Comments for Twitter Experiments with New Status Notification, Faster Response

Twitter Experiments with New Status Notification, Faster Response

2009-04-19T23:01:46Z

It appears Twitter is experimenting with some additional tweaks that may make status updates easier and faster for its users and could help decrease the back end load on its servers.

A semi transparent notification bar (see screenshot below), slides down from the top of the screen when you update your status via the Web. While in itself, the feature may not appear earth shattering, the fact that updating now feels extremely fluid and is almost instantaneous makes us wonder whether Twitter will begin caching tweets for delivery to its servers.

]]> In the past, when you hit the update button, it would take several seconds for Twitter to 'confirm' that the tweet has been created before updating your page. With the notification bar, the process is immediate and will definitely be seen as a plus by users.

Is it possible that Twitter is employing some mechanism between the browser and the back end? For instance batching tweets (or any request) before they hit the server, to decrease load?

Twitter hasn't made a formal announcement yet, and clearly they're still testing the new bar as it is not yet available to all users. But if you are one of the fortunate few, as always, we'd love your opinion.

Comment from rekomendasi bisnis internet on 2009-12-03

2009-12-04T07:11:03Z

it is really great list you shared, thanks.

Comment from Jalandhar on 2009-08-28

2009-08-29T02:21:13Z

haven't noticed any significant time savings in the updating of the tweets. Of course I'm thinking there are more changes to come so I will be patient.
Send Flowers to Delhi | Send Flowers to Goa | Send Flowers to Gurgaon | Send Flowers to Gurdaspur | Send Flowers to Hoshiarpur

Comment from Chennai on 2009-08-28

2009-08-29T02:15:42Z

I have the new update thingie and for me...!!
Send Flowers to Bangalore | Send Flowers to Baroda | Send Flowers to Bathinda | Send Flowers to Bhopal | Send Flowers to Chandigarh

Comment from Robert on 2009-05-05

2009-05-05T15:54:24Z

Re: Outlook Track-It.

I use Outlook Track-It, but only for my business. For personal use, I am okay for things like Twitter, but for business, Outlook Track-It addon has really improved social stuff on Outlook.

Comment from Linus on 2009-04-21

2009-04-21T09:06:07Z

Is it possible that they are trying to prevent double posting? The delay maybe got people to do it again before the page updated?

Comment from Soveci on 2009-04-21

2009-04-21T07:02:50Z

yes good.

Comment from Die Casting Machine on 2009-04-20

2009-04-21T02:03:20Z

Seems good as long as its creating efficiencies.

Comment from Laurel Papworth on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T22:16:18Z

I have it - breaks my Flock (but then again everything breaks Flock). MSIE is fine, and it's a bit faster.

Comment from Nicholas James on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T21:54:50Z

I have been seeing this for a while and I noticed the speed of the tweets were updating.

I also informs you when you are tweeting at the limit
RE: http://friendfeed.com/e/b1c76986-2f04-416c-a783-f5eb889b640c/Is-anyone-else-seeing-this-on-Twitter/

Comment from Jim on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T19:25:48Z

I'm guessing the drop-down bar will become space for ads. Makes sense and does not interfere with custom profiles.

However, it should not cover the links at the top of the page. That is frustrating.

Comment from Corvida on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T14:37:20Z

I've also noticed how speedy message delivery has been since the introduction of the update notification bar. The bar can get kind of annoying though since it happens to cover the top of Twitter for me all the time for 2 seconds too long. You get used to it I guess.

I wonder what other little nifty features Twitter will introduce next.

Comment from bisnis internet on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T13:44:53Z

I think it will be great improvement for twitter...

Comment from my PC Techs on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T13:32:10Z

This is a great idea. Half of the time using the current notification system you don't know if a follow has gone through or not unless you refresh the page.

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mypctechs

Comment from Emma on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T13:29:34Z

I seem to see it on IE, but not Firefox.
I agree with those who say that it's a bit annoying, as you can't see the "home" button until it's faded.

Comment from Jon Bethrew on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T12:48:21Z

@chris

I'm interested in this kind of information, like the many other RWR readers that commented on this topic.

Comment from Markus Zeller on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T11:05:38Z

Ajax is nice for user convinience - no doubt. But every additional request to the server produces load. I don't mind if a tweet comes a minute or two later.

Comment from Carol Anderson on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T10:21:36Z

I am still unable to see the bar :-( may be it is more transparent

Comment from Dave Meehan on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T09:58:34Z

I actually found it a bit annoying to start with, perhaps they could make it smaller or more transparent. Still the speed increase is a welcome update.

