Earlier today, a second CNN anchor – @donlemoncnn – opened an account on Twitter. In the half-hour that I was watching, there were several mentions of Don’s Twitter ID and they even showed the Twitter URL on the screen and zoomed in on his Twitter page. I think this is tremendous mainstream exposure for Twitter and a very creative use of Twitter by a major news organization. The other CNN anchor on Twitter is Rick Sanchez.
Take a look at this and guess which company they’re talking about…
When service was restored this evening, the [COMPANY X] chat room was flooded with comments from customers, many of whom said they were growing tired of repeated glitches.
Although the disruption today was by far the worst in the company’s short history, it has had a series of smaller glitches in the last year.
”There really is no excuse for so many problems other than poor management,” remarked one [COMPANY X] customer.
Other comments included ”[COMPANY X] needs to get its act together,” …
A few customers said they had switched to the … site run by [COMPANY Y], one of a number of companies that have begun an [xxxxx] business to capture a piece of the enormous on-line [yyyyy] that was pioneered by [COMPANY X]. But others said they would stick with [COMPANY X].
So which company are they talking about? Did you guess Twitter? No, it’s from a June 1999 New York Times article about a little company called eBay.
No doubt, Twitter has had a rough couple of weeks. It’s been up and down like a yo-yo and people are frustrated. People are calling for a decentralized Twitter and some people even organized a Twit-out, which was a 24 hour boycott of the Twitter service. Even some of Twitter’s biggest supporters, like Chris Brogan, are furious.
While I can understand all of these negative feelings about Twitter, I just think we need to remember that just about every popular web service has gone through this phase at some point in their history. eBay, Amazon, AOL – the list goes on. And all of those companies worked through those difficult periods and went on to become models of stability. Most people who were around during Web 1.0 will tell you that these companies did not solve these problems overnight. It took months and the progress was often two steps forward, three steps back.
Oh, and remember – this is a free service! Let’s give the Twitter crew a break and save our complaining for when this is something that we’re paying for.
Update:
In this sea of negativity towards Twitter, it’s nice to see this type of support from Chris Wetherell (Google). I spotted this comment from Chris on FriendFeed…
Rough week for Twitter. I’ve watched dozens of new, popular, and free web services experience scaling difficulties. I’m always saddened by knee-jerk responses of technologists who blithely assert “I guess they don’t test their software” during outages. Testing is only a part of prevention and is always a moving target. Diagnosis and response can sometimes take hours/days/weeks/months depending on the problem or the system. Money or funding doesn’t automatically translate into an ideal production, staging, and analytic environment overnight (especially if growing by millions) and NO service or platform is immune. None! Not One. Happens within Google all the time. (You might not know that the Reader team has been sleepless this week in attempts to keep the service running.) I figure those of us who can help out with coding or sysadmin work to services we love probably should offer our efforts pro bono. Might not be able to help – but might as well offer. That is, if we care about them…
The information flow on Twitter is slowing down. Here’s the last part of the transcript. I think I missed some between parts 2 and 3.
Earlier transcripts: Part 1, Part 2.
(ChristianDeVera): 5.6 earthquake wasn’t a big deal. i didnt even feel it, maybe coz i was watching Spiderman 3
(DYbarra): just had an earthquake here — my 1st. i didn’t really feel it but saw some items in my house swaying. hope the big one doesn’t hit tonight.
(GlennF): I don’t follow enough people on Twitter to have figured out there was a quake until 9.54 pm
(patrickf23): earthquake! i was in an elevator! whew!
(jay_ramos): mmmmm…. earthquake….
(flips): Didn’t feel the earthquake, although my roommate did
(fernfern): was holding a bunch of cilantro when earthquake started…the cilantro felt it too…not me alone…dizzy a bit…
(amyjokim): reading about the Bay Area quake, sending happy thoughts to our many Bay Area friends
(artisan949): @jaydedman congrats on the earth quake survival man. did you duck and cover?
(CreativeSage): Glad we weren’t carving pumpkins when the earthquake hit—shaky sharp knives and lots of pulp spewing all over the place![nose wink]
(mmayo): Didn’t feel the earthquake at all. Weird.
