Twitter Blog

New Front Page!

2009-07-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today we're trying a redesigned front page for folks who are new to Twitter.com. If you're a regular around these parts, then you won't notice the new look unless you sign out of your account. Helping people access Twitter in more relevant and useful ways upon first introduction lowers the barrier to accessing the value Twitter has to offer and presents the service more consistently with how it has evolved.

Twitter began as a rudimentary social tool based on the concept of status messages but together with those who use it every day, the service has taught us what it wants to be. From features invented by users to applications built on the platform, we're still discovering potential. Twitter has moved from simple social networking into a new kind of communication and a valuable source of timely information. Also, it's fun.

Learning By Experience

Defining a "tweet" for the uninitiated and explaining how to create an account doesn't resonate with everyone. "Why would I want to do that?" is a common reaction. However, demonstrating the power of Twitter as a discovery engine for what is happening right now through our Search and Trends often awakens a sense of wonder which inevitably leads to a much more compelling question, "How do I get involved?"

More Work Ahead

The open and timely exchange of information will have a positive impact on the world and Twitter has a role to play. We have a lot of work to do when it comes to the quality of our search results and trend analysis but repositioning the product to focus more on discovery is an important first step in presenting Twitter to a wider audience of folks around the world who are eager to start engaging with new people, ideas, opinions, events, and sources of information.

We'll likely continue to make changes to the Twitter home page as we respond to feedback and ideas. We're eager to see if encouraging a sense of wonder and discovery leads to a better first impression of Twitter.

Twitter Over SMS with O2 in the UK

2009-07-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Full, two-way interaction with Twitter over SMS is now available for everyone who uses O2, the largest mobile operator in the UK. There are no extra fees associated with Twittering over SMS on the 02 network—standard or in bundle rates apply for updating your account and receiving tweets over SMS is free so Tweet your heart out!

To Twitter over SMS with your iPhone or any other mobile, head over to your account settings and activate your device. The Twitter shortcode in the UK is 86444 if you want to save it in your address book. Twitter started with a strong focus on texting and we continue to provide SMS access around the world.

Enhancing Value for Customers and Businesses

2009-07-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Many are seeing a wide variety of businesses using Twitter in interesting ways to create value for customers and consumers. As a result, we're often invited by businesses and organizations to talk about Twitter and how it can be used to better engage with customers. Twitter is still a small team so it made more sense to do some research and make it widely available rather than personally visit businesses big and small.

We coordinated with business students and writers to surface some interesting findings, best practices, steps for getting started, and case studies. The results demonstrate how customers are getting value out of Twitter and suggest techniques businesses can employ to enhance that value. While this work was envisioned for businesses, it's also useful for anyone using Twitter so have a look if you like.

Where To Find It

At the bottom of every page on Twitter, you can now find a new link called Business. This will take you to a suite of web pages called Twitter 101, A Special Guide. There is also a downloadable slideshow available as a PDF that's more of an overview which folks can use to give presentations within larger organizations to teach others about Twitter. We're focused on enhancing value across Twitter in general—these documents are just a first step.

BestBuy, Good Stuff

2009-07-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

We're beginning to discover the value that customers and consumers are getting from businesses who use Twitter in smart and interesting ways. Businesses of all shapes and sizes are discovering the value too—whether it's raising the bottom line or engaging more actively with consumers.

A small business like a bakery will send out a tweet that the cookies just came out of the oven and a few dozen local followers will rush over and buy warm cookies. The customers like it and the small businesses owners love it. Big companies are using Twitter in interesting ways too.

BestBuy has created a program they call Twelpforce. The idea is that employees from across the organization can interact quickly and easily with customers who have questions about products. This is a different approach but it's smart—they're building trust and fostering happy, informed customers. That's good stuff.

We've been studying how customers and businesses interact and derive value from Twitter. From this research, findings, use cases, and best practices have emerged. We're putting together a document based on our studies and we'll find a spot on our web site to share it with everyone when it's ready.

Letterman Discovers Twitter via Spacey

2009-07-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

David Letterman was introduced to Twitter via Kevin Spacey on last night's Late Show. Once Dave got past the concept of typing with his thumbs he was able to characterize Twitter as "a waste of time." That's generally how Twitter was characterized in 2007 so Dave's only two years behind—we'll give him a little more time to catch up.

Someone Call Security

2009-07-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

Early yesterday, we were contacted by two blog journalists who had just been offered internal business documents stolen from Twitter by a hacker.

