Dec
27

We Don’t Need Authority on Twitter

image There is an interesting discussion about Twitter search on Techmeme right now, but as much as I would like to see some innovative Twitter search, the proposed solution of creating an authority-based system feels completely wrong to me.

One of the great features of new social services like Twitter and Friendfeed is that they are completely democratic. When I put a hashtag in a tweet, people will see it. If I like an item on Friendfeed, it will bubble up to the top. It doesn’t matter if I’m a newbie or have more than 500 (or 15.000) followers.

There is a place for authority-based algorithms – as Dave Winer points out, these work great on Techmeme and Memeorandum – but Twitter is a different beast, even if I can’t quite put my finger on it. If ‘authority’ means ‘number of followers,’ then this seems too much like high school to me.

Instead, I would love to have the option to see results from my own friends (or those who I have communicated with through @replies) bubble up to the top. I’m sure, just like the authority search, some third-party developer is already working on this. Twitter itself should rather use its energy to stabilize its core functions and work on a comment feature.

8 Comments to “We Don’t Need Authority on Twitter”

  • gs’akmg:ZLDmc kfkldfs OUCH! - WinExtra December 27, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    [...] as Frederic suggests – it’s just another case of high school on the web There is a place for authority-based [...]

  • Join fling today December 29, 2008 at 10:02 am

    Yeah true.. twitter is pure democratic, anyone has the right to place anything out there without any permission. Very insightful article. Cheers

  • ParisLemon » Blog Archive » Bitchmeme: On Twitter You Will Respect My Authori-tay January 4, 2009 at 8:48 am

    [...] this absolutely would ruin one of the most compelling things about Twitter: That it’s completely democratic. If you want to know what someone has to say on a topic, follow them, no need to have their [...]

  • Social-Filtered Search « I’m Not Actually a Geek January 9, 2009 at 10:07 am

    [...] Frederic Lardinois: I would love to have the option to see results from my own friends (or those who I have communicated with through @replies) bubble up to the top. [...]

  • www applemortgage com January 26, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    www applemortgage com…

    plainly!coons.baseband microcomputers affectionately berths …

  • Gry dla Dzieci April 24, 2009 at 1:50 am

    It's a problem with many social networking/bookmarking sites. Unless you have countless number of followers/friends your story usualy won't reach front page, no matter how interesting it is. That sucks.

  • Gry dla Dzieci April 24, 2009 at 1:50 am

    It's a problem with many social networking/bookmarking sites. Unless you have countless number of followers/friends your story usualy won't reach front page, no matter how interesting it is. That sucks.

  • gs’akmg:ZLDmc kfkldfs OUCH! — Shooting at Bubbles June 4, 2009 at 11:44 pm

    [...] as Frederic suggests – it’s just another case of high school on the web There is a place for authority-based [...]

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