The New, New Twitter: 10 Big Takeaways

Dan Frommer:

Twitter is trying to de-emphasize private messaging by moving it a layer deeper in the user interface. I’m guessing there are a bunch of reasons for this, not limited to: Simplicity, perhaps relatively low usage by most users, potentially confusing rules around DMing, and that more public content is probably better for Twitter’s product and advertising goals. Some long-time and hardcore Twitter users are probably going to be upset about this, but one of Twitter’s strengths has always been its willingness to design for its mainstream users at the expense of its geek users.

Sounds about right. (Not that I’m happy about it personally, but that I agree with his analysis of why Twitter is de-emphasizing private messaging.)

★ Thursday, 8 December 2011