This'n'that: observations du jour : #2

It's all a numbers game in the end

Like many people in the cyber space community, I'm a Twitter user, some may call us twits but that's a whole other subject. According to Twitter stats, which keep track of these things, I've been a twitter-er since 2009. Way back then, everyone was joining the group and as a writer it seemed like a good medium in which to let people know about my creative output. The idea is to communicate one's present status in 140 characters and keep people coming back for more entertaining personal revelations that fall into "what's happening" category. My philosophy in as far as sharing Twitter updates is share if it's an interesting and/or entertaining subject that will elicit a response. Therein lays the challenge: getting people to respond. What may strike my fancy doesn't necessarily interest others.

As a playwright or at least a person who writes plays, it's an ideal tool in which to give Twitter followers a taste of my plays. This seems to attract attention and accordingly the stats go up. Lately, though, it appears my numbers have dropped, which leads me to the point of this piece. The other day, there was an e-mail announcement notifying me to avail myself of the "Twitter Analytics" service and according to their blurb, "you're putting out there, so it's time you were able to see what's getting the most love." Usually, I'm an adherent of ignorance is bliss but decided to get an appraisal of my virtual worth. According to their statistics and within a 28 day period, I had  22 profile visits, a drop of 15.4%, 3 mentions indicating a 50% hike in numbers, my top tweet earned 26 impressions (whatever that is) with the subject focusing on a robot marriage.  In my defence, there have been numerous requests (okay...a lot of requests) by people to be followed that have been refused for one reason or another, so that in itself decreases the number of people who might have been slighted at my refusal, which in turn is reflected in the statistics. In the end, there is the consolation that at least my 643 Twitter followers - an increase of 9 by the way - are tweet on each other.

Note: discovered what "Impressions" are and according to Twitter: "When we say "impression", we mean that a tweet has been delivered to the Twitter stream of a particular account. Not everyone who receives a tweet will read it , so you should consider this a measure of potential impressions. Both reach and impressions should be treated as directional metrics to give you an idea of the overall exposure the tracked term received. Use these metrics to get a sense of the size of your potential audience, and use engagement metrics like retweets, clicks and replies to gain a more complete understanding of your impact."

So...like...maybe it's just me but my impression is that I still don't understand what impressions are. You?

The bike-cycle

As a person who enjoyed cycling through suburban streets as a means of exercise and getting around, I'm aware of the appeal in participating in this great cardio sport, however... Why do many cyclists feel that red lights don't apply to them? They fly through intersections without even bothering to slow down, daring motorists to impede their pace. Given their means of transportation versus a car, their lack of concern for stop signs and/or traffic lights is intimidating, not to mention anxiety inducing. On occasion and being who I am, I'll point out the red light/stop sign.  Most ignore me but I've received the middle finger on occasion for my effort. Wonder how many tickets have actually been given out to cyclists by police. Traffic rules are for everyone, including cyclists.

Making a splash

To the best of my knowledge, a swimming pool being filled with water, is designed for people to swim and/or enjoy water-related activities. Sometimes...many times people will splash water on each other by accident causing them to get wet. For whatever reason, some people - females for the most part - make it verbally known that they are against splashing of any type. The most frequent complaint heard (at least in our condo pool) is "don't splash my hair!" Well ladies who fall into this category, a reminder that perhaps the best action to take is to stay out of the pool and thereby avoiding the possibility of being splashed, period. Water is wet! At least that's my solution but if anybody else has a better suggestion...

Question du jour

Can't help but notice there's an inequality when it comes to serving tea and coffee ("there she goes again - ranting on about tea bags..."). In cafes which serve coffee and tea, where do tea drinkers put their tea bags once the correct strength is achieved and they're no longer needed? Somehow, placing it on a bare table or napkin just seems so...un-couth. Perhaps a small disposable receptacle should be supplied when served tea, in which to place the tea bag.  Something like this:



Just saying...

Some more random (very) thoughts about Twitter and tweets

Once again my Twitter count has me concerned about its authenticity. Right now people reading this are probably thinking that this is a complaint expressed many times by this blogger. Really, it shouldn't bother or concern me in the grand scheme of things but it does.

