Comments on: Twitter Groups Done Right! (aka: I hate Hash Tags)

By: Paul Nicholson

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:17:00 +0000

Added a few more groups to move into our next stage of testing (check the updated post to see the new list).

Things are continuing to develop. We’re still trying to decide if we’re going to offer the code for donations, or offer a hosted service ourselves (or both).

By: AJ

AJ — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:25:00 +0000

Wow, Paul, I am so glad I found this post! When I first discovered @PredFans I really didn't know what to make of it (I really didn't understand how it worked). Then when I followed and you followed me back I finally got it after seeing my tweets reposted there. Howevah, the very problem you mentioned troubled me: the idea of clogging up my feed with all my @PredFans tweets, which appear twice in my tweetstream. I literally have no one else who follows me aside from you guys who gives a hoot about the Predators and I really didn't want to bore them with a conversation they most likely wouldn't care to follow.

But now I know about the DM method to eliminate the main feed inclusion of my @PredFans tweets. BRILLIANT!

This also saves me from bugging you personally aver the issue, which I was just about ready to do.

You might want to think about creating some kind of auto or otherwise standard direct message to new members of the Preds or Titans fans' Twitter groups explaining these options.

Thanks so much to you and @phragmunkee for your great ideas!

By: TimO

TimO — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:04:00 +0000

any further thoughts on providing the code for this?

By: Paul Nicholson

Paul Nicholson — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:46:00 +0000

We’re still working on either commercializing this (free service but ad-driven or something) or releasing the code. Gotta figure out what license we would release it under if we do.

Stay tuned.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:23:00 +0000

Great solution! Any chance that you’ll share the retweet code? I’m also interested in the original hash tag based retweet code. Or is there a service that already does this?

By: Paul Nicholson

Paul Nicholson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:55:00 +0000

If filters were built in to Twitter, then hashtags would be half-way there. The other thing you'd need to be able to do is follow hashtags ("follow #debate08"). Then you would be able to form large or small groups and conversations on the fly, while not bothering other people.

Unfortunately without filters you bother other people, and without the ability to follow hashtags, you can't see the whole conversation on the fly. You can get close when at a PC, but what makes Twitter so great is the platform agnostic nature of being at a desktop, phone, smartphone, etc and all being able to be part of one conversation. Using search.twitter.com to track larger conversations is untenable from a cellphone.

Twalala certainly seems nice, but until that carries over into Twitterberry, the device-based (SMS) aspects of Twitter, etc it still doesn't really cross that line (and doesn't fix the "follow" problem).

The benefit of the true groups is the ability to join (follow) and leave (unfollow) the conversation at will from any Twitter device. As you say, the downside there is that it needs to be setup in advance.

The benefit of what @phragmunkee has setup for us though, is that i actually could create a group on the fly using a web-based interface (that is WAP browser friendly). We're about 90% to perfect i think :-)

By: Chris Messina

Chris Messina — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:19:00 +0000

Well, “traditional hashtags” were never implemented as they were designed [by me]. The point of hashtags were to enable the creation of ad-hoc groups without having to create a fake/empty account, which is especially challenging when you’re on the go or using your phone (also, if you don’t actively monitor the account and someone DMs it, you kind of run into a problem).

In my original design for hashtags, you could simply send “mute #hashtag” and you would no longer see tweets with certain hashtags in them. The official Twitter position on hashtags was always that they were ugly (they are) and unnecessary (that’s debatable) and only during this election cycle did they start supporting them.

Unfortunately, no one has implemented hashtags completely, and so meanwhile you’re left with hacks as you’ve described to make due for the lack of filtering.

Incidently, you might take a look at Twalala (http://www.twalala.com/).

By: Rob Robinson

Rob Robinson — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 02:21:00 +0000

I’m fine with hashtags, but you’re right. This approach is much better.

By: David Cintron

David Cintron — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:30:00 +0000

You sir, are a Tweet-genius. I wondered how the @predfans worked so well. Nice to meet you at the box office window today, and I’ve got tickets in 303 this Thursday, maybe I’ll see ya there!