Three Things Twitter Needs to Fix

For years Twitter seemed to have an unassailable position as the new CNN, the place everyone goes to spread and read news. Journalists rely on it for breaking stories much more than people realize, world leaders rely on Twitter to get their news out in real time and when disaster strikes following Twitter live has replaced CNN.

Now Twitter growth has stalled and investors are getting nervous. Partly this slowdown in user growth is caused by the emergence of new alternatives that didn't exist in 2006 -- people have more choices and the market is more fragmented. But this stalled growth is also at least partly because Twitter has slowly become much less appealing for users, to the point where some drastic action will be needed to restore confidence. I am sure that people at Twitter are already working on this problem, but here are some issues that they could and should be fixing right now.

PREEMPTIVELY ADDRESSING HOSTILE CONTENT. One of the problems that deters many would-be Twitter users is the volume of offensive, hostile and threatening Tweets from anonymous users. For anyone in the public eye this has become a serious problem and people who don't enjoy reading death threats tend to either avoid Twitter, avoid any controversial topic or simply pay someone else to take care of it. None of these solutions is in the interests of Twitter. What would work better is to create an environment where there is zero tolerance of threats and insults. One way to approach this is to adopt a real or near-real name policy. Another might be to pursue legally anyone who makes any kind of threat. I have long wondered why all the big social media companies don't just pool their resources and go after any trolls that cross the line of legality. They could even attempt to apply stricter rules of politeness, following the example of Quora, where rudeness is simply not tolerated. Even the site's Top Writers can be banned for life simply for being impolite to another user.

RESTRICT THE ABUSE OF AUTOMATED ACCOUNTS. Another problem that turns off Twitter users is the difficulty of finding human users to talk to. Five or six years ago human users were still very common and live interactions completely normal. Today there are too many people who rely on automation, who never ever respond to a Tweet. These accounts are both pointless for the owner and frustrating for everyone else. Many of these accounts are apparently completely abandoned by their owners and continue to auto-Tweet low value content with no human intervention. I often test this by sending a message to people who interact with my account. When no reply comes I assume that there is no human there at all. Some accounts simply tweet the same "my tweet stats this week" or the annoying Paperli spams. To address this problem Twitter should simply tighten up their API rules and restrict auto follow, auto direct message and other anti-Twitter practices. 

ACTIVELY ENCOURAGE CONTENT PROVIDERS. Finally, Twitter should be fostering partnerships with content providers, encouraging them to share their news on Twitter and also to collect inputs through Twitter. Give content sources good reason to choose Twitter as their primary channel and they are more likely to stay there, attracting other users. There's a reason people prefer to share through Facebook and Instagram. Just leaving the content to manage itself worked in 2006. Ten years later the spoilers are more sophisticated so the good content providers need more help.

Lectures, Workshops, Coaching and Writing

Andrew Hennigan does lectures, workshops, coaching and writing about social media and other communication topics. For more information call on 0046 730 894 475  or email speaker@andrewhennigan.com. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Best Regards: How to Start and End Your Emails

Image
Last year I wrote that to make your email more effective you should put meaningful content into the subject line, keep your messages short and consider other channels (see Three Timesaving Tips for Email ). I also wrote some guidelines about common culture problems when email crosses borders (see Three Non-Obvious Ways Culture Affects Email ). But there is one other question about international email that comes up regularly in workshops: how should you start and finish? Do I use "Dear", "Hi",or "Hello" to start with? What do I do if I don't know if the person I am writing to is a man or a woman? "What is the difference between "Best regards  and "Warm regards"? This is a question that puzzles many people and a while ago it stressed me, too. But the answers to these questions are perhaps easier than you imagine. DEAR MR/MRS WHATEVER . First of all, at the start of a mail you probably have some sort of salutation. How do you kn
Read more

Reverting to Emails: Confusion and the Indian English Language

Image
In workshops about global email many people focus on their issues communicating with colleagues in India. Partly this is related to some deeper cultural differences that lead to misunderstandings. But many problems are also caused by the different ways in which Indian people use English. There are some "English" words that you will probably only hear in India, like " stepney ", their word for a spare wheel. A hundred years ago this term was coined in the UK and was exported to India where it survived. Back home only a few antique vehicle enthusiasts have any idea what it means. There are also many English expressions that are peculiar to India, like "What is your good name?". But in both cases an English speaker from elsewhere would just see an unfamiliar expression and either ask what it means or google it. Most problems are caused by another kind of difference: where a standard US or UK English word is used but with a different meaning. Recently s
Read more

TED’s Magical Red Carpet

Image
Watch any TED(x) video or, better still, attend a live event, and you will probably notice that speakers stand in the middle of a circular red carpet. This choice is not just a question of aesthetics. That red carpet actually plays a key role in the success of the TED format. Having the speaker stand in the middle of a red carpet has several important consequences, leading the speaker to follow best practices that they might not be aware of. No script or notes . Since there is no table, lectern or other furniture within reach, the speaker cannot easily read from a script. This forces them to deliver their talk from memory, which is much more compelling because few people can read from a script and make it sound natural. And no matter how good you are at reading, the audience can see that your eyes are scanning the text and this breaks the magical connection with their minds. Encouraging people to speak from memory pushes them to make a much better talk than they might ot
Read more