There is nothing more dangerous online than coming between a Twitter addict and his drug.
Do you know why I likeTwitter so much? It barely changes. Sure, the conversations and the people using it change all the time, but the service itself rarely adds bloated, useless features unlike some other social network.
So when they make dumb changes, I get real angry, real quick.
Yesterday, Twitter released a new version of their Twitter app for iPhone that sucks so hard I’m surprised it hasn’t imploded on itself. The Twitter app added something they called a “quickbar,” which shoves trending topics, both promoted and not, on top of the tweets. So when you’re trying to read tweets, this little bar shows up and covers up what you’re trying to read.
I get that Twitter is free and that they need to pay the bills for themselves and their investors. With the service the way it is, they need to use advertisements. But this is the worst way to do it. Having the ads Promoted Topics sit on top of the tweets I’m trying to read make the app unusable. Everytime I stop to read whatever is at the top of my screen, the damn bar rolls and throws up trending topics like “#winning” and “McLobster” on top of what I’m reading.
I don’t give a fuck about what’s trending. I want to know what my friends and contacts are talking about and sharing. That’s the value of Twitter. The quickbar is a terrible way to implement ads, and it’s an awful user experience.
The other shitty part of this update for me was that Twitter now forces all URLs to be shortened with their proprietary shortener, t.co. I get the whole branding thing, but one of my favorite features of Twitter for iPhone was that it allowed you to input a custom URL shortener that wasn’t bit.ly. This allowed me to use Argyle Social, a tool I love, to shorten URLs. I have yet to find another iPhone app with this ability. Why not just make t.co default for millions of masses who don’t give a damn how their URLs are shortened, and give the rest of us the option to use other shorteners?
And it’s not just me being an an angry social media nerd. As of this writing, there are 746 ratings of the current version of the Twitter app in iTunes, and 491 of those are 1 star. That’s in less than 24 hours.
So fuck you Twitter. Fuck you for ruining one of the best apps on the iPhone.
I hated seeing McLobster myself. I’m with you not big on the trending info. Also the Twitter button on blogs also forces you to use Twitter’s own link shortener.
Yeah, but using the button a choice you make to use that button. I have a tool in my bookmark bar that shortens everything for me using my preferred tool.
I still have no clue what MCLobster is.
Funny, I just read an article about Jack Dorsey (founder of twitter) in the MIT Tech Review and he said “I’m really good at simplifying things… What I love about a really well designed product is that you don’t have to think about it. Steve Jobs is a great (example)… when you use an Apple phone, it’s form fades away and all you care about is content. I want the same for Twitter.” Seems like Twitter might be straying away from that vision.
It’s also clear Loren Brichter, the guy who originally made Twitter for iPhone, was not a part of this update.
I only just started using Twitter after attending that UNC Smart conference, and for some reason I haven’t noticed this “feature” when using it on my iTouch (which is when I always use it). Does it get worse the more people you follow?
I don’t even know how to use a link shortened, so I guess I can’t really comment on that, either.
It’s part of the latest version (3.3). If you haven’t updated yet, don’t.
I just tweeted how I hate the t.co short url and you posted this. The new release of Twitter for iPhone is indeed adding cluster and killing user experience. Bad way to implement ads and as you said. I don’t give a damn what the trending topic is about. I can always check it if my friends mention them.
Yeah. Trends on Twitter have been screwed up since their launch. They don’t hold relevance for a large portion of users.
I have Blackberry
so I don’t give the damn about the app. I am just sorry they pissed you off 
Maybe we can go and kill the whale?
Just wait, they’ll force it onto the blackberry app before you know it.
I’d kill the whale, but that would be sad. He’s so cute!
I think I have found a Blogging Soulmate
Wait
That sounds creepy doesn’t it?
I have just blown away all my social media vestiges
And am looking for like minded folks
I’ve returned to Blogging
And only Blogging…
Will keep up an eye on you…
I like funny cynical folks
I like to be funny and cynical.
Hence the reason I use the Twitterific app. Cuz the Twitter app is spam with their darn trend topics. Its rather annoying.
I switched back to version 3.2. It is perfect and does everything I want.