This falls into the "law of unintended consequences" realm perhaps. I like having options (not an overwhelming amount - but some), most people do. If the root problem is performance (or some other reason), then just "fess up" and tell the community that the settings were reduced to resolve some technical issue in the system. Twitter should also be more open on the feedback (was there ample notification that feedback was being sought?). Also, avoid coming across as "we know what's good for you" (there are some basic practices concerning community management Twitter might want to read up on...). Otherwise, let people select their own mechanisms related to discovery and add additional filtering options if they feel overwhelmed.
Small Settings Update
We've updated the Notices section of Settings to better reflect how folks are using Twitter regarding replies. Based on usage patterns and feedback, we've learned most people want to see when someone they follow replies to another person they follow—it's a good way to stay in the loop. However, receiving one-sided fragments via replies sent to folks you don't follow in your timeline is undesirable. Today's update removes this undesirable and confusing option.
The Importance of Discovery
Spotting new folks in tweets is an interesting way to check out new profiles and find new people to follow. Despite this update, you'll still see mentions or references linking to people you don't follow. For example, you'll continue to see, "Ev meeting with @biz about work stuff" even if you don't follow @biz. We'll be introducing better ways to discover and follow interesting accounts as we release more features in this space.
To be fair: @ev twittert quite fast that they take the feedback serious and look into otions to reflect this feedback.
So we have to see if really an action follows but at least the time of reaction was much faster then compared to Facebook responding to the outcry after the design change!
Posted by: Harald Gaerttner | May 13, 2009 at 10:13 AM