23 March 2010
The Backstabbing on Twitter has to Stop
This is going to be a bit of a rant, so it’s officially filed under ‘Opinion’. I think it’s important and no one seems to be talking about it, so I’m bringing it up.
You often hear the phrase ‘Web Community’, but what does it mean and why does it matter? I think it stands for the general camaraderie, excitement and support we all have for each other in web design, development and online business. There’s a feeling that we’re all early adopters and we believe that the Web is going to change the world. It’s awesome and I love it.
The reason why the Web Community is so important is because it fosters a spirit of sharing and learning that drives innovation and discovery. It should be protected and appreciated.
However, there is something that’s beginning to infect the Web Community like cancer …
People publicly shaming each other on Twitter without emailing first.
What I’m talking about are the tweets that are designed to stir people into discussion/anger/agreement and increase follower counts. It’s childish and cheap and it has to stop. You know what I’m talking about. (99% of “FAIL” tweets fall into this category). It’s as if there’s a contest to see who can find a flaw the quickest.
Are we really a community if we’re ripping each other to shreds at the first hint of a mistake? What happened to common decency where someone noticed a problem and sent a kind email to the site owner, making sure they were aware of it?
Here’s the point: If you notice a problem with someone’s site or app, send a quick email to let them know about it. Don’t stab them in the back on Twitter just to make yourself look clever.
If you’re helpful and supportive, you never know, someone might just help you out when you make your next mistake.
(Photo by gcfairch)
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Paul Bailey
# March 23, 2010 - 5:50 pm
Very well said. I couldn’t agree more. There is certainly a childish attitude in this regard which you have highlighted well. Let’s hope for more of a grown-up, community-focused attitude in the future on twitter.
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 6:06 pm
Thanks Paul – much appreciated.
David Smith
# March 23, 2010 - 5:51 pm
I would agree with this Ryan. However, I don’t see the harm in pointing out an error with someone’s site as long as you’re not malicious or arrogant.
Certainly some people do like to jump on the negatives but a lot of the time people are just trying to be helpful.
Loads of people have openly criticised a site we recently relaunched in the web design community but I’m sure most of them are just trying to help.
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 6:00 pm
Loads of people have openly criticised a site we recently relaunched in the web design community but I’m sure most of them are just trying to help.
I’m not so sure. Mind linking to some of the tweets?
Gene Crawford
# March 23, 2010 - 5:51 pm
Couldn’t agree with you more Ryan. Twitter is great but it shouldn’t be used as an official mode of communication with someone for professional business issues. Maybe used as a last straw if you can’t get any help otherwise but in general, yes, let’s all be adults here.
James Whatley
# March 23, 2010 - 5:53 pm
Well said that man.
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 6:06 pm
Gracias sir. Thanks for stopping by.
Scottify
# March 23, 2010 - 5:55 pm
The word’s ‘without’, ‘sin’, ‘first’ and ‘stone’ come to mind.
I think this can be a general characteristic of certain people in the web community, where they want to one up everybody, in order to make themselves look or maybe just feel better.
This only seems to be a minority at the moment, but some people will often look for the negative rather than focus on the positive.
Jonathan Hopkins
# March 23, 2010 - 5:55 pm
“the web is a mirror. social media is the polish. boy do we look ugly sometimes” ;-)
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 6:08 pm
Classic quote. Who said it?
Avin Kline
# March 23, 2010 - 5:55 pm
Amen Ryan!
It doesn’t take much skill to point out what doesn’t work. Much better to notice and share what *does* work.
Alex Hunter
# March 23, 2010 - 5:56 pm
I couldn’t agree more, Ryan, well played. I’m an ideas guy, I thrive on enthusiasm and positvity – I don’t have time for negativity so I just ignore it. Go be a dick on someone else’s time, I have sh*t to do.
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 6:09 pm
I might put that as my email sig ;)
Pete Shaw
# March 25, 2010 - 11:13 am
They are being a dick on someone else’s time… their own.
What that I hear, I don’t know it’s very faint. Oh, it’s the world’s smallest violin playing a melancholic tune.
