Conversation

I don't find it more pleasant in the slightest. I follow the people I want to follow because they write things I want to read. What does Twitter do? Send me people's likes & retweets of viral tweets, because people occasionally write "fuck", "idiot" & so on. I don't want this.

Quote Tweet

Claire Berlinski.

@ClaireBerlinski

Aug 21, 2018

It is dangerous, yes, for once I agree with Trump. But he's missing the point. The notable thing isn't the banned accounts. It's the change in algorithms that's made Twitter so much more pleasant recently. uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa

Show this thread

Replying to

There are definitely some odd things going on; some of the people I find most interesting are rarely on my timeline any more. I'm increasingly having to manually go and periodically check what people have been up to, presumably missing a lot of stuff.

Replying to

and

People don't seem to be following anywhere near so readily any more, either, apart from fairly high profile accounts with a focus on popular topics. There's a gradual homogenisation that's reduced the value significantly for me.

Replying to

and

I'm not sure that the value of twitter to any particular individual, (perhaps excepting those w/millions of followers), is of any concern whatsoever to twitter. Creating safe spaces for commerce, yes. Promoting robust discussion, no.

Replying to

and

Medium- to long-term, it's a terrible idea to kill the user experience this way. You lose engagement, and while the initial fall may not affect bottom line, the next competitor will. But yeah, short-term I don't think they give a shit - or they wouldn't be doing this.

10:15 AM · Aug 22, 2018Twitter Web Client

Replying to

and

The Facebook algorithm is more obvious; broadly speaking, I suspect it can be summed up as a mechanism for keeping people on Facebook for as long and as exclusively as possible. I can only assume that Twitter is ultimately aiming for the same.

Replying to

and

Reducing satiety by spacing out and randomizing gratification is a real thing (more clicks between each cool thing = more user clicks = more time on website). But it also leaves people feeling demonstrably "meh", and erodes their investment in what they're doing over time.

Show replies

Replying to

and

I don't think Twitter is governed entirely by rational concerns, unless their aims are very different than advertised. There's a lot of emphasis on consolidation of power (e.g. shadowbanning), at the expense of growth and trust (& so revenue). But who knows what their aims are?