First, it's important to note how these documents were stolen. In this case, a Twitter employee used the same non-unique password on multiple services. A hacker gained access to our business documents because this common password was retrievable on an unrelated system. If you've ever used the same password on more than one service, you've made the same mistake that lead to this theft—it's a web wide issue. Random password generators as well as two-factor authentication for more sensitive systems are now mandatory at Twitter, Inc.

Twitter is more than jotted-down notes from a handful of meetings. Our future will be shaped by the passion and inventiveness of everyone who uses Twitter and through the execution of our ideas. Nevertheless, the publication of stolen documents is irresponsible and we absolutely did not give permission for these documents to be shared. Out of context, rudimentary notes of internal discussions will be misinterpreted by current and future partners jeopardizing our business relationships.

We are pursuing a path to address the harm caused by these actions and as noted yesterday, we've already reached out to the partners and individuals affected.

Twitter, Even More Open Than We Wanted

2009-07-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, an administrative employee here at Twitter was targeted and her personal email account was hacked. From the personal account, we believe the hacker was able to gain information which allowed access to this employee's Google Apps account which contained Docs, Calendars, and other Google Apps Twitter relies on for sharing notes, spreadsheets, ideas, financial details and more within the company. Since then, we have performed a security audit and reminded everyone of the importance of personal security guidelines.

This attack had nothing to do with any vulnerability in Google Apps which we continue to use. This is more about Twitter being in enough of a spotlight that folks who work here can become targets. In fact, around the same time, Evan's wife's personal email was hacked and from there, the hacker was able to gain access to some of Evan's personal accounts such as Amazon and PayPal but not email. This isn't about any flaw in web apps, it speaks to the importance of following good personal security guidelines such as choosing strong passwords.

Stolen Documents, Not Compromised Accounts

It's important to note that the stolen documents which were downloaded and offered to various blogs and publications are not Twitter user accounts nor were any user accounts compromised (except for a screenshot of one person's account and we contacted that person and recommended changing their password). This was not a hack on the Twitter service, it was a personal attack followed by the theft of private company documents.

We are in touch with our legal counsel about what this theft means for Twitter, the hacker, and anyone who accepts and subsequently shares or publishes these stolen documents. We're not sure yet exactly what the implications are for folks who choose to get involved at this point but when we learn more and are able to share more, we will.

The 'Underwear Drawer' Analogy

We have a culture of sharing and communication within Twitter and these stolen documents represent a fraction of what we produce on a regular basis. Obviously, these docs are not polished or ready for prime time and they're certainly not revealing some big, secret plan for taking over the world. As Peter Kafka put it, this is "akin to having your underwear drawer rifled: Embarrassing, but no one’s really going to be surprised about what’s in there." That is an apt analogy.

Nevertheless, as they were never meant for public communication, publishing these documents publicly could jeopardize relationships with Twitter's ongoing and potential partners. We're doing our best to reach out to these folks and talk over any questions and concerns. However, our goal remains focusing on the most important business at hand—creating value for users and building the best possible Twitter service.

TweetCraft for WoW Players

2009-07-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

TweetCraft is an in-game Twitter client for World of Warcraft, the wildly popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. If you're a WoW player you might like it because you can send and receive tweets in-game, upload screenshots to TwitPic, automatically tweet when you get an achievement, and more. Also, the overly dramatic video promo is fun.

Twittering from the Tractor

2009-07-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Steve Tucker is a wheat farmer in Nebraska changing the way we interact with the folks who grow our food. Twittering from the tractor: smartphones sprout on the farm is an interesting article at CNN.com about how farmer's like Steve are using Twitter and other tools to bridge the urban-rural divide and get us thinking more about where our food comes from.

The idea of extending the Twitter network into interesting locations around the world via mobile devices is at the core of our thinking and Steve sums it up well when he says, "I can be in the most remote place and just with the power of having a BlackBerry ... I can communicate with anybody at anytime about anything." You can follow @Tykerman1 on Twitter.

p.s. Twitter co-founder and CEO @ev grew up on a farm in Nebraska.

May The Tweets Be With You

2009-07-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

The ecosystem growing around Twitter is something we very much believe in nourishing and supporting. There are lots of really awesome services and applications out there like TweetDeck, TweetMeme, Tweetie, BackTweets, Tweetboard, and others that we absolutely love as do many users. However, as the ecosystem grows there is also the possibility that confusing and potentially damaging projects could emerge.

We have applied to trademark Tweet because it is clearly attached to Twitter from a brand perspective but we have no intention of "going after" the wonderful applications and services that use the word in their name when associated with Twitter. In fact, we encourage the use of the word Tweet. However, if we come across a confusing or damaging project, the recourse to act responsibly to protect both users and our brand is important.

