Feature Friday: The New # Discover Tab

A few weeks ago, Twitter released a new # Discover tab on its web app. I do not believe the feature has made its way into the android app yet. At least I don't think I have it in my android app.

But I really like the new # Discover tab. It has immediately caused Twitter Discover to join Hacker News and Techmeme as my first reads every morning.

What's great about Twitter Discover is that I get links I don't get on Techmeme and Hacker News. I see things about sports, NYC, music, and other things that the people I follow on Twitter care about that have nothing to do with tech, venture capital, and startups.

Twitter Discover had been, until recently, the same links for everyone, or at least the same links by geography. I am not entirely sure to be honest. But now Twitter Discover is personalized for every Twitter user. And, like Who To Follow which got yet another upgrade yesterday, Twitter Discover will continue to evolve and improve as Twitter adds more data science, more data, and more user feedback into its development.

#Web/Tech

Comments (Archived):

  1. David Semeria

    Tom Wolfe described the seventies as the “me decade”, but I think this term also captures the trend you’re describing here Fred.We’re moving on from pure social to a smarter, more personalized, mix of signals and algorithms.The startup I work for has a number of taglines, amongst which: it’s about me

    1. Carl Rahn Griffith

      Bonfire of the Vanities, indeed 😉

    2. awaldstein

      You are right on David.Smart social is definitely the direction. The smarter the the signals and algorithms get the more targeted and valuable our conversations can become.”It’s about me’ is a good one. True of the 70s but never really went away.

      1. David Semeria

        The credit for “it’s about me” is fundamentally yours Arnoldo!

        1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

          Yes. I have read him many times saying that … It is about me and It reaches me and it finds me etc.,etc., internet comes to me and me no go to internet seeking and searching.You should recommend putting a poster in your start-up wall which screams ‘IT IS ABOUT ME’ with Arnold’s signature on it.

        2. Mark Essel

          I liked Seth Godin’s line:”me mail”

      2. Donna Brewington White

        Smart social. I like that. Another “arnoldism”? Or should that be “weinsteinism”?See my comment to @hymanroth:disqus about me-ism.

        1. Donna Brewington White

          Oooh, @Disqus guys — I like the red text for mentions!!!

          1. Tyler Hayes

            🙂

    3. ShanaC

      but the interesting thing is that people want to use me to make a we….this is going to be a complicated decade….

      1. awaldstein

        Actually Shana, the more more personal, the more we view the world through our personal lens the more it pushes community and engagement.Ex…the stronger and more comfortable expressing you’re own opinion here on avc without forethought and without edit, the more connections will come and the more valuable the community becomes.

        1. ShanaC

          Right, but the traditional “me” line doesn’t acknowledge this at all.We’re me in the sense of finding balance dealing with others. It is definitely a different sort of me than disco me.

          1. awaldstein

            ‘disco shana’….your new handle.

          2. Donna Brewington White

            More ‘coffee bar Shana’ if you ask me.

          3. ShanaC

            Truer than you would like to know :p

          4. ShanaC

            No way…

        2. Donna Brewington White

          Right, right! That’s something I neglected in my comment above to David — this is another difference in the “me” focus — it is a “me” that wants to engage and be in relationship, to connect. I think that is a huge difference!Good observation @ShanaC:disqus

      2. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

        welcome to my world… I have been living like that for the last 8 years…but i enjoy all that moment … BECAUSE … i already know that. Let them have some life.

      3. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

        i think you have to read history….1900 everyone in science said we have done whatever is possible on this earth…. then came stupids.I am awaiting those stupids …. not the bankers, marketing, sales, …. the broglies …

    4. Richard

      For an interesting take on this read billy bob thortons new autobiography.

    5. Donna Brewington White

      But don’t you think this is a different type of “me” focus than what was signified in the 70’s…not so much self-gratification but more about relevance…and relevance in terms of enrichment, enlightenment, knowledge, etc.Or is it?

      1. David Semeria

        I think me is basically me however you flip it ;-)The 70’s me was more about self-discovery than materialism IMO.As I mentioned in a reply to Fred, the me I have in mind is closer to a feeling of being pampered than one of egotism.

    6. fredwilson

      Selfcentered.com??

      1. David Semeria

        Not necessarily. More like pampered – like in a nice hotel or restaurant!

        1. panterosa,

          How about nourished me?

    7. Luke Chamberlin

      That’s funny, I see features like Discover as being about other people and not about me. The whole reason I’m there is to discover and learn about new people.

      1. David Semeria

        Ah, but would you want people/content on flower-arranging being surfaced for you? It’s about the intersection of people, content and your interests.The fulcrum is you.

        1. Luke Chamberlin

          Haha actually I’m a big fan of ikebana http://en.wikipedia.org/wik…Sure the “me” is a part of the equation but I feel the “other people” is a bigger part. Is it really self-centered to seek out people with similar interests? I feel that truely self-centered people don’t care about the interests of others.