Let me clarify that Twitter is a useful communication tool. As a writer, it's a means in which to publicize my blog updates. I mean, there's no sense in sharing one's view if nobody reads it. Right? My philosophy in as far as "following" people/places/things is that it has to mean something to me personally. Being that I'm an aspiring playwright with hopes of having one of my plays produced before I depart this world for that great theatre in the great beyond (feeling very philosophical), I'll follow and tweet theatres and theatre-related people to keep abreast of the business. As an artist, tweets and updates from creative types following me will be reciprocated, as are humor writers/writing blogs and literary matters. Then there's the cornucopia of tweeters who might not be related to my interests but intrigue me on a personal level to follow them.

It's somewhat trivial but there is something annoying upon discovering that my "follower" count has dropped. True it doesn't happen that often but it's disturbing not knowing who dropped me and the reason. So I'm thinking here, perhaps Twitter should provide a category for this very issue. Something to the effect: "Hi blank-blank! Just a short note to tell you that I'm not following you anymore because you didn't follow me back." At least there would be a reason - not that it would make a person feel better. Perhaps another space could be provided where the drop-ee could ask for re-consideration: "Please reconsider following me again because..."

On occasion Twitter does make errors in their tweet updates and in the past, it/they/whatever Twitter is, reversed my followers and following lists. Twitter has this subject covered in their "Help" section under the "My follower count is wrong" section:

• If you received a message from Twitter alerting you to a new follower, but don't see that person later in your followers list, it's likely that user was removed for spam activity, unfollowed you, or deactivated their account.

Naturally, e-mails were sent to notify them of the errors of their ways but in the end, the count remained the same.

Another issue is nowhere is it mentioned how to determine the identity of the drop-per so it's pure speculation at best. In the end it's all a numbers game, anyway, and every tweet counts. To paraphrase a line from an Elvis song: tweet me right.

Dear Twitter followers and former followers - I'm puzzled

Dear Twitter followers, especially those who no longer follow me,

I'm puzzled. You obviously found my profile interesting enough initially to follow my witty updates. However, over time and for what ever reason, you dropped me. This leads me to wonder if there is anything I wrote or didn't write, which compelled you to make this decision.

For those reading this who are not familiar with my blogs - I have seven of them - they cover a wide variety of subjects including commentary about the times we live in (Gimme a Break), condo living, playwriting, gardening (used to be a passionate gardener before going condo), painting (my current obsession du jour), and the others. I mean - hey - there are certainly enough updates to pique your interest in one of my blogs, so what's the deal?

Okay. I have to admit that there have been occasions as I'm sure is the case with other Twitter-ers, in which I didn't return a "follow.". Let's be candid: if I don't or can't relate to a person's background or if it's an overt attempt to promote a service some of which relate to a sexual service, I don't reciprocate a follow. That being written, I'm curious. As an aside - I'm big on these - had four people drop me over the last few days. What can one say? Can't please all the people all the time or even some of the people some of the time. Right?

So...like...was it my photo...something I wrote....

In for the count - Twitter still following me (update)

It's been almost a week now and Twitter appears to have solved my follower count. Won't bore everyone with the details regarding how Twitter for whatever reason, presumably technical problems, stopped recognizing new followers, following me.

To date I have two -count 'em - new followers but...Twitter has still not recognized or returned my four or five 'older' followers. I keep wondering (too much time on my hands) if the people who are interested in my updates are wondering why they are not registered in my overall numbers. I mean, should I send them an apology?

"Dear blah-blah,

Thank you for following me on Twitter. Every person counts. In case you were wondering why you have not been included in my 'following' count, blame Twitter. They appeared up until recently not to be able to keep track of new followers for whatever reason. Unfortunately, you were among the batch who were somehow lost in cyberspace, presumably forever. It's not like I didn't make them aware and request for the return of my followers.

Please be assured that you are in my thoughts, if not in my number count."

Eleanor Tylbor

Not too sure if Twitter has the problem completely solved since they alerted me to a new follower, whose name did not show up in my e-mail. However, as I wrote, a follower is a follower and I'll take 'em!

Daily follower update! follower count is operational but...

Seems that Twitter has finally reacted to my never-ending complaints about the follower count. Today a new tweeter is following me and guess what? The follower count is higher by one! However...the five people last week and the week before who were following me are not counted in. Sorry Twitter-5!

