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.

I'm still here - the Mayan apocalypse non-event

So after much hoopla and apocalyptic predictions, I'm still here. I'll go out on a limb here and assume that people reading this are also still in the land of the living. Now that we've established we survived the Mayan 'Long Count' Calendar, what led up to this belief?

According to Wikipedia, "this date was regarded as the end-date of a 5125-year-long cycle in the
Mesoamerican Long Count calendar."

"Now that you've brought it up, what in the world is the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar of which you speak, Eleanor?"

Again, and according to Wikipedia, "The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating, bigesimal (base-20) and base-18 calendar used by several Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably, Mayan. Using a modified vigesimal tally, the Long Count calendar identifies a day by counting the number of days passed since a mythical creation date that corresponds to August 11, 3114 BCE in the Gregorian calendar."

Furthermore:

the calendar begins in year corresponding to 3114BC

Moves forward in 394-year periods known as Baktuns

Winter solstice in 2012 marks end of the 13th Baktun

Myth of end of the world based on erroneous reading of Mayan tablet carved 1,300 years ago

Archaeologists and Maya experts say text refers to start of a new era

Thank you Wikipedia for your informative background.

To be candid, didn't really give much thought to how to spend the day in 'case-of.' I mean, how does one prepare for an apocalypse, anyway?

Most likely I would have had my usual breakfast of toast and bumbleberry preserves and tea. Somehow, a cup of tea always seems to hit the spot during times of turmoil and an apocalypse would definitely fall into this category. Maybe given the nature of this precursor of doom, perhaps a bowl of cereal would have been in order. My diet most likely would have been forgotten under the circumstances.

Thinking further (again), what would be the correct thing to wear for an apocalypse, anyway? Would casual wear be acceptable or perhaps a more formal look would be proper. Choosing the right accessories would present a problem. Should one wear elbow evening gloves or would that be a fashion faux-pas? What about a/the hat bought in the event that an invitation to the royal nuptials came in the mail, which it didn't?  Is it or would it be proper to wear in a doomsday event, instead? Would the royal family care? Would anybody care? The problem is there is no apocalyptic guide to help make these choices easier.

If I had thought about it, which I didn't because it slipped my mind somehow, perhaps the construction of an ark would have been in order. Not that anybody asked me to but one does feel some responsbility for the animals of the planet. Then again, having never had any experience in ark building or any type of construction would have made this difficult. However, should it have been feasible, there would have been the dilemma of whether or not bringing along some species that included snakes, alligators or lions and the like. Snakes do not rate high on my "favorite animal" list. Just can't envision myself rounding up, say...pairs of pythons or cobras or crocodiles.

It wasn't until mid-to-late afternoon that it occurred to me after checking in CNN, Twitter, Facebook and other on-line sources that I, along with the rest of the world, had survived an/the apocalypse. So all the issues of fashion choices, survival equipment has been put on the back burner. At least for now or until another doomsday soothsayer(s) (say that fast after a few drinks) dictates otherwise, at which point I'll sit down and have a cup of tea.

Some thoughts about blogs and blog readers

As a writer with diverse interests ranging from noting life and its peculiarities here in this Gimme a Break blog, sharing gardening angst in my Somewhat Complete Gardener; Note to Myself, a rant blog; my painting - the canvas type - blog, not to leave out the Starting Over, the embryo of a romance soap opera with a story line that definitely showed promise but is languishing in cyberland, I have a lot to say or write about everthing. There are also a few more of lesser importance - the full count is seven in all - some of which have been abandoned temporarily due to waning interest on my part. Most likely I'll return from time-to-time and add material to keep them fresh.

"So - what's this all leading up to? Another of your 'poor li'l ole me' rants?"

The rationale behind the creation of the blogs, obviously, is to share my thoughts about subjects, which could be of relevance or at least some interest to web readers. Obviously, as a writer and given the multifarious (love that word!) options, the hope is that Web surfers would drop by and make one of them a regular habit. As a means to promote the blogs, I'm a twitterer or |Tweeter...whatever... in other words, I use Twitter to build up circulation. Really, it's a great tool and one that has brought me some new readers from all corners of the globe but there's still a long way to go in order for me to say I have a following. Not that I'm complaining about you wonderful people who have followed me from the start.

