Current.com Blog | July 10, 2009 | 54 comments

The twitterbot has been unplugged - [current.com blog]

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mario_a
The twitterbot was an experiment. The twitterbot sparked some debate within the community. We figure, the twitterbot is not yet ready for prime time, so we pulled the plug. For now.

Check out the full post for details:

http://blogs.current.com/currentdotcom/2009/07/10/the-twitterbot-has-been-unplug...
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    Current.com Blog,   Editor's Picks
  2. tags:
    Editor's Picks,  Current.com Blog,  twitterbot
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54 comments // The twitterbot has been unplugged - [current.com blog]

  • Tyrannous
  • NuclearLullaby
    • 0
      NuclearLullaby  

    • KEEELIT!!!! KILL KILL!!! FIE FIE!!! BOOM!!! BEEG BATA BOOM!!!

      Or in other words...It's about damn time !!! What took you so long??? KEEP IT OFF !!!

    • 2 years ago
  • JRome
    • 0
      JRome  

    • Next Twitter will explode of it's own non-weight.

      Twitter like to many things now. "If it's quick, easy, non-accountable, abusable," It will be an abused, irresponsible, quick and of little value, non-statement. Just like this twit's twet, only with less '0 1 's.
      wit loVe J Rome

    • 2 years ago
  • alivein85
  • Egnatius212
  • Xion
  • bombastinator
  • Macol
    • 0
      Macol  

    • Am I the only one that feels like Twitter is just an over-rated fad?

      How important are our day to day activities? Really? Who keeps tabs on every little thing other people do?

    • 2 years ago
  • unimatrix0
  • Mikeysfake1
  • Nephwrack
  • bailey78
  • BKsaysAction
  • Cicada_Song
    • 0
      Cicada_Song  

    • Twitter is fad picked up by the media. TwitterBot was a project created by people who think its cool to be narcissistic. Ok I get it your texting the internet, that you just bought a latte. lame people

    • 2 years ago
  • TheEmpireGuy
    • 0
      TheEmpireGuy  

    • Half the time it seemed that the twitterbot would just repeat the title of whatever article it was commenting on.
      Or was that just me?

      What if the twitterbot commented on this article?

      "You haven't seen the last of me! I am a nightmare that never stops! Muwahahahahahahahah!"

    • 2 years ago
  • maasanova
  • EmperorThan
  • randallr01
  • lvp
  • CarlosIsDown
  • davidajm
  • Darlink
  • MotherForTruth
  • mario_a
    • 0
      mario_a  

    • @Nettle -- we're certainly not finished with the twitterbot concept, but we do feel that unplugging was the right decision until we have time to commit to fully realizing the concept.

      mario
      online community

    • 2 years ago
  • numinant
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  
    • mario_a:

      I certainly had no problem with the idea of alerting people who take the Twitter service of activity at Current that might be of interest to them. My only complaint was that I found the twitterbots posts to be distracting, confusing and annoying. I would almost rather read ClownPuncher's material than keep tripping over those meaningless twitterbot alerts. Almost.

    • 2 years ago
  • TimothyF
  • pjacobs51
  • Nettle
    • 0
      Nettle  

    • I can understand that you guys have more on your plate, but I really do hope you bring the concept back and expand upon it. Just because a few community members get into a froth over some simple little test doesn't mean that the idea should be trashed.

    • 2 years ago
  • cztheday
  • Jblanchard87
  • Nettle
    • 0
      Nettle  
    • Jblanchard87:

      At the top it says "Current Stories" not news, so the editors are able to feature any story that they feel the community should read or might be interested in, regardless of whether or not you feel it's important.

    • 2 years ago
  • Jblanchard87
    • 0
      Jblanchard87  
    • Jblanchard87:

      Yeah, I'm just saying that a growing trend taking place on the Internet that is central to modern Web culture is peer production and platforms completely open to users.

      This is separate and distinct from mainstream media as gatekeepers and agenda setters and I think that is Current TV's biggest asset- setting itself apart from the status quo of television, and handing power back to the users as, themselves, the "editors." This is completely undermined when Current TV picks stories to feature on their Web page.

      The "old" Current seemed to operate more in this user-oriented way, and I think it's a much more valuable model.