A while back during a real communication with a Twitter techie when I had a precious ticket and focusing on this on-going problem, a Twitter techie asked me to prove(!) that the followers I was claiming weren't showing up in the number count, were real. I was asked to prove that they exist. I mean, gimme a break! Now I keep track and don't delete followers. Just can't figure out for the life of me their doubt as to a claim of a few people.

Anyway, things are back to normal - at least for now. We'll see how long this lasts. Meanwhile, my blogger comments are still missing...

Dear Ms. Mr. Anonymous...about followers

Dear Ms. Mr. Anonymous

Thank you for the interesting comment/feedback you made to my complaint/kvetch regarding the Twitter ‘following/count’ situation. While it's true that it’s a free service, one wonders if the service would be better if users had to pay for it. Perhaps yes or perhaps it would be the same. We'll never know unless - heaven forbid - they start charging to tweet.

In your comments to my blog comments, you wrote:
“In the end, does it really matter whether anyone has 150 followers? Or 151? For most people, the follower count naturally fluctuates from one login/visit to another. That's just the way things work. Seriously, who cares?"

Can't speak for other Twitter users but actually, I obviously care as do many others who have added their names to the Twitter complaint lists. The fact that Twitter features the "following" and "follower" ...whatever you call them, means that there are others "out there" in Twitter-land, who feel the same way. As proof of this, singer John Mayer and Ashton Kutcher were determined to have the distinction of acquiring 1 million followers. Why, if this wasn’t important, would they make a point of attempting to get tweeters to follow them? Apparently, having people follow them was an indication of their success. See what I mean? In fact, many celebrities use Twitter to promote their popularity and increase their status.

So y'see, Ms. Mr. Anonymous - followers are important to some of us.

You also commented:
"Twitter is a great way to connect: Use it for its intended purpose and learn to live with the little inconsistencies that crop up along the way."

On that we both agree. It is a great way to connect but it's those littler consistencies along the way that get to you, like incorrect follower count. Ask me about it.

Yours in Tweeting,

Eleanor

One down, one to go

Hurray!

At least one of the problems appears - notice the word used - to be solved. I actually checked into Twitter just now and it accepted the old/new/old... password.

I came accross the complaint form and informed them of the situation. In the complaint I mentioned both problems and wondering if I should tell them the sign-in is solved. Perhaps not since it could go awry like the follower count at any moment. At least making an official complaint will (one hopes) result in receiving a ticket, which in turn means they'll look into it. Eventually.

So now all that remains is the follower count situation. I follow you...you follow me...we all follow each other. I should only be so lucky!

FOLLOW UP: I tried logging in just now and it worked again! Could fixing the follower count be far behind?

When is a tweet not a tweet? It's not tweet!

Checked into Twitter as I do every morning as part of my daily regimen of keeping up to date with people's lives and what should I find? Dear Twitter still hasn't updated my followers count.

Quelle surprise!

Checked the "ticket" page to see if my problem had even been among those worked on and was greeted with "no ticket."

Again - quelle surprise.

It is even more annoying since four new followers have found my updates interesting enough to...follow and Twitter doesn't acknowledge their existence. I mean, can you imagine the reaction of the new followers?

"How d'ya like that?" they most likely say to themselves upon realizing that they're not counted in the count. "Now I won't receive updates on those wonderful tweets from Eleanor!"

It's possible somebody might have said or had that thought.

What is most bizarre is that the following thingie works. In other words, when I follow somebody else, it matters but if they follow me back, it doesn't.

On top of which I'm experiencing problems signing in and have to keep changing my user name. Thing is, I keep forgetting the new user name, which means I have to keep changing and changing and... You get the idea.

So I'm going to mark each day that the problem continues here in this blog - with commentary of course. Curious if anyone else reading this has experienced similar problems. You begin to wonder if Twitter really cares about its tweeters.

New day/week /month - Twitter doesn't tweet

How tweet it is - not!

Seems that Twitter is inviting its users/followers to try out their latest version of Twitter. Thanks for the invitation, Twitter, but perhaps you should attempt to solve some of the existing problems in the old version. On a personal note once again my new followers are not being recognized by Twitter. I mean, what's the use of creating a "followers" category if it doesn't follow?