As a blog writer, it's important to keep abreast of what others are writing about and I enjoy reading people's take on life. Of particular interest is the number of blog followers that some contributors seem to attract. Okay. I'll admit the little green-eyed monster is at work here but numbers do say a lot.

For example, my busiest blog being this very one, has thirteen followers. My ego soared as each person added themself to my list, which in turn gave me the incentive to be on the lookout for material to share with everyone.  The next busiest blog in my A. Playwright's Rambling, covering the world of playwriting and the angst and frustration of getting one's play produced. It has attracted one follower and in turn I always mentally dedicate my writing to my sole follow-ee.

"Stop rambling and get to the point already!"

On average, the two top blogs get about fifty page views and more on a good subject, but depending on the interest level, they can be as low as fifteen. The largest numbers were posts relevant to the royal nuptials and my not receiving an invitation, how to act should one be in the company of royalty and another one covering every day etiquette and manners. People seem particularly interested in royalty and related matters. While seeking out the quirky side of life, I've noticed that some lucky bloggers manage to acquire thousands of page views and vast numbers of followers. This causes me to shake my head in wonder and awe as to how they accomplish this.

My twitter followers on the other hand, number in the mid 400-range. This means that 400 lucky people get pre-notification  when a new blog is posted. It also makes me wonder exactly who reads my literary offerings and which subjects they enjoy the most. Feedback is the key to creativity, readers! When it's all said and done, it's  a numbers game in the end, right?

Who are you following and who's following you?

Don't get me wrong - like many people world over - I like Twitter. Sometimes. On occasion. In reading this be prepared for yet another Twitter- follower-rant.

"Losing a few followers, are we, Eleanor?"

For the record, I rarely drop Twitter followers because it strikes me as un unfair action. In my eyes, making the decision to follow someone is a commitment. It is for this very reason that they remain part of my "following" count unless they start making socially unacceptable tweets or use it as a tool for blatant self-promotion. Following someone is akin to a social network responsibility. However...

Today my "blah-blah is following you" count dropped by one. In the big scheme of things, it's a small number but this leads me to wonder the reason for making this decision and a cause for further speculation. Adding a newbie to my following count is usually related to my interests in some way or sparks my interest enough to be placed in the "following" list. However...

I'm wondering if I committed a social faux-pas or slight. Were my tweets or updates perhaps too boring, maybe... Or...perhaps, and this is always a dilemma, somebody who followed me wasn't followed back by yours truly. That can cause angst. I mean, although interested in good restaurants and their menus for example, being located geographically on another part of planet earth means chances are I won't be sampling a menu since I'm not an international jet-setter. Then again I suppose, one never knows... A bakery in Brooklyn, New York for example, is (or was - haven't checked lately) a follower and checking out their advertised baked goodies made me salivate. Being that I enjoy visting NYC, I just may check them out. I mean, it's only polite. Right?

Still, I'm pondering the decision made by somebody/people to un-follow me and why. Perhaps Twitter could offer followers the option of  listing the reason for un-following a Twit...I mean, Twitter follower.
Something to the effect: "Please be advised that blah-blah dropped you today." I mean, one dropped follower deserves another, don't you think?

Twitter followers falling by the wayside. Calling Dr. T.W. Itter!

I'm developing a Twitter complex and there's very little, it appears, that I can do to remedy the situation.

"So tell us Eleanor," Dr. T.W.Itter, Psychiatrist, DFS (dropped follower specialist) would ask if consulted about the complex, "how did this come about?"

At which point I would answer Dr. T.W.Itter, "well y'see doc - a while back I decided to sign up to Twitter as a means to communicate with others who share my interests, and to pubicize my blogs. I have a lot of blogs, y'know! Seven in all!" I would answer him.

"Ahhhhh - seven blogs, Dr. T.W. Itter would comment, while scribbling notes madly on his pad. "So why do you have so many, anyway? Most people have one...two at the most."

"I'm a person with varied interests," I would state matter-of-factly while explaining my rationale for seven blogs. "One to rant and rave and comment about life...another for my art...and so on. But can we get back to the reason for this consultation?"