Nate Schubert
# March 23, 2010 - 5:57 pm
Hey Ryan! I agree with respect to people being nicer to eachother on Twitter (and anywhere else really), but there’s a unique opportunity for businesses or even others in our own industry to respond to those critical tweets, blog posts, anything. I love when people write something bad about our software products, for example, because 99% of the time it’s simply an issue of the end user not understanding it.
The above gives me an opportunity to write a blog post (more than 140 characters) addressing the issue in full, which usually results in the initial critical twit looking much dumber than me or the company I work for.
At the end of the day, you may want to THANK these people for giving you a reason to create new content, and businesses addressing concerns via social media is a great way to gain trust. I say bring on the back stabbing. I can take it, I know you can take it. Make it work for you instead.
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 6:10 pm
I agree – useful feedback definitely has its place. I’m referring to web professionals, tweeting to other web professionals. This is an industry thing.
Leonard - AtomWorks
# March 23, 2010 - 5:59 pm
I agree with David, in text we often lose the intent and emotion of what in being conveyed, especially when it’s only 140 characters tops.
I’d like to add that a lot of “FAIL” tweets I’ve come across are directed towards larger companies who make it very hard to get in contact with them at all in regards to anything but sales. However a lot of these big companies seem to employ someone to scan Twitter all day for negative comments on their business so it seems that these tweets are the quickest way of letting them know.
Certainly though with the newer breed of online business and for bloggers and other community sites a little more class should be shown.
David Radcliffe
# March 23, 2010 - 6:27 pm
I agree. Many large companies have monster websites and there is very little responsibility for an individual’s user experience. If the company is monitoring twitter (more and more are these days), a quick tweet can be the only way to get their attention!
Sean
# March 24, 2010 - 11:57 am
I agree with the large corporations as well. it’s just easier to do it on twitter.
Phil
# March 23, 2010 - 6:00 pm
I agree, flaws in our own website were pointed out via email and twitter DM and we fixed them. The FAIL approach is more like script kiddies pointing and sneering on IRC.
Wardy
# March 23, 2010 - 6:00 pm
Isn’t that the whole point of Twitter? To aid in brief communication that serves to highlight something briefly and quickly without resorting to email where it’s now deemed unnecessary?
Tony Carrera
# March 25, 2010 - 3:24 pm
Agreed Wardy! Twitter is just an outlet and in that outlet word spreads. The quote “There is no such thing as bad press” comes to mind.
Made a mistake and you were called out on it? Fix it and twitter it out. The media works both ways. Times change and you can’t expect things to stay the same. Some folks think it’s common decency to call or meet in person instead of email or text. Again, times change.
You can’t take things TOO personal. If you do you have to realize that what you read may not be exactly what was meant to be typed. What sounds reads like a jerk comment may have been a normal comment.
Just my thoughts…
George Egonut
# March 23, 2010 - 6:07 pm
I agree with both points. There is certainly merit in a discrete email; however, if we as a design community are helping each other out, I think that includes public discussion as well. I think if the tone is kept respectful (which, obviously, excludes the “FAIL” tweets, as you mentioned), then pointing out these flaws can be something of a living case study and beneficial to us all. Of course, I don’t see why that shouldn’t also include an email to the site owner to give them a heads up. I know that I would appreciate it if it were done for me.
Simon Swords
# March 23, 2010 - 6:09 pm
You see this type of behaviour in forums, especially business forums. It’s soul destroying but only if you allow it to be.
Personally I feel that if we have to take the good and the bad that Twitter brings. If we’re open to praise on twitter, then we have to be open to criticism too so long as it’s delivered in a professional manner.
Caroline
# March 23, 2010 - 6:16 pm
There was a great Core Conversation about this at SXSW hosted by Louis Gray and Chris Wetherell – the question that was often returned to was how to scale feedback management? http://my.sxsw.com/events/event/770
Sometimes a #fail is the only way to get attention.
Even as part of the web community, will your email with your comment/concern get read if it’s going to a larger site? How can we create feedback systems that work for large sites as well as small? Not just to give comments to a site, but for the site to be able to respond in turn. (How often does criticism fall on a problem which people are already aware of and is being worked on? Or is an idea that was canned because while at first glance seemed like a good idea turned out to be rubbish after some serious conceptualization?)