          1. David Semeria

            But I never intended the “self-centered” interpretation of “me”. Think more of the warm fuzzy feeling when people around you are alert to your needs (which generally happens either when you’re ill or you pay someone a lot of money to behave that way..)And congratulations for your interest in ikebana. My flower-arranging example has never failed me until now…..

  2. jason wright

    Newspapers really are starting to look like a nasty conspiracy.

    1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      Not only newpaper the NEWS as is… is like that … it is defined like that… it has four directions North East West and South and all can tell their own story and not the actual story…. unless it is about a dog getting accidentally killed on the high way!!!

      1. jason wright

        Agreed. The problem with news is that it is defined by the corporations and governments that manufacture it based upon their needs. Twitter is a corporation, it has needs, but their the similarities end.

  3. Cam MacRae

    I wonder what it says about my persona that Twitter thinks I should follow a whole bunch of SMEGs? I hope it reflects more on their algorithm than me, but any excuse to drown my sorrows will do. Sláinte!The stories section is completely transformed: 10 out of 10 relevant links. That’s nothing short of outstanding.

    1. fredwilson

      That good??

      1. Cam MacRae

        Yep. I’ve been pinging it periodically over the last 6-7 hours and it’s only let me down once: “Sarah Jessica Parker to host Obama fundraiser”. Can I get a do not ever show me this shit again button, stat.Seriously, though… impressive.

        1. fredwilson

          Ha!

  4. Rohan

    Fun friday quote:’Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close knit family…. in another city.’;-)

    1. jason wright

      …another planet.

    2. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      Love and care are not measured in Miles … does that sound like a quote?

    3. Donna Brewington White

      Haha.How about:’Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close knit family….online.’

      1. Rohan

        That can get annoying.. Hahaha(Referring to parents checking out kids’ facebook profiles)

  5. Rohan

    And I know this was done ages ago (before when I became a commenter here) but do we still have an avc twitter list?

  6. colinwalker

    Twitter needed a better method of discovery for a while in order to get a lot of the silent users to start tweeting. When you look at this and the new emails the acquisition of Summify really seems to be paying dividends now. Back in February I said that the discover tab needed to develop and become more personalised and I envisaged that, ultimately, it could even become the default view instead of the stream – I still believe that this is possible and would be a great move.

    1. Kirsten Lambertsen

      Can a personalized Twitter be far away (“make Discover my startpage”)?

    2. fredwilson

      Agreed.

  7. Phil Fremont-Smith

    Long time over due. I love the feature. But even more I love the iterative nature of this teams development. They are clearly listening and truly seeking to understand their customer and so delivering simple, elegant but bullseye enhancements. Given the dramatic growth they’ve experienced especially, full of temptations to go in a hundred different directions – theirs is a model to be emulated. An awesome product team.

  8. John Best

    The biggest issue for me is the making sure the mix of useful, engaging discovery isn’t lost in a sea of content that is good, but uninteresting. We were talking about this at the founder’s meeting last night. Discovery is great as long as it isn’t noise.

  9. sprugman

    Funny, the article I read just before this was a piece raising the alarm about the privacy implications of the tracking tech that I suspect is enabling these changes. It’s slightly FUD-ish, but for anyone who’s interested: http://dcurt.is/twitter-is-

    1. Cam MacRae

      I read that earlier too.To your point, it’s interesting that although I use Ghostery etc. to disable such tracking, Twitter still managed to impress me with both the timeliness and relevance of the links they offered. You might still be right, of course.

      1. falicon

        Twitter has enough data within their own system on what you say, who you follow, and what they say (along with what you click and don’t click on thanks to the t.co stuff) that they don’t need to track you beyond your use of their own system…this is the real value of owning engagement (no need for tricks or outside data).That being said, without the tricks or outside data, they are skewed to only the version of ‘you’ that exists within the Twitter experience…

        1. Cam MacRae

          Yes, which is my preference – for Twitter to know me only by the version of me I choose to serve them on a platter.

          1. Richard

            I call this the Bayesian me.

          2. Cam MacRae

            Clever.

        2. William Mougayar

          That’s a very good point Jim. Do you think Twitter will take outside data about us to “serve” us better discovery? I personally think not…at least not in the foreseable future. The mixing of social/interest graph is currently done at the expense of Twitter, Facebook, G+ and LinkedIn which are each limited in their own way. For one to start to dip into another would be a departure from serving their own needs and risk them becoming a servant to the other network.

          1. falicon

            I agree…none of these services are likely to reach outside their own network/engagement for the sake of ‘better personalization’…this was a key thesis point for the work I was doing with the knowabout.it project (the core of the idea was nailing discovery via true personalization and we believed that only a true third party solely with this focus could do it because only they could have a chance at the real ‘whole picture’ of a person/personality)That being said, as Cam mentions, I don’t think most users would want any of these services to do personalization outside of their own networks anyway…that would go against the experience we love/use them for…There’s lots of room for discovery on the internet…there won’t be just one answer to rule them all. This is a great thing.

