong.
And there is no formula. No book by someone smarter than me who’s going to tell you how to do it.
And even no metric. No measuring would have told Flickr to make pictures public. Metrics only measure the result of what you did. It will never tell you what would have happened if you didn’t do that. Unless you test (test, test, test, test) of course.
Balance is the art and the science.
Anyway, I’ve still got work to do and I love it, so I’m going back to the books.
Meanwhile, tell me if you agree with the balance question. Tell me if you think Twitter has it or if someone will get it right and wipe em up?
Popularity: 29% [?]