That being said – lets be a little kinder and thoughtful with our criticism, *especially* if we have been in the shoes of whoever’s work we are dissatisfied with.
J Lane
# March 23, 2010 - 6:19 pm
Well said Ryan. I haven’t been on the receiving end, but I’ve certainly witnessed what you’re talking about.
It’s sort of similar to walking into a store and yelling at the top of your lungs that something you bought was defective instead of just walking over to the returns counter.
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 7:14 pm
Great analogy – thanks.
Pete Shaw
# March 26, 2010 - 10:36 am
Analogy FAIL.
It’s more like someone having their own TV show on a small cable channel and saying that something is defective.
You lot might not like it, but they have no obligation to tell you direct that something is up, except perhaps if there’s a security implication.
Stop your whining!!!1one!
Oh, and Ryan… is it really back-stabbing? Considering they owe you nothing and have no allegiance to you? No, it’s not. You just don’t like being criticized publicly.
Get over it AND yourself.
Jim Morrison
# March 23, 2010 - 6:22 pm
Here, here.
IMHO if you spot an error you should _also_ try and find the fix.. and mail that to the person responsible… or post comment about it if you must.
Twittering about other’s misfortune/mistakes is showing off of the worst kind as is demonstrated by the fact you’ve no confidence the person responsible is going to see your tweet.
Do unto others and all that.
For what it’s worth I’d like to think that the old “web community” ( mailinglists, forums, groups, iirc ) is still dominated by selfless, helpful people. Twitter’s another playground altogether!
Robert van Hoesel
# March 23, 2010 - 8:34 pm
So, while you are taking your 15 minutes to find an email address or other contact option I just tweet the person what’s wrong in 40 seconds. Without twitter the error would never find it’s way to the end.
TS
# March 23, 2010 - 6:26 pm
Ryan -
A little story… last year a designer from Cleveland panned a site I designed claiming we ripped off his design. He then went on to bash the site in an interview/blog post, which the client discovered, which led to me being fired from the project. By the way, the design was original and unique.
So I sympathize with your plight and hope that civility and respect win out.
Good luck!
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 7:15 pm
Holy heck – that sucks. That’s the kind of behavior I’m talking about. Web pro to web pro.
Brad Colbow
# March 24, 2010 - 11:04 am
I think the designer from Cleveland in question is me. Though I did mention it on Twitter and brought it up months later in an interview, what got him fired (or at least in trouble) was the email I wrote immediately to the site’s owner explaining my concern and showing the original work. After alerting the site’s owner I even talked to the designer who wrote the comment above a couple times via email privately before publicly sharing what I felt was a rip of my work.
Tuhin Kumar
# March 23, 2010 - 6:31 pm
Not really sure I agree with you on this one Ryan. Web designers need to get feedback, now while the best way for constructive feedback is to email the concerned person, many times it is not possible. Like recently I had to tell Gary Vaynerchuck of a problem on his Crushitbook.com CSS. I simply tweeted and it was sorted. The team was thankful for the help.
Similarly, I might not like a design and I can be open about it (criticizing the design and NOT the designer). Say for example I do not like a poster or illustration done by some famous designer, I can be vocal about it even if I have loved all his art till now. It is more of drawing a conscious line than being something that is to be marked as Right or Wrong. Of course that is my opinion. You are welcome to have yours.
George
# March 23, 2010 - 6:37 pm
“If you’re helpful and supportive, you never know, someone might just help you out when you make your next mistake.”
perfectly stated! we can all use some help!
thanks for this short, sweet and precise article!
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 8:03 pm
No problem – thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Eric Troyer
# March 23, 2010 - 6:39 pm
Agreed. “If you notice a problem with someone’s site or app, send a quick email to let them know about it”
I have also noticed a high volume of Twitter Bromances! :) That may deserve its own blog post!
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 8:02 pm
Agreed – there’s a correct balance here.
Adam McCombs
# March 23, 2010 - 6:41 pm
I have to completely disagree with this post. Since we’re only limited to 140 characters on twitter, it’s about simple quick feedback.
