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Twitter's new timeline feature

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Re: Twitter's new timeline feature

#41

Post by Jordrok »

Hang on... Didn't Jack Dorsey explicitly state that they weren't going to do this just a few days ago?[1]

"We never planned to reorder timelines next week."

I guess you could argue that the timeline isn't "reordered" since the top tweets will still be in reverse chronological order and then whatever comes afterwards will also be in chronological order, but that's still some seriously weasely language.

I guess that just goes to show how effective Twitter is as a medium for expressing complex ideas...

[1]https://twitter.com/jack/status/696081566032723968

Re: Twitter's new timeline feature

#42

Post by benten10 »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #24

Maybe I'm reading this differently, but isn't this the perfect solution? - If you want it, you can have it. - If you don't, you aren't forced to. - It's opt-in This will probably be pilloried — as it appears to already be here — since I suspect the #RIPTwitter damage is already done, but this does sound like a reasonable compromise. New feature that might get more people using and engaging in the system but won't cha…

Naah. As I mention in a comment elsewhere in the thread, this makes twitter into more of a popularity contest from a 'creator' point of view. Right now, you're pretty much guaranteed your friends will see your feed no matter what. Once they opt-in, (and don't remember/bother to opt in me into their 'real' feed) my voice is lost in the cacophony of other celebs. What this is essentially doing is fragmenting the core twitter experience that most users are currently in for, for a more fb-like feature. It matters to you even if you don't opt in, because that changes how your friends see your tweets.

Re: Twitter's new timeline feature

#43

Post by dchest »

anc84 wrote: post #4

Is that the annoying "While you were away" feature that I have been closing several times a day in the past weeks? I would like to disable it forever but there is no such option.

I love this feature! Most of the time I use the old version of Twitter for Mac, but every time go to twitter.com and see "While you were away", I realize that I miss quite a few interesting/important tweets.

Re: Twitter's new timeline feature

#44

Post by seanwilson »

blakesterz wrote: post #11

>> Here's how it works. You flip on the feature in your settings; then when you open Twitter after being away for a while... That's perfect, I need to flip it on, just how things like this should be added to anything!

> That's perfect, I need to flip it on, just how things like this should be added to anything!

I really don't have much of an opinion about the Twitter feature, but if a new feature appears in an app that is going to be beneficial to most users, making it off by default guarantees the vast majority of users will never see it.

Re: Twitter's new timeline feature

#45

Post by dilap »

evan_ wrote: post #38
dilap wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The banner at the top say's "shitposter's and conservatives" might want to check out other services. Nice start. The entire TOS is a marvel of blackwhite-style thinking. Because "users who harass others" and "racism, sexism, ableism, homo- and transphobia" are "in practice limitations of free speech," we get the following, quite remarkable policy: "Moderators can exclude users from appearing in the public timeline it…

Please, explain how it's a limit of "free speech" to not be published. I had no idea the constitutional abuses The New York Times was subjecting me to by not running my Farscape episode recaps!

Who said anything about the US constitution or constitutional abuses?

Within a platform (such as twitter or quitter), the platform-runner is analogous to the government. The TOS (analogous to laws in a traditional government) can choose to value free-speech, or not.

What chafes me is the Orwellian language. To avoid "limitations of free speech," moderators can "exclude user's at any moment...without warning." Unless you're at a pretty advanced doublethink level, that is certainly not a free-speech-enhancing policy.

It would be more honest and less scary if proponents of such policies simply admitted they were prioritizing other goals.

Re: Twitter's new timeline feature

#46

Post by thenduks »

DangerousPie wrote: post #21

I know I'm going against the grain here but I think a feature like this actually makes a lot of sense. Maybe I am not as heavy a Twitter user as other people here, but I hate how easily I can miss important tweets if I just don't check my feed for a few hours. Since I am also on a different time zone than many people I follow, I end up having to catch up on hours of tweets every morning by scrolling down the page for…

Have you considered using a client that doesn't stay scrolled all the way to the top (TweetBot has a toggle for "pin to top" for example)? I would find what you're describing pretty much a deal breaker in my use of twitter, so I use this feature and literally read every tweet from everyone I follow. When I open twitter (and it syncs between desktop/mobile), I'm at the same spot I was when I opened it last.

Re: Twitter's new timeline feature

#47

Post by maus42 »

Jordrok wrote: post #41

Hang on... Didn't Jack Dorsey explicitly state that they weren't going to do this just a few days ago?[1] "We never planned to reorder timelines next week." I guess you could argue that the timeline isn't "reordered" since the top tweets will still be in reverse chronological order and then whatever comes afterwards will also be in chronological order, but that's still some seriously weasely language. I guess that ju…

Well, looks like it's opt-in at least for now, so probably your timeline will not be reordered at all if you don't want to during this week.

Re: Twitter's new timeline feature

#48

Post by dorfsmay »

benten10 wrote: post #36

As the resident Twitter fanboy, I'd like to point out something most people here (and elsewhere) who support the change seem to be missing out. We (Twitter users) are not as much worried about our stream being polluted, as much as OUR tweets not being seen. Currently, as long as people are online, there's a certain guarantee that they will see it. You don't need to reach out for popularity, because they'll see it any…

You're assuming that all twitter users are constantly online, and constantly checking tweets. I check twitter once or twice a day. I don't care about their algo, I treat twitter like a mailing list (follow few people, read all their tweets).

Re: Twitter's new timeline feature

#50

Post by dilap »

Amorymeltzer wrote: post #24

Maybe I'm reading this differently, but isn't this the perfect solution? - If you want it, you can have it. - If you don't, you aren't forced to. - It's opt-in This will probably be pilloried — as it appears to already be here — since I suspect the #RIPTwitter damage is already done, but this does sound like a reasonable compromise. New feature that might get more people using and engaging in the system but won't cha…

It's opt-in for a couple of weeks, and then they're flipping it for everyone.
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