You Suck at Retweeting and Favoriting

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Dan Frommer at SplatF on the subject of Twitter:

…it really bums me out how bad many people are at retweeting.

I think his post dovetails into a larger discussion on how I think Twitter intends people to use their product now (but not everyone has caught on or chooses to follow).

I feel most users continue to use Retweets for things they should’ve favorited, or simply replied to:

  • Favorites: interesting things said that I like and want to be able to recall, but need not broadcast directly to my followers, but perhaps indirectly through the Discover tab or third-parties like stellar (positive mentions, links to me, funny video clips)

  • Retweets: things I found interesting and relevant enough that my audience of followers would too, thinking “if I wrote this would I expect others to share it verbatim?” (sharing links including photos and video clips, or quotes from direct sources)

  • Replies: I want to respond to something or someone and if my followership happens to overlap, I can provide a great threaded discussion where context is already known and easy to follow… or I can write an original thought in response to something if I want all to see (by removing the @reply prefix but keeping the reply association)

The biggest violators of the above make for a noisy, circle-jerk of self congratulations, duplicate content, and one-word replies copying entire tweets senselessly. I’ve found these violators sometimes amass a large following and are actually doing the opposite of much of the above intentionally (social media “experts” in some cases).

More and more I’m starting to find the structured-but-not-entirely-enforcable nature of Twitter to be less endearing than a controlled experience like Facebook.

The 5by5 Radio app confuses me

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I enjoy some of the podcasts on the 5by5 Radio network and today they’ve released their own iOS app. But, I don’t quite get it.

Live Broadcasts

The majority of the app’s features tout the “live broadcast” including the ability to listen in to shows live, see the number of live listeners, view the upcoming broadcast schedule, send push notifications for live shows.

I’m sure there are plenty of people that listen live but is that the audience Dan wants to target? Is having an app for the existing most active listeners something you need to provide? (they already love you!)

In my small world, podcasts are typically enjoyed while commuting or on downtime, not during the middle of the workday, live, while chatting with show hosts and other listeners.

Pricing

First, I understand the costs (time, money) it takes to build an application. This is no small undertaking, I’m very much aware. Those costs need to be recuperated.

Then wouldn’t the time have been better invested in an app that introduces new users to the shows for free? A free app would attract more, new listeners, create more prominence, and create yet another avenue to get new fans (App Store versus the Podcast listings in the iTunes Store). Then it would be understood that more listeners means higher premium for advertising on-air. Which, the app itself could then also be subsidized through new advertising inventory (within the app itself) and be freely available for both current and new listeners.

This is now a “niche” app for a “niche” subset of 5by5 fans.

Right? Am I crazy?

For now, I’ll stick to Instacast.

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Gay rights laws in America have evolved to allow — but in some cases ban — rights for gay, lesbian and transgender people on a range of issues, including marriage, hospital visitation, adoption, housing, employment and school bullying.

The Guardian has done a great job visualizing the various rights, state by state. Timely and well done.

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Here’s a good read from Dustin:

If you have an album that you really can’t wait to listen to, wait to listen to it. That is, until you can create an environment that allows for the music to be heard in the proper context.

Interesting point. I didn’t realize it until now but I always wait to buy new music until I’m near my studio-quality headphones. I rarely have a “first listen” with earbuds.

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My online ski journal, Colorado Snow, has done some serious “growing up” these past five seasons. So, this year I decided to treat myself to a professionally designed logo by Wet Frog Studios. For posterity, here’s a quick look back at where it’s come…

According to the Facebook S-1 they earn approximately $9.61 in revenue per user per year. But, averages are deceiving. Based on anecdotal evidence, this is likely how the long tail of Facebook’s revenue ties out: the lion’s share of money comes from shared revenues of grandmas and kids accidentally buying currency and credits in Zynga games.

Prove me wrong?