Just because a reply includes a #fail doesn’t mean you should totally discredit what they have to say or that their “backstabbing” your brand. True it’s a tad dramatic but what if they have a valid point? Are you saying that because it’s sent in a twitter @reply it’s less valuable than an email?
People are going to complain, start flame wars and arguments just for the sake of causing the stir, it’s the nature of the Internet. It happens on message boards, forums and chat rooms.
You can’t please everyone. Focus on users that have valid points of discussion and do what you can to support those needs.
Twitter is about communication, feedback and interaction in ALL forms.
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 7:26 pm
Hey Adam,
I’m not talking about customers interacting with brands. I’m talking about web professionals bitching about other web pros. We all know better.
Ryan
David Sutoyo
# March 23, 2010 - 6:45 pm
I’ve always felt that Twitter encourages this type of sarcastic humor/ranting. I actually dislike those kind of tweets more than the spymaster/gowalla/squarespace tweets people seem to get so upset over.
Bill
# March 23, 2010 - 6:53 pm
Ryan,
Great post.
I was wondering however, what are your thoughts when someone openly asks for an opinion via Twitter or Facebook? Recently, I recall someone posting something like, “Hey we re-designed our site, let us know what you think of it.”
This seems like a gray area, because they are opening up to get praised and slammed at the same time.
Thanks,
Bill
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 8:02 pm
I think it all depends on how the feedback is delivered. If you wouldn’t say it to their face, then don’t tweet it (IMHO).
Kenny Meyers
# March 23, 2010 - 6:54 pm
Public criticism without any personal contact or even knowledge has been a long-running and unstoppable human tradition. As people become public figures (much like radio DJs of old) in community, it increases. This used to happen in blog comments, and before that in email threads and now it’s on Twitter. Maybe yours is increasing because you’re becoming more and more of a well-known public entity? I’m not sure. The truth is that in every community or large group of people this crap will keep happening. The Internet just makes it search-box available.
It’s an ideal world: where nobody mocks or makes fun of anyone nor criticizes without merit. However, Utopias, as all modern pieces of writing have shown, are just f’n boring.
A better way to handle this situation is to make your twitter account private and keep your communication within a small circle of peers. You are more likely to achieve what you want by not participating in the community at all, and not opening yourself up to assholes. As the spotlight grows so will your critics, unwarranted as they may be, and your fans (which, really, are hard to turn down). Chances are things will become more lucrative for you as well, so tit-for-tat there and really a personal preference.
People write a lot about how the design or web community needs to be more serious, or needs to stop tearing each other apart. I’d argue that if you’re feeling the strain of a community’s natural growth you do what everyone else has done throughout history: repeat the cycle and start a new small community.
dan
# March 23, 2010 - 7:28 pm
Once we called this ‘common courtesy.’
Think civility:
http://www.commondemand.com/blog/
Bill
# March 23, 2010 - 8:31 pm
let’s call it “social courtesy”.
Amber Weinberg
# March 23, 2010 - 9:17 pm
I think the same goes for other types of social media too – like blog posts. I write on several popular blogs and seem to get some of the nastiest comments that neither help me nor my readers. It’s as if people feel that it’s ok to be an internet bully because they either aren’t brave enough to stand up to someone in real life or because they believe they’re anonymous and no one will ever find out. It’s ridiculous to see the lack of respect we treat each other on the web.
Ryan Carson
# March 23, 2010 - 9:21 pm
Agreed :)
Jason
# March 23, 2010 - 9:37 pm
“Instant karma’s gonna get you.” ~ John Lennon
Some are against having to log in to comment. I think this tells something of their intent. If we are all held accountable, would we be more civil? Or is that just forced behavior because you’re linked to your words?
“Get busy living or get busy dying.” ~ Andy Dufresne
If you’re tearing down something, you’re not building up anything. This is also the point of a phrase I came up with a while back.
“Dippin and dabblin and aint nothing happenin.” ~ Me :D
And that ties into the quote about not having time for negativity. Some people don’t have enough going on in their own lives, so they make a point of ripping apart others. (gossip sites, anyone?)
“Shine on, you crazy diamond.” ~ Roger Waters
Stuart Witts
# March 23, 2010 - 9:28 pm
I too had noticed the rumblings of negativity creeping into our social world.
