On Facebook, if someone wants to tag another person — say their brother at dinner — they just start writing the name and Facebook figures out the rest using an algorithm that understands names. In comparison, on Twitter, people have to understand @ symbols, hashtags and other strange intricacies of the service. These features make Twitter a great tool for many, but not for all.
Seeing my sister navigate Twitter, I realized why it was so confusing to so many. For someone like me with a programming background who grew up using computers, adding an @ symbol to someone’s name is easy. For someone who did not, like 90 percent of America, it just doesn’t make sense. Our brain is not forced to do this in real life, why should it in digital life?
A) I don’t see this as an issue. Twitter is based on hashtags and @ symbols and relies heavily on syntax as was the goal of Jack Dorsey when he made it.
B) Facebook doesn’t work that way but it’s not a broadcast system.
C) Twitter is taking control of the App experience by slowly locking out 3rd party applications and making their apps the easiest to use. That will help them make Twitter easier faster and this may not be an argument in a year or two
Discover more from Adam Chandler's Blog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.