    • 2 years ago
  • Nettle
    • 0
      Nettle  
    • Jblanchard87:

      Hmm, you make some very valid points, and I agree with you for the most part, but even the old setup had stories that were bumped up to the top by staff. If we had to rely solely on the users to see stories, we would be missing a lot of the good stuff.

      Also want to point out that laws voted on by the masses don't always tend to be good picks. Remember the Civil Rights Movement? If we had let the popular majority make that call, we would still have minorities as second class citizens. Current is certainly not as big or important as a major upheaval in the political system, but I think the theory can apply here as well.

    • 2 years ago
  • Jblanchard87
    • 0
      Jblanchard87  
    • Jblanchard87:

      Yeah, for sure.

      The trick is to create a platform in which user participation is free within some kind of framework that makes their contributions efficient and meaningful.

      Wikipedia is a good example- it's a platform that is socially governed by a purely social system. (see the Wikipedia Five Pillars: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_pillars_of_Wikipedia). Sure, Wikipedia has errors and inconsistencies here and there. But for the most part, it is a reliable source for information and is possibly the largest repository of information ever created- because of the power of the users!

      Also, Slashdot has a very complex system for peer-reviewing stories and comments uploaded by users (see the "moderation" section here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot#Moderation).

      But yeah, there are def upsides and downsides to both models. I just hope Current doesn't turn into CNN with a bunch of old white guys arguing about things no one cares about/understands...

    • 2 years ago
  • Nettle
    • 0
      Nettle  
    • Jblanchard87:

      Lol, as long as we the young have our say, Current will keep its mission of awesomeness. Thanks for the links! I somehow didn't know about the Five pillars. Very interesting :twists goatee in fingers:

    • 2 years ago
  • idealist
    • 0
      idealist  

    • im....so.. happy.. right now!:)
      i as well was quite annoyed bye twitter bot... in fact i used to leave coments like
      " obviously, you twitter tool"!
      (hehehe twittertool)

      " twitter bot was more a machine now then a man..... twisted and evil....."
      i hope it never comes back. damn social networking sites getting out of hand!
      real comments are more important to read then blurbs of headlines.

    • 2 years ago
  • alivein85
  • Ish05
  • Argon18
    • 0
      Argon18  

    • The idea seemed to be a good one

      "Tie current.com profiles to twitter profiles and allow our community to post items and comments via tweets. these wouldn’t appear as “twitterbot” posts, but instead as your own post/comment on current.com. just another way to participate"

      And if Twitterbot helped with finding out ways to do that then it was worth it.

      But the limited way it was working at present, it was a far cry from the whole idea of getting current connected to twitter so until that is accomplished, it is probably better to retire the twitterbot until it can be made more useful.

    • 2 years ago
  • numinant
  • KefKef
    • 0
      KefKef  

    • I didn't unerstand it. All it said was "@twitterbot;Top 7...Something fun" on Twitter" on the Top 7...Something Fun article.

      In the end, its better dead then alive.

    • 2 years ago
  • asherp
    • 0
      asherp  

    • Twitter bot: proving definitively that it *IS IN FACT POSSIBLE* to make comments that are less relevant, less insightful, and less intelligent than YouTube comments.

      Good riddance.

    • 2 years ago
  • ClipsFC
  • metalcookiesxy70
  • RaceBannon
  • jfill
  • NuclearLullaby
  • Valence
    • 0
      Valence  

    • What actually happened was that i cornered that damn twitterbot and gave it a piece of my mind >:D.

      It was then brutally shanked.

    • 2 years ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
  • Kuklamania
  • simplecj
    • 0
      simplecj  

    • Good riddance!! The twitterbot sucked and didn't post anything useful here on Current. Most of the time it simply restated the subject of the article and made references to people who aren't even on current.

      Twitter blows and so did the bot!

    • 2 years ago
  • idealist
  • ZeldaMasterZapp
    • 0
      ZeldaMasterZapp  

    • About time, that thing was a true Buzz Killington. And always confused me when I came to look at comments that shit didn't make an sense.

      Hopefully it can come back without being as bad as it was. Thanks Current.com.... A lot

    • 2 years ago
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