I use bit.ly for shorting links and tracking stats just like the article mentions. It used to work great for that. Paste a link, :boom: it's shortened, and I can press a button to copy. The only thing that would make it better is if I didn't have to click copy afterwards. Now, I have to click "add bitmark" (and figure out what the heck that is), paste the link, add an optional note, click save, then click copy before…
With delicious being totally dead, I think it is worth having at a new bookmarking service (haven't checked this yet myself).
Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
51–60 of 60 posts
Re: Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. It's ok to lose half your users, if the other half are worth 10x as much because of the change. This article describes how Meetup went through this and lost, 95% of their user activity overnight... and also incidentally became profitable. http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2751-scott-heiferman-looks-ba... My comments: http://swombat.com/2011/1/26/meetup-charging-bet-the-company
Actually, that particular example is the opposite of people loving the change. If you lose 95% of activity, most people must be hating the change. And it's not clear that the rest are loving it, unless their activity goes up. It's easy to judge others without knowing all the facts, but I'll admit I don't like the way Meetup handled that transition. Taking away something from users always seems like a bad idea. I pref…
I didn't say Meetup's users loved the change. In fact, they clearly did hate it - that's pretty obvious.
My point was that you shouldn't be afraid to do something that 95% of your users hate if:
a) those users aren't bringing in any revenue and are unlikely to do so ever
b) the other 5% love it and end up giving you much more in return (whether that's money or other things)
Re: Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
#53> As Bitly’s CEO Peter Stern told me, the company anticipated the negative reaction: “It’s the response from the vocal minority who are quick to complain about any change. We put a great deal of thought and effort into making the change as minimal as we could, but we recognize that people don’t like change.” How disrespectful.
How is this disrespectful?
Re: Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, that particular example is the opposite of people loving the change. If you lose 95% of activity, most people must be hating the change. And it's not clear that the rest are loving it, unless their activity goes up. It's easy to judge others without knowing all the facts, but I'll admit I don't like the way Meetup handled that transition. Taking away something from users always seems like a bad idea. I pref…
I didn't say Meetup's users loved the change. In fact, they clearly did hate it - that's pretty obvious. My point was that you shouldn't be afraid to do something that 95% of your users hate if: a) those users aren't bringing in any revenue and are unlikely to do so ever b) the other 5% love it and end up giving you much more in return (whether that's money or other things)
Ok, you agreed with my original comment and then gave the example of Meetup, so I misunderstood.
I disagree with your reasons for making big changes that most of your users hate, but that's probably because we disagree fundamentally on how to build a business.
Re: Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
#55Re: Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
#56I was so upset when I got to work this morning and found that not only had the chrome extension changed, the website had changed completely too. It used to be that I'd click on the chrome extension icon and immediately get a link along with the page title that I could post straight to twitter or facebook. The j.mp/bit.ly homepage was bookmarked in my bookmarks bar and showed me everything I cared about in one place (…
Genuine question: What would you be looking for in an alternative? What are the must have features of bit.ly that no other service offers?
I ask because I have to wonder why people are having such a hard time finding an alternative. I thought there are loads of services out there that did similar stuff?
Re: Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
#57I was so upset when I got to work this morning and found that not only had the chrome extension changed, the website had changed completely too. It used to be that I'd click on the chrome extension icon and immediately get a link along with the page title that I could post straight to twitter or facebook. The j.mp/bit.ly homepage was bookmarked in my bookmarks bar and showed me everything I cared about in one place (…
Genuine question: What would you be looking for in an alternative? What are the must have features of bit.ly that no other service offers? I ask because I have to wonder why people are having such a hard time finding an alternative. I thought there are loads of services out there that did similar stuff?
I use the j.mp version. its short.
All my stats in one place, viewable by only me.
Google Chrome extension that lets me get the title of a page with a short link with a click.
Tweetdeck integration
Re: Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
#58> As Bitly’s CEO Peter Stern told me, the company anticipated the negative reaction: “It’s the response from the vocal minority who are quick to complain about any change. We put a great deal of thought and effort into making the change as minimal as we could, but we recognize that people don’t like change.” How disrespectful.
How is this disrespectful?
Because it's a pre-canned response of someone out of tune saying "they don't know what they want so it isn't worth listening to them. Just let them complain till they realise that we were right all along."
Re: Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
#59I use bit.ly for shorting links and tracking stats just like the article mentions. It used to work great for that. Paste a link, :boom: it's shortened, and I can press a button to copy. The only thing that would make it better is if I didn't have to click copy afterwards. Now, I have to click "add bitmark" (and figure out what the heck that is), paste the link, add an optional note, click save, then click copy before…
You should check out weakurl. I wrote it last night! http://weakurl.com Rick
For how many years do you intend to keep that up? You might as well call it deadurl.com
Re: Bitly Goes Beyond Link Shortening, But Users Not Amused
#60Buy a short domain. Run your own URL-Shortener. It is not that hard and you'll have complete control over the interface and all the data and most importantly: the domain. Remember bit.ly went down because the Libyan government was not amused about some content? (Not sure whether it was bit.ly, but it was some .ly URL-shortener).
I believe you are referring to vb.ly.
Yes, thanks.