17 comments

• 

  James Whatley

  10 months ago

  Dude, on this you are completely and totally wrong.
  You're missing the point and not seeing the bigger picture...
  
  The *awesome* thing about Twitter is the DIRECT MESSAGES., (DMs).
  
  I find you online. I follow you. ...you follow me back.
  
  I don't know you well enough to give you my number and vice versa BUT through the medium of Twitter I can send an SMS direct to your mobile phone without having this personal information.
  
  This feature is now gone and I personally miss it a lot.
  I'm looking at a couple of solutions at the moment - TweetSMS, 3Jam and Twitteroo to name but three.
  
  'the drivel' as you call it, would cost a fair amount, you're right.
  
  But the solution I choose will only be for DMs and '@replies'.
  
  Do you see?
  reply
• 

  Ewan

  10 months ago

  Don't forget ZygoTweet.
  
  So you're going to pay to receive text messages? But only DM and @replies?
  
  Ergo, you too -- James Whatley -- *the* social media whizz, doesn't value
  the normal Tweets enough to pay for them?
  
  2008/8/26 Disqus <>
  reply
• 

  James Whatley

  10 months ago

  True - but I have other tools to assist me..
  
  1) Desktop clients like Twhirl and/or Tweetdeck
  2) The Mobile Web for http://m.twitter.com or the far-superior http://m.slandr.net
  3) When Twitter turn IM alerts back on I'll have them coming in via Gtalk & Agile.
  
  Ya dig?
  reply
• 

  Ewan

  10 months ago

  Let's just be clear though -- you don't value the normal Twitter traffic to
  your account enough to pay for it? Only the DMs and @replies?
  
  2008/8/26 Disqus <>
  reply
• 

  James Whatley

  10 months ago

  No - You're putting words in my mouth.
  
  If I didn't have the tools I listed above available to me then I would pay for the traffic.
  As it stands, I don't need to as I have other ways and means of dipping into the stream.
  reply
• 

  njar

  10 months ago

  would you pay to receive tweets or to send them? Or both? I think the model has to be that the sender pays?
  reply
• 

  bogart

  10 months ago

  I like that model, njar, although it reminds me of various pay-to-send-email spam solutions. The problem with Twitter, et. al. is the signal/noise ratio. Look at Ewan's examples at the beginning, I might be interested in the coffee one, assuming it was something of an invitation, but that only works if you're near me. I also might be interested in a post like "About to see the new .... movie", assuming I can easily comment (a'la Jaiku) and find out if it was any good.
  
  For the first one, a location component would be helpful. There are things I may care about based on proximity, although this would require some additional categorization on the sender's end.
  reply
• 

  Ewan

  10 months ago

  Therefore you don't value the main Twitter traffic enough to pay for it.
  Why would you only consider paying for the DMs and replies texted?
  
  2008/8/26 Disqus <>
  reply
• 

  TerenceEden

  10 months ago

  Meh. Why not just give some one your phone number?
  
  I get what you're saying - I only ever used the SMS for DMs. But as twitter uses email to notify you of DMs anyway - why not just set up push email on your phone?
  reply
• 

  Ewan

  10 months ago

  Agreed Terence. At what point do you simply just give someone your mobile
  number or email address?
  
  2008/8/26 Disqus <>
  reply
• 

  Mike42

  10 months ago

  If a
  
  Tweet
  
  is made in a room
  
  full of normal people
  
  <Haikubreak>(you know, the ones MNO's worry about, the ones who actually Keep The Lights On)</Haikubreak>
  
  
  does anyone
  
  give
  
  a toss?
  reply
• 

  Tom

  10 months ago

  The only thing that's really missing with the loss of SMS is getting msgs pushed to your phone via SMS, right?
  I don't think I've ever used SMS for the main twitter stream from those I'm following... I never used it anyway - agree with James here - the real value lies in DMs, @replies and #tags..
  I've got push email on my phone, so every time I get a DM I'm notified...
  If I'm following a conversation via #tag, I can just use mobile web... @ replies... mobile web...
  Bothered? nope. Twitter less useful on mobile? Only marginally. Just get an email instead of an SMS.
  A message is a message is a message... as long as it gets to me, I'm happy... don't care how.
  reply
• 

  njar

  10 months ago

  Ultimately Twitters main issue right now is that it needed plain old SMS to try and gain traction into the everyday Joe's psyche. Everyday folks don't have RSS feeds, or email on their phone, or 78 different apps on their 'top of the range' handset. They will eventually of course, as the barriers come down and awareness goes up, but right now they don't.
  
  There is no market right now for anyone trying to set up companies which allow users to pay for Twitters to be sent out on a wholesale basis (certainly not one which would justify the effort to set it up). The content works when it's free, but as we've all mentioned, when it's a discussion on 'cup cakes', then who actually gives a toss? It's a fun novelty for a geeky narcissistic 'elite'.
  
  It'll be interesting to see how it grows/evolves in regions where SMS is still free such as the US. I actually think if anything there'll be a user backlash against information dissemination overload anyway. Who apart from bloggers actually updates their facebook status anymore? We're the trailblazers in new technologies and we're slowly reducing down our social network exposure and tightening up our digital footprints.. aren't we?
  
  I think their future lies in the B2C world, although at that stage they're simply a software/solution vendor and they'll be competing in a much larger market..
  
  Discuss :)
  reply
• 

  Burak

  10 months ago

  I do miss getting tweets on my phone, despite their almost-usefulness. I'd pay, but 5p/message is too high. The thing is how much cheaper can it go?
  reply
• 

  Ewan

  10 months ago

  Would you pay 1.5p?
  
  2008/8/26 Disqus <>
  reply
• 

  nacho

  10 months ago

  I wouldn't pay, period. But I'm a cheapskate
  I now read twitter on the web or through the rss reader
  Don't miss the tweets as I only received DMs on my handset and can use pushmail for that.
  Only used the tweets for following events like Spain's election and similar
  Also none of my real life friends use it and would never use it if they have to pay for it
  BTW, does anyone know the penetration/popularity of twitter among UK normobs?
  reply
• 

  Ricky Chotai

  10 months ago

  I can't give you figures but as a 20 year old, none friends have used or have twitter!
  reply