The Fail Whale is back at Twitter and so is some strange behavior that will have a serious impact on Twitter users and especially Social Media Marketers. The largest concern is that some @ Tweets are NOT appearing in the timelines of Twitter users who do not follow you.
QUICK SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TWITTER TIP:
Search on your username to see ALL Tweets
Do NOT rely on Twitter to show them to you!!!
Here are some screen captures showing some tests I just did this morning. The first image shows my Tweets to Dennis. Notice that he is not yet following me.
Search results for GrowMap Tweets to DennisEdell
The second image (below) shows that the Tweet never appeared on the Twitter page that others can see. Note that it also did not appear where HE could see it.
He would have never known I sent it if I had not asked him.
Dennis was not following me yet; my Tweet to him never appeared.
When Dennis followed me my Tweets suddenly appeared (retroactively) in his timeline but never appeared on his page where I could see them.
The third image below shows that he is now following me and his reply to me but not my Tweets to him.
Dennis is now following me. He CAN now see my Tweets but I can't see them on his page.
Neither the Tweets from before he followed me nor after he followed me are appearing on his home page but he CAN see them himself.
Dennis then unfollowed me and the Tweets from me disappeared from his page. He thought it might just be his account so I did some further testing.
My Tweet to Tamar was never visible on her home page at Twitter. Apparently, incoming Tweets can NOT be seen by others looking at our home page.
Tweet to Tamar from GrowMap
We only see others’ outgoing Tweets on their home pages.
We do NOT see the Tweets are sent from others TO them.
We can only HOPE they see our incoming Tweets or ask them if they received them using another method as we can not confirm they appear on their home page.
Tweet to @Tamar not visible
Tamar DID receive my test Tweet as confirmed by this reply from her:
Tamar did receive and reply to my Tweet (Click this image to visit her excellent Social Media Marketing blog)
I also did a test and unfollowed GoodMillwork to see if their Tweets to me disappeared. They did not.
GoodMillwork Tweets Still Visible - Click this image to visit their blog
I had a Tweet sent from @GoodMillwork while I was not following them to see what would happen and it appeared on my @GrowMap page:
Tweet from @GoodMillwork to @GrowMap is visible
Conclusion? We are left with these possibilities:
- New Twitter accounts work differently than older Twitter accounts
- Dennis Edell’s new account is not working correctly
- How Twitter works is inconsistent either by design or by technical error (bugs)
No matter what the reason, one thing is imperative for Twitter users and especially for businesses using Twitter for Social Media Marketing: you need to ensure that you are viewing ALL of your Tweets. Do not trust Twitter to show them to you. This is easily done.
Set up and save a search for your UserName without the @ symbol using the built in Twitter search.
Have you noticed any missing Tweets in your account? That is a commonly reported issue that Twitter support is still working on and seems to frequently be challenged to fix. If you have any other unusual Twitter behavior, insights into Twitter, or any other tips you would like to share please leave them in the comments.
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Did they fix this problem? Looks like a design/code error.
It’s hard to find out if it works unless you test it like you did.
Very confusing…to say the least.
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I think even social networking sites faces technical problems from time to time. Hopefully whenever users faced with such problems I’ve been actively using some other networking site but its good to stay informed about all these issues because I have account in twitter as well so I’ll be aware of any such problems in the future and would know what to do.
Twitter: TheRedThingLtd
June 9, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Twitter: @TheRedThingLtd
I have the same problem, I have been tweeting with hashtag then searching for that hashtag I could see other people tweeting it but not me, I used the hashtag like 200 times in last 3 days, well ok maybe 30-50 times, so it should show up in search, it doesn’t, so I think I am not going to invest much more time on twitter marketing as it is pointless if it doesnt show up in searches. BIG @#$% YOU TWITTER FOR WASTING MY TIME
Oh, I got your point..For some strange reasons, I also had my share of lost twitter posts and etc…After reading your article, somehow I was enlightened.. I hope the twitter people would fix the problems the soonest possible time…
Just like other social networking sites, twitter also experienced periodical technical glitches. Twitter is still new if you compared it with Facebook, but, the possibility of getting better is within their reach. I have my own share of Twitter problems as well and I have reported it to them so they can act on those trivial problems immediately.
Do you really think that Twitter will be this popular for many years to come or will Facebook end up overshadowing Twitter? I just think the possibilities with Facebook are so much larger.
Twitter: 8raven4
April 26, 2011 at 3:42 am
Twitter: @8raven4
I am having the same problem. I’m new to twitter only have 6 followers have tweeted and have been replied to by a follower. However i can’t see my tweets on their homepage so if that follower didn’t reply i wouldnt have known if the recieved my tweet or not. My twitter name doesnt come up in search unless I leave the @ out. Why doesnt twitter want me?
Twitter: GrowMap
April 26, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi della,
Twitter is having technical issues again lately. Don’t take it personally – it is not that they “don’t want you” – it just acts flaky quite frequently. I don’t see some of my tweets unless I search without the @ sign – not really sure why Twitter search works that way but it does.
You can never really know if someone sees your tweet or not unless they reply. If they don’t reply you might try again – they might not have seen it.
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Twitter: n/a
June 21, 2011 at 1:41 am
Twitter: @n/a
i was bummed when this happened…im glad they got it fixed now
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