"Refresh my memory - why are you here?" Dr. T.W. Itter would ask.

"I'm dropping Twitter followers again," I would explain forlornly. "One minute people are following me and suddenly, they start dropping me like flies sprayed with Raid."

"Hmmm...do you think it's something that there's something wrong with your tweets, possibly?" he would or could ask, which is a logical conclusion.

"I doubt it. I mean, I'm beginning to think that I'm - you know - well...boring. People are intrigued to see what I'm all about and once they do, they decide my tweets aren't interesting."

"Hmmmm....dropped followers. Yes. This appears to be a common complaint among Twitter-ers but there could be another explanation," he would suggeset helpfully. "It could be a technical glitch for this occurrence. Have you tried contacting Twitter?"

"Not yet - that has happened in the past. A Twitter technical bug reversed my followers and followees. Lost quite a few as a result of that," I would elaborate.

"There is also another possibility worth considering," Doc. T.W. Itter would offer. "As much as this hurts me to have to alert you of a practice observed by some people, I feel I must. Some people may follow you just so you will follow them back and then when you do - they drop you and your Twitter count. That will be umpteen dollars. Pay the nurse on your way out."

"But doctor," I would protest, "this is not a way to boost my confidence! "what should and could I do to change this upsetting situation?"

"How would I know. I'm a pyschiatrist - not a Twitter expert," he might comment. "By the way - do you follow me? I'm on Twitter too. If you follow me, I'll follow you. A follower is a follower is a follower."

Everybody's got an angle!

Time to vote people! National Lampoon sponsoring 1st Nat. Lampoon Twitter Awards!

Seems that for whatever reason, as they themselves say: "just because" , National Lampoon is holding its first Annual National Lampoon Twitter Awards. Kind'a weird that National Lampoon is sponsoring Twitter Awards and not Twitter itself but then - why not. I mean, there are enough twits who tweet (yes - including moi before you ask).


According to the write-up on the NL site, the people or at least presumably a lot of the people at National Lampoon have in their words, "fallen in love with the Twitter Machine." They explain their attachment to the site due to "the amazingly funny and talented people on it."

The voting system will be broken down into categories, many of which - how shall one put it - are "different." Two rounds of voting will be held and in the first round currently open, they've offered some of their own suggestions on where to place your "X" or "Y"...or whatever. There is also a "other"square for write-in names at the end of each category. Round two begins on Tuesday, September 6, where the highest vote getters will be narrowed down.

"Our goal here is to honor the men and women of Twitter who fight every day to keep our country honest, stupid, and funny… because in any society, comedians are the truth-tellers, and we need truth-tellers now more than ever," National Lampoon opines.

In any case and for the record, I'm toying with adding a write-in for Bronz Zoo Cobra since there is no category listed for talented animals or escaped zoo denizens. After all - his (the snake) escape did make hisssssstory.

A list of the various categories and for people wanting to exercise their vote, let your fingers do the walking to http://nationallampoon.com/twitterawards

I'll be back to announce the preliminary winners. So who'd you vote for?



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....

Psssssst - I'm following an escaped snake

First and foremost let me state for the record that I am not - repeat - not a snake lover. In fact, I'm not even a snake liker and would go out of my way to avoid any type of confrontation. Be that as it may, I'm following a snake and a deadly species to boot, without any fear or trepidation.

Last Saturday, an Egyptian cobra escaped from her/his (no indication of its sex supplied) home in the reptile house of the Bronx Zoo. Of course this made headlines everywhere because an escaped cobra is a dangerous cobra. As expected the reptile house is closed until further notice and there is a watch out for any signs of the escapee. Personally? I wouldn't try to find him or her.

As a Twitter-er - at least that's what I call myself - I enjoy reading tweet updates supplied by people. You know - the usual i.e. what they're doing at any given moment, what restaurant they're eating at...normal stuff. However, yesterday and much to my surprise, there were tweet updates supplied by none other than the Bronx Zoo Cobra! Seems the snake is literally and figuratively out on the town, visiting all the New York sites. I mean, how often would a cobra get to visit New York? I would safely guess, never.