Sent at 9:58 PM on Tuesday
twitter: (hirodusk): 5.8 earthquake, and one of the people in my office asks “Is that a train passing by?”
(abie): quake was totally mild and unscary up on the hill here
(noor): i totally didn’t feel the earthquake – maybe because I was at the gym?
(zittrain): My first earthquake! http://tinyurl.com/3xl665
(rangercraig): So, you missed your first earthquake… @NickStarr
Sent at 10:01 PM on Tuesday
twitter: (NaokiHIYAMA): Earthquake Shaked me. size was M5.6.not so strong,no tunami,no damage.but TV changed programe and broadcasting breakingnews…..
(rangercraig): @NickStarr So, you missed your first earthquake…
(deebeedee): @clickmomukhamo Hehe, that’s what Twitter’s for! (but I don’t know what I’d do if the quake was any stronger)
(Jenguin): Trying to finish making cupcakes… since the first batch was damaged because of the earthquake!
(nicolelee): Disturbed that @sfquake reported the quake more than an hour after it happened! I’m un-following you, buddy.
(s4xton): Holy crap, this photo makes the earthquake look devastating: http://tinyurl.com/2wa2j8 (cnn.com via raleigh-i.com)
(dialect): “I was eating oysters, and when the oysters started moving, I knew something was wrong.” — Man on the street interview about the earthquake
(gwachob): #earthquake on calaveras fault line
(gwachob): #earthquake on calaveras fault line – hayward is the one we have to worry about
(CraigFaulk): Nice little quake here in the bay area 5.6 magnitude around 8:04pm – Epicenter Alum Rock (Near San Jose)
(mim): Earthquake earlier felt like vibrating bed
(dannysullivan): and how did i not feel that quake here at SFO? weird (and sad, i missed a quake!)
(dsearls): Hard for a geology freak like me not to write aboiut the quake: http://tinyurl.com/yo3m5z
(kitchen): ok, so there’s a 5.6 earthquake in SF area, right. kcal9 thinks some stupid cheerleader getting runover by a football team is better news.
(Ryanne): 5.4 quake, first one that we felt since moving here…shouldn’t say it, but man it was cool!
(scottpargett): Another earthquake just hit. Always a sharp reminder of where I live.
(edithfrost): There was an earthquake? I didn’t feel anything here in Albany…
(booboolina): @jimhutchison: I’m ok, sounds like everyone else is ok too. it was just a rockin’ and a rollin’ quake. http://tinyurl.com/234t3w thanks!
(jbergen): I wait for an earthquake for four years and as soon as I leave, one happens. Where’s the justice?
(brianleroux): @andrecharland two words for ya: iphone sdk
(CoyotePace): @Chrysocolla — Sal felt the quake too, over in Fremont.
(joshleejosh): my first bay area earthquake, and I didn’t even feel it. I need to pay better attention.
(sugamjain): Quake!
loiclemeur: Seesmic day 21 is up Seesmic day 21: Where is Loic?
(cariberry): 5.6 earthquake in San Jose
(GGJeffy): 5.6 quake…bruised my hand and jammed shoulder bracing in doorway from house moving to and fro.
(kesava): ppl, plz hold ur earthquake tweets till I come back from dinner. [grin]
(stony): @AndreCharland I never realized crack heads were so quick.
(danakin): Hoping that the CA folks are alright and aren’t affected by the earthquake
(beach): shoulda hit twitter sooner about the quake… duh. felt much smaller than a 5.6 here in santa cruz… yawn.
(Ryanne): tracking the quake on twitter http://tinyurl.com/2xv5el
(mailien): Still a little queezy from the earthquake…
Sent at 10:12 PM on Tuesday
twitter: (stevenf): Can we all agree not refer to the earthquake as a “temblor”
(BigReg): Phil Eugenio is right on the money it was a 5.7 quake. http://tinyurl.com/yodn57
(markdotto): Holy crap! I was sleeping, but woke up to feel that earthquake, but feel back to sleep. My mom emailed me to see if I was OK. E-mail? Thx Ma
Sent at 10:14 PM on Tuesday
twitter: (kurrik): EARTHQUAKE STATUS UPDATE – BBQ Sauce, Relish untouched, Tabasco Chipotle and Mayonnaise DOWN! OH, THE HUMANITY
(stevenf): Can we all agree not to refer to the earthquake as a “temblor”
Sent at 10:16 PM on Tuesday
twitter: (ses5909): so I get my news from twitter that there was an earthquake. I was sleeping though, I have an excuse
(sneakeryip): Someone just whispered to me that there was a quake but where was the shakes?