This new form of media is a chance for us not to repeat the mistakes of the past. All we hear from the TV and newspapers is bad news. Overexposed, sensationalised bad news. This has skewed our perception of the real world and left us feeling scared and alone.
Social media gives all of us a chance to have a voice and report on all of those things that are happening which are good. We can realign peoples perception of the world. Remind them that we are not all out to kill them. Let’s not allow Agent Smith to be right…
“I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization.”
Dickon Sire
# March 23, 2010 - 9:45 pm
I think this is a great post, and I think everyone knows, or should know when they’re being decent or not, on twitter or anywhere else. Criticism is fine, but the context of how it is being delivered is what determines if it is decent or not.
Thanks Ryan for bringing this up. The web gives a certain amount of anonymity to hide behind which I guess makes people comfortable to be negative, when they probably otherwise wouldn’t. Personally I think this is a discussion that can cover everything from tweets to politics, business, relationships, family, etc. etc…
Nicole Foster
# March 23, 2010 - 10:10 pm
I do completely agree with Ryan. This has been happening with other social media, but we’re just “graced” with 140 characters or less.
As a web professional, you would think others would carry out the last part of that phrase, Professional, but some often do not. There are proper and respectful ways to criticizing others such as an email or a polite tweet, but when it goes to #fail and insulting comments, then you lose the professional in your title.
Think of it like this. Web professionals usually join twitter to extend their brand and their ideas. If you’re goal is to extend your brand with a good reputation, do you think sending an angry tweet about another web professional will help you with that goal? The answer is no because, unless it is justified, the immaturity behind the insult only makes you look bad.
Nonetheless, I can still hope that the design community can function like a family instead of a high school.
Joe Tuckwell
# March 23, 2010 - 10:17 pm
I agree that some people use Twitter to simply score points and it’s never nice to see but I still think Twitter is a good tool for feeding back to the ‘community’. If people provide useful, constructive criticism then it can only help build a better and more robust web industry.
I don’t see anything wrong with someone tweeting your team at Carsonified and saying “hey, should your site really be doing X in browser Y?” In fact, I think this gives you a great opportunity to show how quickly you can react to the issue or explain the situation.
MV
# March 23, 2010 - 10:59 pm
Check out this T-Shirt http://www.despair.com/somevedi.html
Also checkout a post I wrote entitled “Why Twitter Won’t Endure”
http://mvalente.eu/2010/03/03/why-twitter-wont-endure/
– MV
Rachel
# March 23, 2010 - 11:00 pm
It really isn’t helpful for people to tweet problems without letting the owner know, how are they ever going to know to fix it. I’ve written a couple blog posts about this and the feeling like you are back at school. Glad someone with your reputation has brought it up.
Anthony Garritano
# March 23, 2010 - 11:17 pm
Ryan,
I like your hat(s). [my understanding is you have a great many of them...or at least you have one on in most of the pics I've seen of you ;].
Great article by the way! I’ve been fortunate enough not to really witness this or receive it, but I agree with you nonetheless.
Cheers!
Ryan Carson
# March 24, 2010 - 9:38 am
Thanks Anthony. I’m actually wearing the hat less these days, but I still have it on the hat hook should I ever need it :)
Kenneth Vogt
# March 23, 2010 - 11:38 pm
Amen to the call for civility. One of the reasons that people have become conditioned to tweet first is so many web sites make is so hard to figure out how to contact the webmaster. I mean really contact them, not just head into a black hole like “webmaster@yoursite.com” that no one ever reads or responds to. Do we in turn respond to their courtesy with a friendly reply of thanks?
Jason
# March 24, 2010 - 12:21 am
Nice post. I totally agree.
I always like the saying, “Opinions are like a***holes – everyone’s got one!”
Eric Marden
# March 24, 2010 - 12:32 am
Many in the community use snark as a way of keeping folks from peering too deeply at their own flaws. Some of this snark is meant ironically, and other times its down right mean. I generally employ this type of tone of voice to be humourous, and I’d like to think I succeed 60% of the time at being funny. :)
However, I will use twitter to @reply someone to alert them to a problem with their site, especially if I am trying to recommend their site and upon double checking the URL find the site is down. I’ll also use it to notify them if an email listed on their site bounces. However, I always lead with the @username so that only folks that mutually follow me and them will even see it. This is as public as I’ll go though, and will DM them instead if we both follow each other.