For example, yesterday the cobra tweeted and shared: "On top of the Empire State Building! All the people look like little mice down there. Delicious little mice." Most likely he/she meant 'delicious little mice' not in the visually cute sense but as... You get where I'm going.

These tweets are very entertaining and witty so I decided to follow Mr. or Ms Bronx Zoo Cobra. An hour ago, cobra warned, "Getting my morning coffee at the Mudtruck. Don't even talk to me until I've had my morning coffee. Seriously, don't. I'm venomous." I believe her/him. In fact I even tweeted back: "What are the chances you'll be heading to Canada? Just want to be prepared." Really I do. A person can't be too prepared where escaped cobras are concerned.

http://twitter.com/#!/BronxZoosCobra

Two tweeters no longer like me

Today's blog is on the short and not-to-sweet side. Somehow and according to my Twitter page stats, two tweeters have dropped me. This has got me wondering first of all, who are they and secondly, what was their motivation.

Sharing tweets that strike the imagination of tweeters is a challenge in itself and it's nice when people find one (me) interesting enough to follow one(me again). However...it's also somewhat blechy discovering one has been dropped. One explanation might be that the new tweeter-ers followed me and I didn't reciprocate. It was a twitter social faux-pas. I can live with it.

Another possibility is that perhaps my subject matter didn't interest them. I mean, my tweets do cover life's more quirky stories like road kill calendars, cheese rolling events, Paul the octopus demise, a woman marrying herself...but also more staid commentaries including celebrities being and acting like celebrities. I like diverse subjects.

So the two tweeter who dropped me will miss out on all my creative commentary and witty repartee. Their loss. Plenty more tweeters 'out there' somewhere waiting to be my friend. Y'a wanna be my friend?

My tweet level ain't so tweet

As if I don't have enough Twitter-related complexes to deal with what with Twitter losing my followers count a while back and now something new has been added to the equation.

Seems that a tweet-er (always makes me feel like a bird, somehow) can now, if she/he really wants to know, find out her tweet rating in comparison to other famous and regular tweet-ers. Thinking further, I should never have clicked on to Tweet Level and definitely should not have looked into my rating. Ignorance is bliss and all that. However, curiousity got the better of me or perhaps it was merely ego.

It's very simple. All one has to do is to type or key in one's name in the tweet level box and then depress the calculate button or whatever you wanna call it. The results are broken down into four categories and in my case here aer the results:

Influence 30.1
Popularity 29.7
Engagement 25.6
Trust 14

According to the accompanying explanation blurb, my Influence Score could increase if I followed more people and get them to tweet more to me, presumably, take part in conversations, post interesting content and express whatever is on my mind (no help needed in the latter). Here I thought I was doing to pretty good job! There have been opportunities where people have followed me in an attempt to get me to follow them. Thing is, many are obvious and overt business promotions that don't interest me. If I don't follow them, they almost always drop me. Oh well - I can live with it!

Moving on, my Popularity Score is low and based on how many followers I have and the lists my name is included on.
"Many Twitter measurement tools purely rank people according to this metric, however just because someone is popular doesn't mean they are influential," the Tweet Level whatever relates. It suggests that my popularity could be increased if I follow people who are relevant to the areas that I find interesting. Perhaps, but even with people with whom there is commonality doesn't necessarily mean their level of interest warrants me as a follower.

See what I mean? Yet more Twitter-related angst.

Seems that my Engagement score is low due to the means in which I interact with my community and offers a reminder that Twitter is about conversations. Interesting conversations.
"Take the time to know the people who follow you and contribute to the many interesting discussions out there," is their suggestion. In other words and IMHO, jump in on any and all on-going conversations, no matter what the subject and/or the inane comments posted.

My Trust score is low so I'm informed, because my content tweeted is "either not credible, interesting or newsworthy." Oh goody - such positive feedback! The Edelman Trust Barometer whoever or whatever they are, states that 77% of people refused to buy products or services from a company they distrusted. Thing is - I'm not selling a product as many of the tweeters appear to do.

"Trust can be measured by the number of times someone is happy to associate what you have said through them – in other words, how often you are re-tweeted. To increase your trust score create more posts that will give your followers a reason to retweet what you have said."