This time round I decided to go through the "normal" route and attempt to voice my displeasure in their Twitter support centre. The "Missing Tweets from your Account" section advises tweeters:

"Are you missing all your tweets from your Profile page? If so, do not worry, we are aware of the issue and are working with the engineers to resolve this. We apologize for the inconvenience caused."

Somehow this doesn't make me feel better. Don't worry? Really, there are more important things in life but nevertheless, it's aggravating. New Tweeters find our tweets interesting enough to follow and because of technical glitches, Twitter refuses or can't recognize them. Somehow, the "don't worry" advice isn't exactly reassuring given their advanced technological knowledge. In an attempt to fix the problem, just added my frustration to all the other 936 comments in the "missing Tweets" section:

"Yet another attempt at getting Twitter to recognize new followers. Appreciate the update and appologies but the problem is ongoing. Please find solution."

As mentioned in the previous Twitter-related piece in this blog, there are not a lot of "followers" following me so every follower counts. The challenge is how to make Twitter react accordingly. One can only hope - and wait and wait and...

A Twitter tweet is a tweet when it tweets

Different day, still on-going problem with Twitter counts. I dunno - given my somewhat limited number of followers - compared to other people with thousands or hundreds-of-thousands of followers - everybody counts. It is for this very reason that a count verification is in order whenever another person follows me. Whenever I receive notification to this effect, it elicits a "oh super - another person is following me!" to be followed by "damn - they dropped me!" feeling if the number decreases. However, another on-problem is that in the past and once again, the "following" and "followers" columns are reversed. Any newbies are reflected in the "following" category, which is just not correct. Hence the frustration.

In order to alert Twitter tech. of this problem, there is a "contact" at the bottom of the page. Clicking on this word brings one to a sub-list of categories including "something's not working" and clicking on these three words leads one to long list of problematic situations that tweeters are experiencing. My problem is in the "following" category and further clicking leads one to "my follow count is incorrect - known issue" section with the explanation provided:

"Currently we do not have a work around to fix this problem and Support agents are unable to fix your account for you. For this reason we would appreciate it if you could leave a comment below rather than submit a help request."

There are currectly 231 tweeters who have registered a complaint in this category. Twitter prefaces the complaint list with: "UPDATE: 06/07/2010 This issue is still set to lower priority for other higher impact issues to be solved first. Thanks for your patience!"

For the record I have added my complaints to the list in the past and tweeters wait until a Twitter techie is assigned to the case and will work on solving the problem. Hopefully. On one occasion a techie provided an explanation that "followers" for whatever reason drop tweeters and this could be one explanation I suppose. It's been my experience as mentioned in a previous Twitter-related rant that once a person is followed, the followed are expected to reciprocate and if not - tough - they drop you. Another techie requested that I prove my new followers. I mean, how many people actually keep track of "blah-blah is following you" notification?

We'll see how long it takes for tech. to fix the problem, if ever. It's enough to give a tweeter "twitterfollowphoebi-itis." Ask me about it.

The Twitter complex

"Twitter is a communication service that enables you to quickly send out short messages about what you are doing to a network of people."
(Wiki Answers.com)


Like many people around the world, I'm a twit. Let me clarify this statement: I'm actually a Tweeter who uses Twitter to update my status. Doesn't everyone or at least those with extra time on their hands who want to be socially relevant.

My official status in case anyone reading this is interested is 158 followers or people who find me interesting enough to want to keep up with my thoughts or impressions and related matter. In addition I'm following 179tweeters some of whom I'm genuinely interested and others because - well - they follow me so I feel it's only right that I follow them back. No insult intended, by the way. Kind of pathetic when you think about it.

There have been a few issues with Twitter, which have been brought to the attention of their techies, for example, they have reversed my followers and following count.

After searching the Twitter site extensively for an e-mail to make them aware of this error, I finally came accross a usable link. The first Twitter techie was helpful and made the necessary changes after a while to correct the reversal, however subsequent techies were indifferent to my plight. Their solution is to direct tweeters to their forum where everyone can complain about their various issues and there are lots and lots of issues.