Comment from edward on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T08:15:15Z

When will Twitter remember where you left off and load the tweets in descending order in time, the oldest ones first (from the point you closed out...)

Comment from David on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T08:09:00Z

I am not able to see the bar

Comment from Coree Silvera on 2009-04-20

2009-04-20T07:50:37Z

I haven't seen this new bar yet, but I have seen a lot of fail whales! Possibly because of the Oprah affect?

Comment from JP Holecka on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T06:49:09Z

Twitter has to improve the user experience if they are to monetize the service. With the high level of fail whales and less than groovy IU. They are loosing out to apps like TweetDeck and Nambu. I only use the Twitter website when my other API's run out.

Comment from Wesley on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T06:40:55Z

You can just click on the bar and it will hide immediately.

Comment from Owen on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T06:32:19Z

Kristy & Jonathan (#4 & #5) - agreed. It doesn't seem to do anything for me. I've been noticing it for the last week or so.

Comment from Giridhar on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T05:30:09Z

The bar is so huge, Distracting, not very transparent and can't be dismissed by user.

It must have a close button (though it closes automatically)
Must be more transparent and must not hide the links beneath it.
The links beneath it must be still clickable and

ideally, it must be a (customizable)box, rather than a bar!

Comment from crvenk on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T05:18:35Z

This bar would definitely make updating more effective. But I see none of it my Twitter page. Maybe, they have not chosen me for the experiment - not one of the "lucky" few I guess.

Comment from 布里斯班 on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T05:06:42Z

twitter is growing everyday.

Comment from virtual online worlds for kids on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T03:55:29Z

I've been tweeting everyday but I don't see the bar yet.

Comment from Melody on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T03:53:30Z

I've noticed this bar too..the only thing is that its going to be harder to keep up watching what people say when tweets spit out so quickly..

Comment from Bacarli on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T02:37:42Z

Twitter needs something like Outlook Track-It (an add-on for outlook) that reminds you to follow up to emails. If Twitter can have a similar plugin, then it'll be used more for personal messaging.

Comment from mickerlodeon on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T02:35:59Z

Hasn't Twitter been doing this for like a month and a half now? It's nice that they do it, not having to completely reload the page each time someone updates is probably helping Twitter quite a bit with stability issues. But, with Oprah and Ashton Kutcher on Twitter now, I'm still seeing whales all the time.

Comment from chris on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T01:45:31Z

Wow. Announcing AB testing? This isn't news.

Comment from CB on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T01:05:51Z

I have the new update thingie and for me, it's just a distraction.

Comment from waywardmedic on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T01:05:30Z

I had the bar show up a few weeks ago. I agree with Kristy, the bar comes down and that is nice but I can't navigate until it goes up again. I haven't noticed any significant time savings in the updating of the tweets. Of course I'm thinking there are more changes to come so I will be patient.

Comment from Adam Pieniazek on 2009-04-19

2009-04-20T00:40:26Z

Have had the bar for a couple weeks but don't really see a change in speediness. Lately the web interface has been very iffy with loading so even if it's made the backend faster/more efficient the huge growth in users isn't being matched by more processing power which is bringing about our favorite animal more and more, the fail whale.

Comment from Jonathan on 2009-04-19

2009-04-19T23:57:43Z

@Kristy, I totally agree. I've had the bar for several weeks now and for whatever reason there's no button to 'close' it, so you have to wait for it to finish loading.

It's been a bit hit or miss as far as actually showing up and working.

Comment from Kristy on 2009-04-19

2009-04-19T23:40:55Z

Seems good as long as its creating efficiencies.
Drives me nuts though when that bar comes down because you can't access the home link or any of the others until it disappears. Maybe this is part of the increase in efficiency. But it drives me nuts.

Comment from @vojha on 2009-04-19

2009-04-19T23:39:09Z

I've had the new bar for a little over a month now. It seems to update nicely but I can't really tell a difference on my end if it speeds it up any.

Comment from Karen Francis on 2009-04-19

2009-04-19T23:37:51Z

I had noticed this as well and was wondering what the purpose could be. I've noticed a lot of load on Twitter lately... perhaps due to Easter holidays to some extent? Having this notification can be handy, to know that even if it's not showing yet, it's been received.
Shall see if it helps.
Karen

Comment from Patrick on 2009-04-19

2009-04-19T23:30:11Z

I've noticed this notification bar recently for other actions on the twitter site. Such as changing an option in your settings. Very fast response and clean way to notify users that the action is complete.