Regarding the use of the word Twitter in projects, we are a bit more wary although there are some exceptions here as well. After all, Twitter is the name of our service and our company so the potential for confusion is much higher. When folks ask us about naming their application with "Twitter" we generally respond by suggesting more original branding for their project. This avoids potential confusion down the line.

Thanks to Robin Wauters at TechCrunch for raising the issue because it highlights a need. As we build our platform team, we will be adding more documentation, guidelines, and best practices to help developers get the most out of our growing set of open APIs. We'll work together to ensure success for Twitter, developers, and everyone who uses these services while avoiding confusion and maintaining quality.

Following and Followers Page Improvements

2009-06-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

When you click on the Following and Followers links from your Twitter home page, you'll notice that we've upgraded the design of these pages and added features. Instead of a basic list, there are now actions you can perform that provide a better overall experience. For example, you can turn on SMS, unfollow, mention, block, direct message, and more. Tip: You can also view the accounts that someone else is following and follow them yourself.

Restaurants on Twitter

2009-06-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Boston Globe Staff Photo by Yoon S. Byun

This article from my hometown newspaper is a great example of something we're increasingly inspired by at Twitter. Small businesses—in this case restaurants—using Twitter as a low cost way to connect with patrons and ultimately improve profits.

What can you do with 140 characters or less, the length of each tweet? A lot, restaurants are discovering - everything from posting daily specials to luring followers with offers of free appetizers to offering a glimpse of kitchen life. It’s all good for business.

This quote is awesome, "You don’t need technology to be spreading your message on Twitter." Well, you do need a bit of technology but not that much, it's true. With a chalkboard and a mobile phone you can boost business. Is your favorite restaurant on Twitter?

Up, Up, and Away

2009-06-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Twitter is back and our network capacity is now significantly increased. The planned maintenance that we moved from last night to this afternoon was a success and it took half the time we expected.

When we worked with our network provider yesterday to reschedule this planned maintenance, we did so because events in Iran were tied directly to the growing significance of Twitter as an important communication and information network. Although presumed impossible if not extremely difficult, we decided together to move the date. It made sense for Twitter and for NTT America to keep services active during this highly visible global event.

It's humbling to think that our two-year old company could be playing such a globally meaningful role that state officials find their way toward highlighting our significance. However, it's important to note that the State Department does not have access to our decision making process. Nevertheless, we can both agree that the open exchange of information is a positive force in the world.

Down Time Rescheduled

2009-06-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight's planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).

Our partners are taking a huge risk not just for Twitter but also the other services they support worldwide—we commend them for being flexible in what is essentially an inflexible situation. We chose NTT America Enterprise Hosting Services early last year specifically because of their impeccable history of reliability and global perspective. Today's decision and actions continue to prove why NTT America is such a powerful partner for Twitter.

Not Playing Ball

2009-06-06T11:15:00.001-07:00

Impersonation violates Twitter's Terms of Service and we take the issue seriously. We suspend, delete, or transfer control of accounts known to be impersonation. When alerted, we took action in this regard on behalf of St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.

Reports this week that Twitter has settled a law suit and officially agreed to pay legal fees for an impersonation complaint that was taken care of by our support staff in accordance with our Terms are erroneous. Twitter has not settled, nor do we plan to settle or pay.

With due respect to the man and his notable work, Mr. La Russa’s lawsuit was an unnecessary waste of judicial resources bordering on frivolous. Twitter’s Terms of Service are fair and we believe will be upheld in a court that will ultimately dismiss Mr. La Russa’s lawsuit.

Verified Accounts Beta (A Sneak Peak)

We do recognize an opportunity to improve Twitter user experience and clear up confusion beyond simply removing impersonation accounts once alerted. We'll be experimenting with a beta preview of what we're calling Verified Accounts this summer.

Verified Accounts will feature a special seal.

The experiment will begin with public officials, public agencies, famous artists, athletes, and other well known individuals at risk of impersonation. We hope to verify more accounts in the future but due to the resources required, verification will begin only with a small set.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's official site links to his Twitter account.

Please note that this doesn't mean accounts without a verification seal are fake—the vast majority of Twitter accounts are not impersonators. Another way to determine authenticity is to check the official web site of the person for a link back to their Twitter account.

When we do start testing Account Verification, we will be sure to provide ample methods for feedback. Initially, verification will not be tested with businesses. However, we do see an opportunity in that arena so we'll keep you posted when we have something to share.