I realize that this is different than what you’re ranting about, since many of the #fail type tweets post it publicly. Then again, I am guilty of bitching in public (on twitter and in real life), but mostly about “faceless corporations” or technologies I don’t care for (looking at you Adobe/Flash ;) vs. individual people with feelings, dreams and best intentions.
While not always constructive, it is a valid form of providing feedback and critique, especially since I generally want the thing I’m complaining about to clean up their act, and improve. For those just being spiteful, well, I guess they’ll get the audience they deserve.
Aaron
# March 24, 2010 - 1:08 am
You’d think that there was a point/badge system for #FAILs on Twitter some days.
If you’re not willing to walk up to someone and say, “FAIL”, then don’t do it on Twitter.
(And make sure it’s easy to find alternative communication methods, such as e-mail via your contact information on Twitter!).
Ryan Carson
# March 24, 2010 - 9:37 am
I agree. If you can’t say it to their face, then you should think twice about tweeting it to the world!
Shivek Khurana
# March 24, 2010 - 7:28 am
Sir ~Ryan, you are great.
Ryan Carson
# March 24, 2010 - 9:36 am
Why thank you sir :)
Spir
# March 24, 2010 - 8:31 am
It’s all about being a nice personne. Some people just can’t, let ignore them.
Sometimes a tweet is faster than an email. If it’s a nice tweet why not consider it and thank the noticer?
Thanks for pointing out this.
Sumayah Hassan
# March 24, 2010 - 11:43 am
You tell em Ryan!
Steve
# March 24, 2010 - 12:42 pm
Something tells me you can’t take a little criticism now and again.
Isn’t Twitter a tool for voicing your opinion, after all that’s why 99% of people are actually signed up.
I see it almost as a soap box where you can say what you like, but should expect to be heckled now and again.
You can’t expect to voice an opinion and have the entire audience nod their head in agreement every time.
Percy Stilwell
# March 24, 2010 - 1:58 pm
I don’t think it’s the criticism that’s the problem – more the way in which it’s being done. Everyone enjoys a bit of constructive criticism, but backstabbing is another matter
Steve
# March 24, 2010 - 5:53 pm
I think the main problem here is use of the term ‘backstabbing’.
It’s not like people are going around saying to somebody “Hey, your work is great!”, and the next minute saying to the same person “All your work is awful, how could you possibly think that it was in any way good?” – or is this the case?
Agreed, there are people who will purposely go out of their way to cause conflict, but usually everything that these people say will tend to be the same every time, negative and non-constructive.
When a person can be identified for doing just this, it’s at that point that their opinion starts to become less important and can simply be disregarded.
I’m not sure how you can categorise these people, but calling them a ‘backstabber’ doesn’t seem like the correct term to use.
Percy Stilwell
# March 24, 2010 - 12:52 pm
Makes me think of a biblical quote – not that I’m at all religious!
“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”.
Kayzah
# March 24, 2010 - 1:41 pm
I love to diss bad companies like Microsoft or Adobe via Twitter.
People who don’t like that just can stop fallowing me ^____^
Josh Walsh
# March 24, 2010 - 2:25 pm
Ryan – I have to admit, this seems like a response to our recent twitter conversation:
http://twitter.com/joshwalsh/status/10838370381
http://twitter.com/joshwalsh/status/10840724726
Twitter by it’s nature is rather blunt. I hope you didn’t mistake my constructive criticism as “backstabbing.” If you did, my apologies.
Ryan Carson
# March 24, 2010 - 7:00 pm
No, didn’t take offense :)
Josh Walsh
# March 25, 2010 - 9:06 pm
Ryan – No problem. Glad this wasn’t about me then. :-D
Daniela Egerland
# March 24, 2010 - 5:43 pm
Look, it’s all really a matter of respect or not. If you diss somebody on twitter you’re either trying to get the respect of someone else, or trying to get people to respect you when you could, really, just be showing off your own work. Keep in mind that bad advertisement is still advertisement, so what will you gain by talking or stabbing behind other people’s backs?
