Startup Spark

Know what you’re good at - and stick to it!

by ShannonCherry on June 5th, 2008

I’m sure a lot of you have heard of or use Twitter. Twitter has been experiencing downtime and missing features as a result of many technical issues.

With a different problem every day, users around the world are taking “sides”. Some are angry that the problems are happening. Others, however, are more concerned with the way the problems were addressed.

Twitter didn’t communicate the issues effectively, and now all users hear is what they consider “a defensive developer covering his…” (well, you know).

A developer’s job is to address a problem in a way that states the facts, tells the members what’s wrong, how it can be fixed, and how the process is coming along.

Alex Payne, a developer for Twitter, addressed an “overtaxed system”. He said that “users with immense contact lists and very high activity” have overloaded the system. He then went on to point out some of those users. It offended many.

We all know that sometimes technical difficulties are unavoidable. But it’s the reaction to those difficulties that makes a good company a great one.

At that point, a smart company would have someone step in. Someone who is focused on public perception and maintaining a user base. Developers have a job to do, and it’s not communicating to the target market.

If I could give you any advice to Twitter and you, it would be to get a PR person. Sure, I’m biased because I am one. But I’m not necessarily talking about a hired gun. Just someone who is a good public face and can buffer the geeks from the users.

It’s one of those investments that most definitely pays off during harder times.

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POSTED IN: Business, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Publicity