Shuffle up and Deal

2009-05-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

The World Series of Poker begins today in Las Vegas. For the poker fan, it's a chance to see the best in the world contend with amateurs from all over the world.

If there's a problem with the WSOP, it's that there's so much of it. It runs for almost two months, has over 50 events and involves thousands of players. Twitter user and poker pro Joe Sebok has created a great new tool for following all the action using Twitter.

PokerRoad Nation aggregates tweets from professional players (like Barry Greenstein and Annie Duke) as well as amateurs. You can filter the tweets to see updates about a specific WSOP event or from specific players.

When you're trying to follow an event like a poker tournament where thousands of people might be playing at hundreds of tables, a tool like this let's you see what's going on through the players' eyes. It's a whole new way of seeing the game.

We're Not Making A TV Show

2009-05-26T11:17:00.001-07:00

Just to be clear, Twitter is not making a television show. Some Hollywood folks are developing something that leverages Twitter and they are extremely enthusiastic as evidenced by all the media hubbub yesterday and today. We have little to do with their efforts but we wish them success.

Like the thousands of apps being built around Twitter, there is a growing interest from the entertainment and news industry. We see these projects and others as yet another way the ecosystem is enriched for everyone who uses Twitter.

Twitter Goes Hollywood?

2009-05-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

The web is abuzz today with talk of a "Twitter TV show." I'm even getting folks asking me if they can audition. Indeed, there are a lot of interesting developments happening in the television space—MTV, G4, CNN, E! and various independent production companies are all leveraging Twitter for fun new projects. There are probably a bunch we don't even know about yet.

Is There An Official Twitter Show?

There is no official Twitter TV show—although if there were it would be fun to cast! In dealing with networks and production companies we sometimes have simple agreements. Regarding the Reveille and Brillstein project reported today, we have a lightweight, non-exclusive, agreement with the producers which helps them move forward more freely.

Our Openness Is Extensive

Twitter is very open. As a result, thousands of different applications, web sites, and mobile interfaces have been created by developers. These different approaches add variety and relevance to Twitter and in general make the ecosystem more interesting. However, Twitter's openness is not limited to the web or even to mobile phones.

During the 2008 presidential elections, Hack The Debate showed us how Twitter could make television interactive and possibly even have a democratizing effect on the medium. The power of Twitter was harnessed to create new, compelling, and engaging programming. CNN was an early innovator with Twitter too. Our openness made it all possible.

Twitter's open approach might have the power to transform television—the dominant communications receiver worldwide. We're very excited to see where these experiments take us.

Hello, New Zealand

2009-05-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

Last week we launched full, two-way SMS for Vodafone customers in New Zealand. The shortcode for Twitter in NZ is 8987 or TWTR. As always, Twittering over SMS is a standard rate message or deducted from your bundle and receiving notifications is free. If you're not a Vodafone customer, don't worry—we're working on it.

Image created by denèe.

What About Australia?

We know from experience that Australian Twitterers are a passionate bunch. Hopefully this good news will not have a negative impact on Trans-Tasman relations. We promise that Twitter loves Australia and we will be turning on full, two-way SMS in your fabulous island continent as soon as our mobile team can make the necessary arrangements.

Does Twitter Hate Advertising?

2009-05-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

When we speak publicly about how Twitter might become a profitable business, we talk about the idea of commercial usage and then explain that we're still exploring what that means—that's true. We also say traditional web banner advertising isn't interesting to us which is also true. However, to say we are philosophically opposed to any and all advertising is incorrect.

For a long time, we've said that we think there are interesting opportunities related to commercial usage. Businesses and individuals are getting value out of Twitter and we may be able to enhance that. We've just begun exploring in this area—early ideas include account authentication, management tools, and discovery mechanisms. We'll keep you posted.

The idea of taking money to run traditional banner ads on Twitter.com has always been low on our list of interesting ways to generate revenue. However, facilitating connections between businesses and individuals in meaningful and relevant ways is compelling. We're going to leave the door open for exploration in this area.

Do we hate advertising? Of course not. It's a huge industry filled with creativity and inspiration. There's also room for new innovation in advertising, marketing, and public relations and Twitter is already part of that. In fact, next month I'll be attending and speaking at the 56th annual international advertising festival, Cannes Lions 2009. I'll let you know how it goes.

The Replies Kerfuffle

2009-05-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Twitter evolves and thrives on how folks use it. Some of our best features are invented by users, so listening is extremely valuable. Replies and conversations are awesome and we fully intend to support and encourage their growth. We removed a setting that 3% of all accounts had ever touched but for those folks it was beloved. The use cases that folks loved about this setting will return in a new and improved form.