I am fairly new to this community and I know well how to filter childish twitter remarks. Some are just really jealous. Everybody deserves respect, doesn’t matter if it’s Microsoft or John-Around-The-Corner Table Designs. In the end you get what you give.
Do you want to be remembered as somebody who pointed out the error/mistake or came up with a solution and might just make a new friend in the process? Simple.
ralph wiggum
# March 24, 2010 - 6:08 pm
my cat’s called mittens
guidoguido
# March 24, 2010 - 7:51 pm
Hi Ryan, nice short article. I’ve never had any problems with the bluntness on twitter, I kinda like it! People say what they mean without all the extra “correct-way-of-giving-feedback”.
I do agree with you about the fail tweets, Aaron says it perfectly: “If you’re not willing to walk up to someone and say, “FAIL”, then don’t do it on Twitter.” In my opinion people should be more aware of what they are saying.
tomr
# March 24, 2010 - 8:19 pm
I think there is a difference between criticising an individual and a company; it should never be personal.
It’s slightly off topic but ‘plagiarism’ witch hunts have really angered me recently.
On flickr a girl had taken a photo that was similar to someone else’s, but no way near identical…
(I suspect there are quite a few photos of girls sat on the floor pulling yoga-esque poses..)
i noticed someone make a sarcy comment about how ‘original’ it was, and within an hour or so there was a hailstorm of ignorant, malicious comments slating her. The net result being she’s stopped posting to the site.
There seem to be a disturbing number of loud mouthed warmongers out there who have no grasp of probability or what plagiarism actually means.
Of course genuine plagiarism is unforgivable.. but bloody hell there’s lot of people out there in this world. Unless you’re idea’s very complex or groundbreaking chances are someone out there came up with it independently… and even Calculus and the jet engine were independently invented by different people: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiple_discoveries
And with design where does fashion fit into it all? How many people have to copy something before it becomes a trend and acceptable / encouraged?!
giania
# March 24, 2010 - 8:43 pm
That said, it’s worthwhile to remind people/organizations who do not want to be subjected to public stream criticism (or blatant calling out, ala a hearty FAIL) need to make it a point to create a private communication channel outside of Twitter, as there are some people who will turn to any face the company or person presents that they think may listen.
And of course, as with email, any communication in text is going to have a certain lack of inflection, especially a medium as inherently brusque as Twitter. All the more reason for haters and people with issues to take it elsewhere, really. But where’s the line between a joke and a dig at someone’s cred? Familiarity between the users (“well it’s ok because my friend said it”)? Whether or not something is intended as constructive, even if it comes across as not nice? (FYI – No intended discredit of you, Josh Walsh, especially without context for whatever accidental incident you feared may have occurred. Just pointing out a common type of miscommunication, or some people’s backpedaling cover of a not-so-nice comment.)
Also, in terms of dealing with organizations, I believe it’s better for the community at large that there are people willing to call them out publicly. To a point. You can only see the same “OMG RACKSPACE IS DOWN LOVE IS OVER” post before it gets really old. How companies handle these situations really illustrates the maturity of the company. Are they out in the public stream to soapbox and not respond to any feedback, or only positive feedback (immature, frustrating, a net loss for the company)? Or to respond to feedback quickly and honestly whether positive or negative (mature, satisfying, always a gain even when dealing with complaints)?
PS – I love you ralphie.
KG101
# March 24, 2010 - 9:19 pm
I agree I opened up Twitter and my whole page was post from one person. They had re-tweeted everything on the net that day. I am sorry you are a re-tweet bot I will UN-follow you quickly. I then e-mailed them to let them know why I was UN-following them as a courtesy, so they could look at why people will UN-follow, and this was there reponse.
