Twitter too complicated for newcomers, says CEO

[steve2470]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57586696-93/twitter-too-complicated-for-newcomers-says-ceo/

Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo believes that the 7-year-old information network is still far too complex for the masses to grasp.

Wednesday, the CEO fielded questions from Kara Swisher at the D: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. When asked what Twitter was missing, Costolo said, "Simplicity."

Twitter makes communication too complex.

The information network, because it constrains tweets to 140 characters or less, has inspired people to create a new type of language for conversations and memes, Costolo said. But this "remarkable language is superhard to understand" if you're new to the platform, he added, citing how members often place a "." in front of the "@" when tweeting replies that they want all their followers to see. Kind of confusing, right?

[quinnox]

1. I recently signed up and

and they should make it so you can type more characters than 140 in messages IMHO. That is too short.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. I do traffic on twitter for the paper no,

Not kidding. I have gotten pretty good. At times though it requires two posts.

[laundry_queen]

15. I totally agree

twitter and ebay feedback could use more characters. There comes a point when trying to make things simpler by shortening the message makes it more complicated as people find new ways to convey a complete thought.

I joined twitter last year. I'm rarely on it, as I'm generally a long winded person. I do follow a lot of people (and local traffic tweets are particularly helpful) but I never post anything. I still don't understand half of it. For that matter - my kids hate it too, for the same reasons I do, so it's not just us old farts.

[upaloopa]

2. Don't use it and probably never will

I'm one of those old farts that still does math in my head did bookkeeping in ledger books. I know enough to use computers and I phones but I just don't have the desire to be knowledgeable about new technology. I know what a cloud is though.

[angstlessk]

12. as a bookkeeper at an insurance company..which makes one an acturarial researcher

we used to do 5 year long range forecasts by hand...we had to take the largest worksheets and paste others together in order to make them large enough to support our forecasts..

We had to calculate it all by hand...by that I mean 10 key adding machines...and of course very complicated formulas...

I loved it..then we got computers...it all went downhill from there

[undeterred]

3. CEO too simple-minded to use internet.

[Honeycombe8]

4. I have an acct but don't use it much. It seems mainly a vehicle for people to talk AT me...

not WITH me. Unless I have followers.

I follow some famous people & sites, and they tweet me and re-tweet all the time. They never respond to my tweets to them. I'm just an avenue for them to advertise or push an agenda to me.

I tweet to some of the political shows....I never get a response. So what's the pt? They just tweet to me, to let me know who will be on their show, books they're pushing, etc.

It started out being one thing, and I think it has turned into this other thing. An advertising gimmick.

[FSogol]

5. Correct. It is just companies/people trying to get you to do their advertising/marketing for them

without pay. I'll read tweets, like Frank Conniffs from his we page ( https://twitter.com/FrankConniff )
but don't follow him on twitter

[dipsydoodle]

6. Yes - bulk advertising

and the reason you get no response is that the "names" are not running the show unlike George Takei on FB , for example . who does it himself.

[OneGrassRoot]

7. That feels about right.

I've tried to get into twitter but just can't. I like interaction and that's just broadcasting, as far as I can see. You're so right.

[L0oniX]

8. No ...the problem is that it isn't worth using. n/t

[smirkymonkey]

11. Thank you!

+1,000

[onehandle]

9. What? Twitter is stupidly simple.

Emphasis on stupid, 99% of the time.

I use it as a replacement for RSS. Little more.

They probably don't get RSS either.

[Phillip McCleod]

13. i don't think 'complicated' is the right word.

hhehehheheh.

years have gone by and i still find it depressing that twitter has not.

[undeterred]

14. I love Twitter

I do not follow celebrities or companies - I follow organizations committed to causes and issues I am concerned about. I follow a few excellent journalists and bloggers.

It isn't the 140 character message but the link to something I would not otherwise have known about that makes it valuable.