And so we go around and around and around in circles.

I dunno. When it's all said and done or written, the bottom line is don't look for trouble and stay away from gadgets that will tell you what you don't want to know. I'll just wait for the right tweeters to come along and follow me for the right reasons, whoever they are.

BTW and for the record, top Tweeters are KhloeKardashian has an influence rating of 92.9, The Ellen Show rates 99.6 in popularity and Justin Bieber has a 100% popularity rating.

Well that explains it! 71% of Tweets ignored

By now people reading this blog are probably bored with my kvetching/complaining about Twitter and my missing tweets. Thing is when you have 170 people (presumably people and not pets, one hopes) following you, every tweet counts.

So today I read this interesting piece about Twitter and people's tweets. Seems that approx. 160 million people located presumably all over the planet and who knows maybe behind, use Twitter. Lot'sa tweets, right? However...according to a Wired piece, a mere - wait for it - 71% of tweets are ignored. In other words, we Tweeters who attempt to make a relatively interesting or at least intelligent statement in the 140 character allotment, are ignored!

Syssomos, a Toronto, Canada, media analytics company, scanned 1.2 billion messages(!) sent in August and September, 2009. Not surprising at least to me, anyway, their findings indicated that 7 in every 10 tweets are ignored, completely. Six percent get re-tweeted and 92% of the re-tweets happen in the first hour. This indicates at least to me that if you're going to get re-tweeted, it will be in the first hour.

So taking this all into consideration, 23% get some type of reply but 85% of those that get a reply, et just one reply. Hey - one reply is better than no reply! Furthermore 10.7% get two replies and 1.53% get three replies.

What does this all mean in the scheme of things? It means, to me that when sending out tweets, they won't necessarily be read and what's more, tweeters won't get replies, either. Makes a person wonder why bother sending them out altogether. As a writer it's a means to draw attention to a blog. Still, it makes you think, especially about those five missing Tweeters, who might have re-tweeted me.

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...

Daily Twitter Update: forms - they got forms!

Now that Twitter is recognizing my password, the only existing problem is the dubious follower count. Surely but not necessarily, Twitter will at some point give me my five new followers. I mean, is it a lot to ask in the scheme of things? Anywaaaaaay....

Decided to check in Twitter's "Status" to see if there's anything pertaining to my situation:

"Follow, Follower Counts and DMs Intermittently inaccessible 2 days ago
Some features are intermittently not available on Twitter at this time.

- Ability to Follow a user

- Follow counts

- Sending DMs

Twitter is working to resolve this issue in full.

UPDATE Oct 4th, 2010 8:50am: These features have recovered.

Obviously, 'follow counts' is an ongoing problem, however, according to Twitter effect October 4 at 8:50 a.m. the features have been recovered.

Oh really? Then where are my 5 new followers, Twitter? Anywaaaaaay...

Just checked to see if I have a Twitter ticket yet. A ticket means that they're looking into your problem to see if they can remedy it. Unfortunately, mine is blank. It says: "ticket ID - no tickets." Yesterday, I submitted a request in which I explained my situation. 7

Moved along to the Submit a Request on-line form.

'Dear Twitter' is the first heading, along with a drop-down menu. I chose "something is broken or amiss." The next section is 'Regarding' where tweeters are offered a long list of possible breakdowns. I selected, "Tweets and Messages", naturally. In the next blank space, I provided the background information as to my situation. There is the usual user name, e-mail etc. but what really got my attention was that the closing phrase, 'I feel..." This is a space where the tweeter can express her/his opinion regarding the situation at hand. Oh yes, I did express my feeling but it was done with class - for now. We always must remember our on-line manners.

And so, I still wait (im)patiently for my 'Twitter-5' to be returned to me but who knows when that will be - if ever. Makes me wonder if the five people who decided to follow me are wondering what they did not to be included in the count. Don't ask me - ask Twitter!

On another un-related note but just as annoying, it appears that comments left by people reading this blog are not being seen. To this end, I just posted a notification in the discussion forum related to this issue. Does it every end, I ask you?

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 ~