The negative aspects to being a tweeter is that a follower can drop you at any time. In conducting my daily check-in a while back, I discovered to my chagrin that 3 people had dropped me for whatever reason. That's the thing: you just never know why a person stops following you! So you speculate that perhaps my tweets are boring, or perhaps it's a result of declining the offer to follow them... It's enough to give a person a tweeter complex! The challenge is to make an enticing statement within 140 bytes or extra words end up in the dastardly red letters minus sign.

There is some positive news. Last week a few more people were added to the followers column but how long they will stay is anyone's guess. I'm always betwixt and between tweeters.

Update: once again it appears that Twitter has not recognized a new follower today by not recognizing it in my numbers. ~ sigh ~

It's all in the Twitter count

For whatever reason I appear to be losing followers. We're not about followers of the religious kind although some Twitter-ites are as rabidly zealous about posting continuous updates about their lives and anything and everything.

Thing is...it's beginning to give me a complex especially since I can't figure out the reason. As a writer I always prided myself about having a way with words but this really doesn't cut it on Twitter. You have to share - I dunno - recipes or promote your product or something. Darned if I can figure it out. Could be, though that people are losing interest since my numbers aren't - well - high. You know, popularity draws attention. As I wrote - a personal complex.

Up until recently Twitter and I had an on-going problem what they claimed to be a technical situation regarding the number of my followers versus following others. Each time somebody decided to be my cyber friend and follower,it registered as me following them. The situation didn't improve and we i.e. Twitter tech. and myself, began an on-going correspondence. For whatever reason they claimed that after checking, the situation was normal. At one point things did return to "normal" but the problem re-occured. Corresponding with tech. support ended up with a Twitter rep. requesting that I name all my new followers in the way of proof. Go know who was who especially since many of the new followers were now in the following column. Anyway, things appear to be the way they should be, at last.

Still, I have to confess that when it's all said and done or tweeted, I really can't see the attraction of limiting one's thoughts to 140 bytes as one can in a blog. It's just so...confining. That being written, I still find myself providing Tweets 'cause you never know who wants to follow me.

I'm a Twit - you're a twit -we're all a-Twitter!

Some thoughts about Twitter. My motivation for signing up was because – well – it seemed like the logical thing to do since the hot and not-so-hot celebrities are there. The idea in as far as I can tell, is to follow people in the hope that they will follow back.

Why?

So that you can accumulate “followers” and increase your numbers – in the numerical sense of course. Why increase your followers? Not quite sure but presumably this has boasting rights i.e. “I have 20,000 followers and I’m popular as you can tell!” Judging by some of the requests to follow me, a lot of the Twitter-ites – I like to call them Twits – use the service as a means to promote their latest book releases, business, services. In fact I have to confess that I have rejected the friendship of people willing to perform live on web cam, sell me a service that is overtly financially favourable to them solely.

A really annoying factor on a personal level is the limitation of bytes allowable to make a statement. The real concept behind Twitter is to communicate a logical thought by texting from wherever the Twit is located i.e. bus, bathroom, movie theatre, dentist’s office, giving birth, etc. etc. using abbreviations. Something to the effect:

“Drnkg cafe @ frnds hse” or “Shpg @ Wlmrt” or “’m givg birth – fckg (universally known and recognized bad word) pain!” – the challenge is to communicate without getting the dreaded Twitter red minus sign indicating exceeding the byte allotment, which means a complete revision of the sentence/thought to avoid its re-appearance. Being a Twit ain’t easy!

Actually, in its favour, Twitter has brought me close to some celebrities in the cyber sense. Now me and Yoko Ono are friends, she told me so in a personal tweet, in addition to David Peck who stars on the TV show, “V” and my biggest celebrity friend, Gov. Arnold Schwarzneggar, who updates me regularly about California even though I live in Canada, and I'm receiving spiritual advice from Deepak Chopra. Also following me because I follow them is Fawlty Towers DVD, OK Magazine, the Rock of Ages musical (because I’m dying to see it!)...and so many other interesting whoevers and whatevers! Where else could we have a brush with almost-fame but by being Twits? Not to be overlooked are the people who want to make me rich if I invest more than Twitter updates with them.

Let’s follow each other. I mean, don’cha wannna make more friends? I can be found as scriberess. You twit me and I’ll twit you back. Maybe.