(yndygo): Sending good thoughts to all my earthquake suffering friends in the bay area, may the damage be minimal if any… 5.6? Good one you guys!!
Sent at 10:18 PM on Tuesday
twitter: (dalmaer): sitting through his first earthquake without apparantely noticing it.
(dingostewart): Called my daughter Erin in the Bay Area. She said she didn’t even feel the quake. I hope all my friends are fine–and happy it wasn’t l …
Sent at 10:19 PM on Tuesday
twitter: (dingostewart): I’m happy the quake in the Bay Area wasn’t like the Loma Linda quake of 1989! Was there, & didn’t like it one bit!
The information is continuing to flow on Twitter. Here are more tweets from the Alum Rock quake. Part 1 of this transcript is here and Part 3 is here.
(bethanye): damn – missed the quake. maybe when i was on the ferry.
(PelleB): That quake was 5.6 yikes http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.html
(jdischler): Back for 2 days and already an earthquake!
(dveale): ok…that was a really scary damn big earthquake..my WHOLE house shook. one cat still in hiding…not on news yet but that was big [nose sad]
(servantofchaos): Waiting to see how long it takes for MSM to report the calif earthquake
(chrisconnolly): 5.6 Earthquake. We felt it pretty damn strong here. Strongest since I’ve been in California.
(speakofthedevil): I just told a girl today that my dog has been an asshole and that we were probably going to have an earthquake. I have powerful Ju ju.
(kevinchu): 5.6 Quake, about 10 miles away (east san jose)
(ryanblock): Wow, that quake was 5.6 out in Alum Rock!
(archphoenix): Uhm, earthquake!
(alangutierrez): Waiting for CNN to have something about the earthquake. Please more Tweets.
(rizzn): I love twitter. Already learning details of the quake.
(angeSF): Earthquake
(rabbitroodle): Earthquake was 5.6 and centered a couple miles away from here!
(depa): Yup, felt the quake. Think it was near San Jose. prelim magnitude 5.6
(trascendenza): Sooo… that was an earthquake! (Only minor shaking, in my area.)
(conformer): Earthquake!
(pjhyett): having a desk that just sits on sawhorses made for an exciting ride with that quake
Veronica: 5.6
(bobspace): Tiny earthquake in south SF. Anyone else feel that?
(robertgoldberg): big earthquake in bay area looks like it was centered near milpitas according to usgs and a 5.6
(mikemiller): Jinkies! Earthquake… about a 5
(descentintomael): a little shaken by the earthquake (5.6 magnitude)
loiclemeur: seesmic is down for maintenance. Setting up new version. Thanks
(khodabakchian): whoa indeed….long and scary earthquake.
(Aubs): Lila made me go outside right before the earthquake, and besides some popping sounds, we didn’t feel ANYTHING. So weird.
(mjmalone): earthquake: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.html
(Spinopsys): Cripes Twitter is fast. Earthquake in Santa Cruz.
(wrestlinghulka): @spin, DrudgeReport has a siren for the quake.
biz: And now there’s an earthquake on top of everything else
(lmc): @xtine_s long earthquake! scary!
(jaguarjaws): earthquake!!!!
(Lessien): earthquake in Cupertino
(Annaleen): 5.6 quake! I stood under a doorframe and felt like I wasn’t any safer. http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.html
(technosailor): Twitter reporting breaking news, again. Earthquake in CA
(pdxsocialmedia): 5.6 earthquake located near San Jose..geesh, biggest one I’ve been in
(njohns): whoah, just felt a magnitude 5.6 earthquake – San Jose, that’s not far away. :O
(lmorchard): ABC says 5.6 magnitude quake, centered just east of Milpitas.
