I love coming up with new ways to demonstrate the power of Twitter.
With such a massive network of users, it's fun the push the boundaries and see what is possible.
I decided I would make myself available to anyone who wanted to interact. I had to set aside time to do this because its just not possible to answer every @ reply that comes your way.
So around 2:20 pm MDT today, I decided to try a Twitter experiment.
I tweeted the following...
The @ replies came in fast and furious.
I quickly realized I would need Tweetdeck to manage them all.
I was replying to 4-6 tweets per minute, sometimes looking for a site to reference and sometimes just replying with a few words.
It was challenging trying to keep up!
I went for about 45 minutes, and when I went to talley up how many tweets I replied to, I realized that my replies had stopped posting approximately 15 minutes earlier!
Since I was using Tweetdeck, I didn't see the limit notifications.
But when I use Twitter.com, I was greeted with this message...
So I probably tweeted 50 times into thin air!
I'm sorry for those who didn't see my @ reply and thought I was ignoring you. I wasn't. Twitter was mean to me.
Want to read more about Twitter's limitations?
Anyhow, it was a fun experiment that obviously can't be accomplished to the degree that I would want. But Twitter still rules.
NOTE: After I wrote this post I attempted to tweet about it. It was THREE HOURS before I could tweet again!
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
March 27, 2009 06:13 PM
Hi Joel,
I'm not sure if the API maximum and what you got are the same thing - I've reached my API requests before, and Tweetdeck tells me all about it. The API limit is specifically for apps that make use of the twitter api - so tweetdeck, twhirl, etc. If you can't post from the twitter website, then it's another limit that you must have hit. I've heard about this limit before, but to be honest, I don't think I've ever hit it. You must have been doing some mad typing to cap it in 30min! :)
March 27, 2009 07:40 PM
Wow, YOU Rule too! Nice work! Who would've thunk? Now we know! It was a good gesture anyways, thanks for trying.
March 27, 2009 08:01 PM
Wonder why they blocked your account from sending tweets for 3 hours? Their site states "100 API requests per hour" so you would think that once an hour has passed that they would allow you to carry on tweetin.
Come on Twitter! ;-)
March 27, 2009 11:18 PM
lolz it was a fun experiment to do with you Joel. Kudos to you for thinking of that. It was around 4am over my side of the world and I was about to turn in for the night when I saw your Twitter experiment. Time extension :)
Thanks for pointing out the limitations also, I usually post on the web itself rather than Tweetdeck when I feel I'm nearing the limits for DMs, didn't know the API affects @replies too.
@maynaseric
March 28, 2009 02:17 AM
Thats great! I couldn't imagine keeping up with that considering the number of followers you have!
March 28, 2009 04:36 AM
Joel -
I loved your idea as it was a nice little test that proves once again that the power of Twitter is "communication is in real time" - in the immediate moment. I don't spend too much time thinking about the Twitter vs facebook conversation; they are different platforms each serves different purpose. I don't think facebook should try to position itself against Twitter's mind share, its too late and the facebook users seem to agree. **It would be interesting to see what would happen if you tried the same thing on facebook - I put my money on Twitter power.
Keep pushing the envelope because we all benefit from your little experiments.
Thank you for sharing this!
James
http://Twitter.com/AskJamesHolmes
March 28, 2009 10:08 AM
Wow! I didn't even realize twitter had limits on tweets? That's news to me. Great attempt though! I coulnd't imagine trying to answer all those questions within 30 min?
Nora from http://nochiprasblogspot.blogspot.com
March 28, 2009 10:27 AM
Hi Joel,
You tested the limits of Facebook and then Twitter. I just tried to go to your ustream show. You're having trouble there today. I feel your frustration! Ever wonder what technology you'll be testing next year?
Joy~
Jeanette
March 28, 2009 10:20 PM
Joel, (I'm glad to see that you were not banned from twitter like you were from facebook a few weeks back :) It's great to see how you are utilizing twitter to show us all the great ways this great service can be used. Creativity and persistence, plus value with @ replies seem to be key in using this medium.
March 29, 2009 07:16 AM
Hi Joel,
It would be easier to see the messages of your screen shots if you used SnagIt from Techsmith.com (or something similar) to blow up the areas you are highlighting. It's pretty easy to use and it makes a quantum difference to your audience - whether it's on the web or at a convention.
Just a suggestion. Thanks.
March 30, 2009 08:23 PM
Joel, don't you just hate when that happens... Creative idea though ;-)
Terrance Charles
www.twitter.com/TerranceCharles
April 3, 2009 07:45 AM
You are a super tweeter.
What is tweet deck?
April 4, 2009 11:30 AM
I always tweet when I have something useful to say.Doesn´t people get annoyed when you tweet all the time, or should you tweet about things you normally do like make dinner or drink coffee?
April 6, 2009 12:07 AM
I never new twitter had a limit like that.. Cool idea though
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