Another morning, and I see that Twitter is moving along with business-as-usual, pouring resources into interesting new features; and alienating their users by failing to maintain their boring old infrastructure.
I don't have a window into the Twitter offices, but my guess is that it'll be fun while it lasts.
Let's face it, fixing an existing system, or doing due diligence for acquiring new servers or other infrastructure isn't all that much fun. In fact, it can be downright dull.
Which may explain Twitter's decision to keep the Fail Whale appearing so often.
Twitter's Fail Whale: Good News, Bad News
The Fail Whale's regular appearances isn't all bad news, though. Someone memorialized Twitter's inadequate service: by baking a cake.
(from GadgetSin.com, via Webuser, used w/o permission)
I don't see, in the two sources I read, that anyone's thought of marketing Fail Whale Cake - but if Twitter keeps ignoring its system and its users, I think there's a business opportunity here.
Think about it: Fail Whale parties, Fail Whale novelties.
It's got possibilities: as long as Twitter keeps shooting itself in the foot.
Related posts:
- "Twitter is Over Capacity: Decisions?"
(June 22, 2010) - "Twitter is Over Capacity: Again; Still"
(June 15, 2010) - "Lemming Tracks: Where was the Lemming?"
Apathetic Lemming of the North (June 7, 2010)- About the 17-hour Blogger blockage
- "Twitter, a Frantic Duck, the Carson Mansion, Macbeth, and Branding"
(May 26, 2010) - "Well, That's Interesting: Web Strategy Matrix: Google Buzz vs Facebook vs MySpace vs Twitter"
(February 11, 2010)
- "Twitter Fail Whale cake tempts hungry Tweeters"
Webuser (June 23, 2010)- "With the England v Slovenia game prompting a huge flood of tweets, the Twitter Fail Whale seems to have taken up permanent residence this afternoon...."
- "Fail Whale Cake for Twitter Fans"
GadgetSin.com (June 22, 2010)- "...The Twitter Fail Whale cake is created by Mariana Pugliese, a cake designer from Buenos Aires. From the images, we can see the famous whale designed by Yiying Lu a Chinese illustrator...."
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4 comments:
I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one not having trouble with Twitter. Granted, I don't go on it a lot, but when I have it's been working fine. Or I get the Fail Whale, refresh, and then it's fine.
Brigid,
All I can say is, 'good for you!'
I think I'm seeing 24-hour cycles in the Fail Whale's appearance - possibly reflecting heavy use in particular areas around the world.
Mainstream news has linked Twitter's (occasionally massive) overloads to the soccer world cup - so this may be a temporary thing.
I certainly hope so.
That certainly would make sense. It being linked to an event that is generating much higher than usual traffic, that is.
Perhaps my 'luck' is coming from checking Twitter later in the day.
Brigid,
I think we've found the answer. My troubles with Twitter ended somewhere between noon and mid-afternoon today - which is a fairly common occurrence lately.
My guess is that we're looking at daytime Twittering in Europe - or maybe after-hours activity around the western Pacific rim.
Either way - there does seem to be a cycle to this. Thanks for getting back to me with the detail, BTW.
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