(mikeal): nice little earthquake
(hadashi): Hey, my first quake over 5.0 – a 5.6 near San Jose. Wee!!!
(pacificIT): Earthquake – San Diego / Bay Area
(jebuslover): http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/ Earthquake in SF Bay Area, 5.6 magnitude. Didn’t feel it in San Luis Obispo.
(charltonb): Earthquake struck the SF Bay Area – http://tinyurl.com/3d7y4w – estimated 5.6 Richter
(guder): Earthquake in NorCal felt it here in Napa. USGS says at around 6 -> http://tinyurl.com/yn59dh
(6Aers): Steve posted ‘On Vox: Earthquake!!’ on LiveJournal – http://vespa59.livejournal.com/456628.html
(cyclelicious): 5.6 earthquake centered near Milpitas (San Jose) California.
(6Aers): Steve posted ‘Earthquake!!’ on Vox – http://tinyurl.com/2aqfyj
(sanbeiji): Earthquake!!!!!! http://tinyurl.com/32l5vb
(davetong): Earthquake report on USGS web site: http://tinyurl.com/2bs3fe
(stevegio): I think I just felt an earthquake I San Francisco….yikes
(paoloxide): quake took over 10 seconds … checking on friends now.
(boompaste): Reports of a major earthquake from a friend at San Jose airport
(voidref): Note to self: Get own earthquake straps.
(rkellett): san francisco just had an earthquake — 5.6. no injuries in my household
(Dan_): Quake info: http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.htm
(jbeck): 5.6 magnitude earthquake 5 miles NNE of Alum Rock, CA http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.htm
charleneli: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.htm
(cynthiacloskey): Called sis in California to see if the earthquake affected her. 5.6 — enough to feel it but not enough to break anything.
(superamit): earthquake! My 1st and I didn’t even feel it [frown]
(cisellis): earthquake in the city…bout 10 seconds. not too strong but i’m not sure how to judge these yet
(voidref): you think Lauren got her earthquake straps up yet?
(rstarmer): Shake shake shake. A 5.6 quake.
(kndy): USGS Earthquake site: http://tinyurl.com/ch4m4 And I’m guessing we are going to feel a few aftershocks…
(Jtf): Just had a minor earthquake. I’ll be curious to learn how close/strong it was.
(elbowdonkey): missed a big quake somehow. maybe while on very late bart? maybe while skateboarding from Bart station?
(NurtureGirl): bay area folks: http://tinyurl.com/ywooyn shows emergency stuff. earthquake and explosion
(lisapadilla): an itty bitty quake, is all
(joyjoy1): still reeling from the 8 PM earthquake over 5 point
(annaraven): Earthquake. Nice rumble but no damage at this time.
(progrium): Earthquake : )
(garyrw): Earthquake San Jose: 5.6 2007/10/30 20:04:54 37.432N 121.776W 9.2 8 km ( 5 mi) NNE of Alum Rock, CA
(MarinaMartin): How bad an earthquake? Everyone ok?
sfearthquakes: DUDE. A 5.6 quake just happened 5 mi NNE of Alum Rock, CA. ( http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.htm )
(mdann50): 5.6 quake centered near san jose. felt here in palo alto
(ocean): Watching the SF earthquake virtually ripple through Twitter.
anildash: SF peeps: It was a 5.6, based in the south bay near SJ. http://tinyurl.com/njlow
(trammell): relieved that was an earthquake. Was at a red light and thought my transmission was shot.
(somewhatfrank): Everyone ok in SF after the quake?
(GalaxyGoo): 5.6 quake
(couch): BREAKING: earthquake near San Jose, CA: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.htm
(csm): Man, that quake was close to my Mom’s house; I’m much further away, and man that was a shaker.
(worthyadvisor): Earthquake…wow, that one was long….
(pinstripe_bindi): Earthquake!
Ross: not believing in subtle senses, hoping for a real aftershock to ride out. california rocks!