One thing who the hell are you? Nobody! You probably have 800 followers & are on 10 Twitterlists (including the 5 your mom made for ya) Two, Im ranked 22nd in the World http:/################ for a reason & am followed by educated people who learned how to use Twitter. out of courtesy I have blocked who this person is. The point is when you try to let people know without openly bashing them this is what you get I should have just ripped this guy a new one on twitter. But then who would be the bigger A##whole. People are rude mean and only care about themselves and how it serves me. Hate to say it twitter is and has become a Me universe. Look at Paris Hilton or Kim Kardash if they are not selling you on there newest line of $%&%$$@ they have nothing to say.
Gina SuuperG Stark
# March 24, 2010 - 10:07 pm
Heya…love this sentiment and I agree. Can I also add (I’m sure someone else posted a comment like this but there are oh so many! lol) that before someone blasts someone on Twitter or blocks them, mainly a “friend”, they have the decency and courtesy of communicating the perceived offense in case it’s a complete error or misunderstanding. I have recently been baffled by a couple blockings and am not able to even inquire as to WTH was done to prompt this action. If there WAS something I did that offended, it would be nice to be given the opportunity to explain, clarify or even apologize. I think it illuminates their character more than anything I have done. Thanks for this! G
smitha
# March 26, 2010 - 8:35 pm
aah. some honesty and decency finally. I agree very much with this post. A lot of negetive tweets and threads circulate forums, twitter and other social media. Its as though people enjoy hurting someone else or some brand just for the heck of it. why so much hatred people? remember words once out cannot be taken back!
Øyvind Nordhagen
# March 26, 2010 - 8:35 pm
I don’t this was a particularly useful post because:
1. It doesn’t differentiate between negative public comments pertaining to people or groups of people.
I disagree in that whomever should be allowed to publicly express their opinion about a cause, company, brand, product or coorporation in the same way that they are allowed to advertise and make themselves heard through the same channels.
2. It states the obvious about being polite and respectful when applied to persons.
When people, their opinions, blogs or other extentions of their own person is the topic, expressing yourself should be no different to speaking about people in general. Be it in a bar, in the newspaper or face to face.
3. It doesn’t differentiate between hurtful badmouthing and constructive criticizm, where the prior undesireable but still a problem in just about any virtual or physical arena, and the latter is what makes the world move forward.
But seeing as “backstabbing” is the word used here, I would suppose you are referring to Internet bullying of persons specifically. In which case I definately agree we should all be nice to each other, both on- and offline.
Sam Farmer
# March 27, 2010 - 12:15 pm
Ryan — Very well put. At times I think of setting up a filter in Tweetdeck to remove tweets with “fail” in them. I might just go do that now…
Ryan Carson
# March 27, 2010 - 5:06 pm
Awesome idea :)
Lewis Walsh
# March 29, 2010 - 1:18 pm
Well said squire! Kudos can only come from solving a problem, not just spotting one.
James Agate
# March 30, 2010 - 7:55 am
I couldn’t agree more Ryan. I recently wrote a post and shared the link via Twitter. Somebody took a dislike to one of the points I made but instead of an email (I’m easy to get in contact with) asking me to clarify the point or make it a little clearer what I was trying to say; she flew off on one publicly via Twitter slagging off me, my site and everything we’ve ever done.
If I was in her position I would have emailed first because there is no need to flog people publicly when a polite private email would do.
I think something to remember though is the kind of immature-playground-slagging-off-type-tweets are often laughed at by other members of the web community, so the silly buggers get what’s coming to them. Particularly if they are a business it certainly lacks professionalism.
I don’t understand where the negativity comes from, people can’t seem to wait to shout at the top of the lungs how crap something is but in real life you wouldn’t do it. If you have an issue with a business/product/service you go back to the place where you bought it and politely talk over the issue, you wouldn’t immediately go ranting out in the street telling every single person you come across how rubbish Business X or Y is.
It’s not fair because in my opinion you should judge an individual/business/website not by your complaint but how they resolve that complaint.
Being a dick on Twitter isn’t big and it certainly isn’t clever! I’m really glad you put this down on digital paper!
Susan
# April 2, 2010 - 9:41 am
This is sooooo true!
I also have an account on twitter, and noticed these things happenening all the time…
Thank you for bringing this question!
Nevin Rocks It
# August 16, 2010 - 7:13 pm
It seems like Twitter has fast become a spam link and Troll service. Sucks because it could have been something much more.