I see people complaining and whining about Twitter’s downtime and issues1 all the time. I understand where they are coming from, but believe it or not I actually like the fact that Twitter isn’t a 100% reliable service.
I don’t want Twitter to become a responsibility; I like having a casual relationship with it. I read tweets when I want to, and ignore things I’ve missed most of the time. I’ve already got people asking me if I get their replies or direct messages on Twitter - I know it will only get worse if reliability improves.
Twitter is a fun service for me - a distraction, an amusement. It’s something I like to turn to when I have time. I don’t want it to become something I’m beholden to (like e-mail).
I know that other people have very different views on this, but I actually like the fact Twitter is a bit of an 
adventure 
- I’ve had my own experience struggling to scale what some people consider a simple service, so I guess I’m also pre-disposed to be sympathetic to people trying to bring services to the web. [back]
Popularity: 20% [?]
Jake adds this Comment:
100% agree, well said. And the thing is I think you (and I) are in the majority of Twitter users. I refresh twitter about 1 or 2 times an hour. If its up, great. If its not, oh well I’ll check again later. The heavy, heavy users, the Scoble’s and what not, take the fun out of twitter with all their complaining.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Geof F. Morris adds this Comment:
If you’re truly angry that a casual messaging system that you’re not paying for has downtime, you need to adjust your perspective.
[Note: This is directed at people who are torqued, not at Alex, who clearly isn’t. I’m saying this so I can quote myself later.]
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Devin Reams adds this Comment:
Haha I agree 100%. I keep using the ‘chatroom’ (with only the friends you want) metaphor (I don’t know if anyone agrees with it).
So, if I want to come in and tune in for a bit, cool, if it’s down, fine. I’ll try back later.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Alan Bristow adds this Comment:
Totally agree with your view Alex.
Knowing it is unreliable means I can treat it like a good friend; someone who knows I mean no harm if I don’t reply at all or reply four days later. So use of it floats down to the totally-relaxed level that is never available via email or IM.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Better Elevation » Blog Archive » Schadenfreudder adds this Pingback:
[…] Alex King, on Twitter’s downtime: I don’t want Twitter to become a responsibility; I like having a casual relationship with it. I read tweets when I want to, and ignore things I’ve missed most of the time. I’ve already got people asking me if I get their replies or direct messages on Twitter - I know it will only get worse if reliability improves. […]
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Josh Fraser adds this Comment:
As a user, I feel the same way. As a developer who has to build stuff on top of it — it sucks!
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Ali adds this Comment:
Yeah but sometimes its not there when you really want it to be so its not all that great
July 6th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Paul Zagoridis adds this Comment:
Alex you’ve hit the nail on the head. One of the negative feelings I’ve been having about twitter is whenever I feel I “should” use it more. But I’m not willing live there 100%.
Thanks for voicing something I hadn’t thought through yet.
July 6th, 2008 at 7:14 pm