We screwed up from a communications perspective this week. When I heard that this change was going out, I rushed to write a blog post. This setting had both product design flaws as well as technical flaws and I did not do my homework. My post came from a product design perspective but the technical perspective was the reason it went away so quickly. Normally, I spend more time understanding the issue before explaining it on this blog but in my haste I made a mistake.

Subsequently, there is now a lot of confusion about what this change actually was. 97% of all accounts were not affected at all by this change—the default setting is that you only see replies by people you follow to people you follow. For the 3% who wanted to see replies to people they don't follow, we cannot turn this setting back on in its original form for technical reasons and we won't rebuild it exactly the same for product design reasons. I've taken some time to break down both the product design and technical problems this feature had.

Product Design Flaws

Since last year we've been hearing from users and having discussions about removing this setting—feedback indicated that it was useful but also created confusion. People would change the setting and then not understand why their timeline had fragments of conversations. From the tweet author perspective, there was an unclear expectation as to who would actually see messages which often lead to trepidation when it came to using replies. Finally, even folks who understood the setting would complain that they couldn't follow accounts with a high volume of replies because the replies overwhelmed their timeline. It was becoming apparent that we had an opportunity for improvement.

Technical Problems

Even though only 3% of all Twitter accounts ever changed this setting away from the default, it was causing a strain and impacting other parts of the system. Every time someone wrote a reply Twitter had to check and see what each of their followers' reply setting was and then manifest that tweet accordingly in their timeline—this was the most expensive work the database was doing and it was causing other features to degrade which lead to SMS delays, inconsistencies in following, fluctuations in direct message counts, and more. Ideally, we would redesign and rebuild this feature but there was no time, hence the sudden deploy.

Hopefully, this clears things up a bit and I promise to be less distracted and hasty when it comes to blog posts. We're still listening, reading tweets, gathering feedback, and working on more efficient ways of doing so. Thanks to everyone for the feedback and for using Twitter.

We Learned A Lot

2009-05-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

This morning we received lots of great info about the replies setting we changed yesterday. Folks loved this feature because it allowed them to discover new people and participate serendipitously in various conversations. The problem with the setting was that it didn't scale and even if we rebuilt it, the feature was blunt. It was confusing and caused a sense of inconsistency. We felt we could do much better.

So here's what we're planning to do. First, we're making a change such that any updates beginning with @username (that are not explicitly created by clicking on the reply icon) will be seen by everyone following that account. This will bring back some serendipity and discovery and we can do this very soon.

Second, we've started designing a new feature which will give folks far more control over what they see from the accounts they follow. This will be a per-user setting and it will take a bit longer to put together but not too long and we're already working on it. Thanks for all the great feedback and thanks for helping us discover what's important!

Whoa, Feedback!

2009-05-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

We're getting a ton of extremely useful feedback about yesterday's update to Settings. The engineering team reminded me that there were serious technical reasons why that setting had to go or be entirely rebuilt—it wouldn't have lasted long even if we thought it was the best thing ever. Nevertheless, it's amazing to wake up and see all the tweets about this change.

We're hearing your feedback and reading through it all. One of the strongest signals is that folks were using this setting to discover and follow new and interesting accounts—this is something we absolutely want to support. Our product, design, user experience, and technical teams have started brainstorming a way to surface a new, scalable way to address this need.

Please stay tuned and thank you again for all the feedback.

Small Settings Update

2009-05-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

We've updated the Notices section of Settings to better reflect how folks are using Twitter regarding replies. Based on usage patterns and feedback, we've learned most people want to see when someone they follow replies to another person they follow—it's a good way to stay in the loop. However, receiving one-sided fragments via replies sent to folks you don't follow in your timeline is undesirable. Today's update removes this undesirable and confusing option.

The Importance of Discovery

Spotting new folks in tweets is an interesting way to check out new profiles and find new people to follow. Despite this update, you'll still see mentions or references linking to people you don't follow. For example, you'll continue to see, "Ev meeting with @biz about work stuff" even if you don't follow @biz. We'll be introducing better ways to discover and follow interesting accounts as we release more features in this space.

Canada Gets Fully Twitterized

2009-05-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today we launched full, two-way SMS support for Telus, Virgin Mobile, and Koodo Mobile. We are now live on all major operators in Canada—that means pretty much every mobile phone user in Canada has the ability to send and receive Twitter updates via SMS. Just like our deals with the rest of the major Canadian mobile operators, there are no additional fees. Twitter messages are standard rates or deducted from your bundle if you have one. More countries to follow.