(EdRoberts): Wow… 5 point something earthquake 15 min ago in SF area
(arjunram): @burtonator: Here are the details of the earthquake http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.html
(ivangonekrazy): Whoa! Earthquake
(6Aers): Stacey posted ‘5.6 earthquake!’ on LiveJournal – http://chasethestars.livejournal.com/384389.html
(seaofclouds): feeling the earth quake
(revdancatt): Modesty was “Um, yeah, like, I knew that was an earthquake, because the bed shook”, we all got under the table in under 8 seconds. Yay us.
(nevermai): earthquake! http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.html
(johnpastor): 5.6 earthquake in SF…
Ross: USGS is so on top of the quake stuff http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.htm
(kenekaplan): We just had a 5.6 earthquake, felt at 8:05 p.m. in San Mateo. Reports say it was centered north of San Jose, CA.
(xicanista): I didnt feel the earthquake.
(kevinchu): Quake details: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/nc40204628.php
(ktc19): earthquake in sunnyvale
(prodos): Trying to sleep during quake = NOT FUN [frown]
(Antigone): 5.6 magnatude earthquake, 9 miles North East of us (San Jose), 5.7 miles deep, rumbled pretty good. Cassidy’s first earthquake.
(catcubed): damn lost in the earthquake first post contest! …Hope the damage is minimal to all those over near San Jose — 5.6 is nothing to sneeze at
(BreakingNewsOn): MODERATE EARTHQUAKE HITS CALIFORNIA, DETAILS SOON.
(billiejeane): 5.6 earthquake. From the bay area… crazy!!!
(estebangs): Hrm.. Somehow managed to miss the earthquake while driving home.
(pkellner): just had earthquake palo alto. macarthur park
(gwachob): to be honest, that didn’t feel anything near a 5.6 earthquake – felt smaller
(6Aers): Henry posted ‘5.6 Quake’ on LiveJournal – http://henrylyne.livejournal.com/71746.html
(ryos): earthquake….
(simX): Felt brief magnitude 5.6 earthquake. Minor shaking for about 10 sec. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/nc40204628.php
(davemc500hats): 5.6 earthquake in san jose: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.htm
(DrGreene): Earthquake just shook the store Austin and I are in. The lights still swinging afterwards.
(bodyvisual): Obligatory earthquake update
(thomwatson): Filling out the USGS questionnaire about the 5.x magnitude earthquake we just experienced; the cats were very frightened; we were excited.
(mikegoelzer): Consensus seems to be that it really was an earthquake. 4 years in California and this is my first one. (out of town for previous ones)
(pacificIT): Location of Earthquake: http://tinyurl.com/yobhmu
(jkusters): Was a 5.6 quake, 11 miles E of Milpitas, 9 miles NE of San Jose City Hall.
(krob): quake details from usgs http://tinyurl.com/234t3w
(snjones): We just had a 5.6 earthquake. That was fun. At least E2 is stable…
(jcrosby): First earthquake ever for these former Missouri residents.
(myVision): Another earthquake!
(Britneymason): ——–
big earthquake!! Biggest I’ve felt in a longtime!!
factoryjoe: This is off the hook! http://www.flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/1807201412/ #twitterquake #quake
briancaldwell: wow 5.6 magnitude in Alum Rock, that San Jose for you out of state peeps
(bsii): congrats, me: I apparently said the least interesting thing there was about the quake. Our prediction was 0.1 off. [equal tongue]
(chris): nice quake! haven’t felt 1 like that in a while!
(leahjones): erm, that you’re all safe. i had three earthquake tweets back to back to back.
t: earthquake 5.6, 15km from San Jose City Hall: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.html
(gwachob): yes, cnn and news folks should import twitter quake feed
(waynesutton): Reading about earthquake in CA, I hope all my SF,CA twitter friends are ok, Twitter first in news!
(iankennedy): Can’t believe it – too busy tickling kids to realize there was an earthquake!
(eazar): Silicon Valley just had an earthquake…man I don’t miss those!
(ahockley): Looks like intial earthquake report is a 5.6 – http://urltea.com/1xtl – hoping for minimal damage to folks down there…
(vlod): first big earthquake i felt in the bay area. mag 5.6 and last for 10 secs.. http://tinyurl.com/3gb56 thought it was the big one!