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Twitter changes @reply settings again, users protest
Twitter has now removed the option, and the new default for every user is that @replies that are both to and from someone you follow will be visible, but other @'s won't. The change was announced in a blog post called Small Settings Update. The move appears to have been made because an overwhelming number of users had been using replies this way, but I'm already seeing a bit of a frenzy in my normally-calm Twitter stream from people who liked discovering new users by seeing their friends @ them.
Perhaps the recent popularity of Twitter as a way to contact celebrities -- we're post-Oprah here, people -- made users a little sick of seeing the people they followed replying to celebrities they didn't follow or care about. There's a fairly simple solution to that, though: change the @reply settings yourself. I'm not sure what Twitter gained by removing the option, but I'm sure it will become clear when they respond to the backlash. My prediction: the settings go back to normal by the end of the week, or we hear a much better reason for the change.
Comments
14
Subscribe to commentsJim GilliamMay 12th 2009 11:33PM
My guess is it's for technical reasons. Very few people used it, and by removing it they gained some advantage technically by not having to support it.
retired524May 13th 2009 1:01AM
LIKE CHANGING IN MID STREAM.
TinaMay 13th 2009 12:22AM
I think it's about scalability. They are trying to dump "dead wood" and keep the site up and running. But at what cost? As usual, Twitter doesn't ask anyone before they just go off half-cocked. They have never cared what the users thought. Why change that now?
Facebook changed to be more like twitter. My thought is that with this change, twitter will lose some people.
AnnaMay 13th 2009 12:40AM
Comments above have key indicators ("I guess" and "I think") that Twitter does a poor job of asking for community input & effectively communicating changes w/reasons for them. Come on guys! Talk to us!!
ItsAboutTeaMay 13th 2009 12:57AM
It would make sense to make a trial session with a handful of experienced tweets and let them fill out a survey after. Personally I do NOT like this change. It takes options away from me and my business. http://itsabouttea.com
Claire Boyles (Business Coach)May 13th 2009 2:21AM
Thanks Jay for writing abou this!
Twitter give me back a choice!!
Being able to see replies from tweeple I'm following to tweeps I'm not has been key in me meeting the most interesting and wonderful people!!!
Twitter please reconsider, this is damaging the effectiveness of the networking value of twitter!
randomzanMay 13th 2009 1:37AM
please put it back the way it was. This is annoying. I am missing out on conversations between my friends because we are so used to responding to one person but actually we are talking to the room. Almost all my friends have it set up so we aren't public and have made twitter our personal chat room via text, IM, etc
TurboFoolMay 13th 2009 1:45AM
I'm beyond pissed off about it. I did use it heavily to find new conversation topics and new interesting people. Twitter instantly lost a great deal of interest for me. This needs to be changed back FAST.
ECS DaveMay 13th 2009 1:57AM
Why not tweet this link to getsatisfaction about reinstating the @replies option CHOICE? http://gsfn.us/t/6g7y
Maybe they will see that, and reconsider...
Be Well!
@ECS_Dave
DarrenMay 13th 2009 4:39AM
There is another thing you missed. this kills RT's as you won't see RT's from people you don't follow.
EricMay 13th 2009 7:26AM
I suggest just putting something before the @
so instead of putting "@DownloadSquad how are you...."
put something like "hey @DownloadSquad how are you...."
I have not tested this but since Twitter updated the site to show @replies as any tweet that has @(yourname) in it this should work.
EG TalbotMay 13th 2009 4:54PM
Not is this a bad move, they've done a terrible job explaining it. I'm not sure I understand it, but #10 Darren, as far as I can tell, you won't miss retweets, because retweets are not @replies. Looking at my stream, I think it's only tweets that begin with @ that are being blocked.
KeegdnaBMay 13th 2009 9:14AM
Twitter making useless techincal changes that will only prove to be a huge waste of time that people will bitch about and they'll change back in days?
and I thought Facebook was the one that was turning into THEM...
LynetteMay 13th 2009 8:02PM
I LOVED this feature. You could follow people you are following and their conversations. Now it's just updates and that's it. I used this to find new people and businesses to follow. Personally, I hate the change. I agree, Claire, give us the CHOICE.