Mark Suster to Twitter on behalf of users

http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/02/18/twitter-i-love-you-but/

by travisfischer • 15 years ago

42 26 15 years ago

bothsidesofthetable.com

dmix• 15 years ago

Facebook? That’s for my mom.

Oh, how times have changed. I share this sentiment.

Luyt• 15 years ago

I use you every day. I use you more than email now. I hate email, by the way.

Amazing how someone can use short emaciated 140-letter shoutings as a replacement for something as deep as email.

msuster8• 15 years ago

I didn't say I don't use email. I just use it much less than previously. It's funny but the opposite is also true. The fact that people can write really long, verbose emails can be as much of a productivity drain as anything else inside of companies.

It's why I'm a big proponent of these guys http://three.sentenc.es/

bhrgunatha• 15 years ago

In that vein, then.

Why was your post more than 3 sentences?

Perhaps, the message is more important than the style?

OoTheNigerian2• 15 years ago

Not all emails are deep. Twitter is good for the short to the point stuff.

brown9-2• 15 years ago

I love that you are social & democratic.

What does this mean?

Groxx• 15 years ago

social: I'm assuming you got that part.

democratic: level playing field. ie, "one vote per person" - you have as much influence as you have, nobody's granted a super-tweeter account that can @ everyone at once simply by being, say, Bill Gates. It's a stretch, but I've seen it used this way before for Internet things.

msuster8• 15 years ago

empowerment of people to socially engage & communicate is the basis on which all democracy is built. That is what is beautiful about Twitter.

Shutting down competition or dissension is decidedly undemocratic.

corin_2• 15 years ago

I hate when people write letters like this, trying to be more reader-friendly by dumbing down language with garbage like "Twitter, I’m a friend. I love you, man."

Write your views, don't pretend you're a nine year old writing to your dad.

aneth3• 15 years ago

It's written as if it were to a drinking buddy who won't stop chasing his ex-girlfriend. It's dramatic parody, not dumbed down.

msuster8• 15 years ago

Thank you! I'm glad somebody on HN got it!

msuster8• 15 years ago

It was called irony. It was meant with humor. My views were already publicly expressed & known on Quora.

See: http://www.quora.com/Why-did-Twitter-suspend-UberTwitter/ans...

corin_2• 15 years ago

Yeah, I get that you're not actually a moron who thinks writing in that style will make Twitter more likely to listen to, and perhaps my original complaint was worded slightly too harsh.

What I meant by "dumbed down" wasn't that you were trying to make it easier for people to understand, just that you were dumbing it down for that comic effect.

More and more people are writing blog posts in that style, and I just happen to find it annoying.

edit: Thanks for linking to the Quora version of your thoughts, now those I 100% agree with (as a UberTwitter user).

maxbrown2• 15 years ago

I believe this is the quote from Twitter - "We’ve had conversations with UberMedia, the developer of these applications, about policy violations since April 2010, when they first launched under the name TweetUp – a term commonly used by Twitter users and a trademark violation. We continue to be in contact with UberMedia and hope that they will bring the suspended applications into compliance with our policies soon."

I agree with you entirely Mark that they can handle something like this better, but I think that a company like Twitter that is still figuring out the best way to monetize has a right to enforce their trademarks to reel in other people trying to make money off of their product.

Then again, at a $4-10bn valuation, they probably can afford to not cut off things that make their users happy.

msuster8• 15 years ago

You're totally right that Twitter "has a right to enforce their trademarks to reel in other people trying to make money off of their product."

That isn't in question.

My argument: - today they affected millions of users - they should have first issued a public statement to major media outlets that service would be cut unless UberMedia fixed problems in 72 hours. Users would then have a chance to migrate if they wanted - I also think it's bad policy to cut off 3rd-party developers. Even mildly competitive ones. My view: let the ecosystem innovate on their dime. Then you either buy them or tax them.

My reaction today was as a user of UberTwitter who felt caught in the crossfire. And as such it felt like Goliath attacking David.

maxbrown2• 15 years ago

That all makes sense to me, and like I said, it seems really an issue of how they're handling it. If they were to tax them, what would it look like? Facebook and Apple both seem to be implementing ways to take a cut of the money going through 3rd-party apps... I don't know enough about Twitter myself. Is it possible for them?

twidlit• 15 years ago

maybe UberMedia really has plans to jumpstart a Twitter-like service off of the Twitter clients soon and somehow Twitter got wind of this and moved to cripple the trojan horses it bought / is buying.

msuster8• 15 years ago

I accept that this is possible.

If I were Twitter in this case then at worst I would issue a public statement of why they don't support UberTwitter's moves and I would encourage users to migrate over 72 hours if they saw fit.

Then at least the user community would be more on Twitter's side. What they did today is block us from using their product on our mobile devices. I'm not sure that's sound policy.

OoTheNigerian2• 15 years ago

Seems you HN peeps are just being unnecessarily hostile to Mark. He has written a part 2 no "Never hire Job hoppers" move on.

There is nothing wrong with how the mail was written. I was expecting a discussion about Twitters approach with UberTwitter (which I think is frightening). Not nitpicking at the way/method Mark had decided to express his views.

aditya2• 15 years ago

And Dick Costolo responds:

@msuster your post is a misinformed and contrary to what I'm certain you would counsel as an investor.

[1] https://twitter.com/dickc/status/38853714320166912

msuster8• 15 years ago

I'm not sure which bit was misinformed. If I learn that some bit was I will correct it.

My premise holds: - issue a public warning to UberMedia & its users and allow 72 hours - if not resolved take action then - don't issue an advertisement for your mobile product the exact same day you block a large mobile client. It is in poor taste and this is evidenced by the majority of the Tweetstream that trashed Twitter on this issue

I'm all for fair & hard competition. But if I were an investor this is what I would have counseled. And if Twitter or its investors know something I don't (which I concede is possible) I would suggest that they have a marketing offensive to make more information available.

aditya2• 15 years ago

So, what do you think is going on at Twitter?

It's an experienced set of investors and entrepreneurs, but they seem to be making rookie mistakes, over and over again (first with scaling the tech+business and now with the way the API/ecosystem, which was instrumental to their success, is being handled). Have you seen this before? What the hell is up at Twitter HQ?

Mark Suster to Twitter on behalf of users

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