WTF are we doing with Twitter

Twitter’s stock is down, the world just found out they have not only failed to grow their user base but they are declining fast, and on top of that everyone is complaining about the potential switch to an algorithm.

I personally love the destination of Twitter. You know when you sign on that it will be live and you’ll get the latest details about what is happening around the world.

Whether I want to know the sports play by plays, inspirational quotes, in-depth articles, engage with personalities or someone from your favorite company — it’s all there.

What are some shitty parts about Twitter I’ve seen over the past 5 years?

1. Bots rule the world and they suck the life out of everyone.
2. Pornographic content needs to stay out of the timeline unless a user allows NSFW tweets. (There should be some type of filter and setting ability.)
3. Online bullying needs to be handled in a better manner.
4. You never know if someone followed you out pure interest or because they used a tool like CrowdFire (I love them so I am guilty myself.)
5. Even if you do connect (follow each other), it’s easy to get lost in the mix. There should be some type of rediscovery tool to help reconnect — Nimble.com does this somehow.
6. There needs to be an entire team hired to report and block every single “buy more followers for $XXX”. Seriously, the most evil thing you can do to your following. They eventually follow each other and your user base manifests into this volatile up and down rollercoaster where you lose 100 followers here and there every so often. Why? The purge aka Twitter finally cracking down.
7. Overuse of automation has stripped Twitter (and slowly Instagram) of their pure and raw engagement. Instead of being excited about your favorite brand liking your picture you now think twice about whether to feel special or too feel like another number. I loved social media because it provided an upper hand to everyday consumers and gave a voice to the everyday person. Now I feel as though we are using our powers of reaching greater numbers and impressions for the wrong things.

While we may not work at Twitter or even care if they make a some profit, we can help to keep Twitter clean by reporting every bot and every “buy more followers” people. We can begin to cut down on automation and start to realize social media is another way of saying customer service. We then can prioritize hiring more custome….social media people to talk and engage with everyday people because they will become a powerful source for organic influencer marketing. We also can invite our friends but I definitely understand if you don’t want to invite them now — they need to clean a few things up first before you start throwing yourself into the mix.

To Twitter:

Your customers are your greatest critics because they care and they want you to care. Once you care and show it, they will be more forgiving the next time you come across each other. If you truly want to “save” Twitter, become a part of the conversation and actually use your platform — Jack Dorsey.

P.S. I love you, Twitter. ;)

Salina Mendoza

Follow me — — — — — → www.twitter.com/inababi