          2. Dave W Baldwin

            It is a matter of evolution (@wmoug:disqus). You are right regarding a 3rd party, but it comes down to a legitimate personal/virtual assistant that is engaging in real time. Eventually what is brought up via news/gossip will reflect something you looked up outside the norm. At the same time, other users will be looking at their own outside norm. Then you have gates allowing the fact others know you have a mild/strong interest in that tidbit.Developing this requires strategy moving larger than copying SIRI. Better if not at mercy of Apple where the bigger picture that matters to the user can be promoted.

          3. William Mougayar

            Kevin, sorry I called you Jim :). Yes, most users are expecting personalization to happen implicitely.

          4. falicon

            No problems…I have been called much worse, many times…and I answer to just about anything anyway. 😉

        3. fredwilson

          And they cant do much for the first time user witout external data

          1. falicon

            maybe not on the personalization level…but they def. have enough data at scale to still present some interesting stuff to ‘new’ users (ie. trending, most recently clicked, most retweeted, etc.)…but as soon as a new users starts to follow someone, there is a data trail to start personalizing with…then they start clicking (more data trail)…then eventually tweeting…all the while the data trail gets bigger/deeper/better and *hopefully* the personalization does as well 😀

      2. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

        “Twitter deletes or aggregates the data it collects after 10 days” I donno who can vouch that statement… i just now read it HuffPo about twitter … it talks all good about twitter compared to other social sites.

    2. fredwilson

      Twitter has implemented Do Not Track for those who want to opt out

  10. William Mougayar

    Indeed social discovery is becoming a daily routine but it’s getting fragmented at the same time.  There are different types of discovery, – whether it’s people, content, conversations, etc. I wrote about this last week in the context of Discovery via people’s engagement on the social web which is where Engagio is uniquely focused: http://blog.engag.io/2012/0…Twitter understands that they were gifted by millions of people to receive millions of signals from around the world that help it to surface what’s important, and they are sharing it back in a mini-Google News like fashion. For Twitter to continue to reach the mass market, they have to keep a balance between mass market simplicity & more advanced users needs like us. This current feature is tilted to the average consumer with a small dose of personalization. But I think there is further progress that can be made. Why can’t I see an aggregate of all my Saved Searches into one screen similarly formatted as the current discovery? That would be an added targeted discovery.  

  11. Carl Rahn Griffith

    Discuss…umair haque ‏@umairhLife isn’t digital. It’s analogue.

    1. awaldstein

      Actually, i’m starting to believe that everything is digital now. The real issue is parsing the social signals from this ocean of data now that every gesture is recorded.

      1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

        not only ‘NOW’ it always has been … that is what part of Quantum theory says….nothing is continuous if you start going deep … all are in quanta … pockets.(I am just letting out whatever physics i know … you can slap me down if i am wrong).

        1. awaldstein

          Maybe…But now, it is only by intent that conversations are NOT recorded, pics NOT taken and shared.Once the default is digital and shareable, then then we live in one long-tail world.What @hymanroth:disqus said in his comment earlier is correct. Parsing and interpreting this sea of intent with smart signals and algorithms will be the key to nudging pure social interaction in a more actionable and more efficient direction.

          1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

            Yes I agree with that.But it is going to be a too complicated algorithm picking only the signals.Probably people should look at picking one-signal at a time and start searching for it … search for signal AND not try filtering the noise in the ocean.One signal at a time or one App or one site for only one signal and nothing else. The issue is everyone trying to pick all the signals from all the noise.

          2. awaldstein

            Parsing social data is tough.@Disqus has a planet full of it with some 500,000 comments a day across its platform.Non trivial to mine. A new view of the web could come out of the data and other inputs if it is figured out.Experts, much more than myself, can chime in on this.

          3. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

            I am just rambling my thoughts here…dime a dozen … no offense and defense … because you triggered my thoughts.One signal and going after it …. look at FB … people may think it is a photo sharing site/app/company … but what it is all about … photo ID …ID … why u think MySpace was a failure? … wrong timing … FB came out in 2005 … after 2001.Look at internet users 30% that is 2B+ … FB has 50% of them…I do beleive FB should have waited another 2-3 years to capture another B…may be some pressure from XY and Z…. just one country would shell out 100B for all the ID FB has.Twitter/disqus/blog/… is about conversation … conversation varies based on context … i am talking to you today like this … may be not tom’row… too much signal and too much noise will take a longertime to convert but WHEN DONE will be a total blow-out.

    2. ShanaC

      Life is the interpretation of our world, which may include digital

    3. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      It is analogue as long as you are not trying to look at it (observe it).Once you start looking at it (observing it and recording it) then it becomes digital … that is where God plays his dice … the famous quote of Einstein “God never would play dice” comes in.

    4. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      interesting topic Carl.It takes 30 milli-second for human beings to process what we see… that is about 30 frames /second… and previous frame stays in memory until the next frame comes… that is why you still see the object even after closing your eye….does that sound like digital or analogue.A simple experiment … when you look at a rotating fan … just keep blinking your eyes you can easily could the number of blades.

      1. LE

        If I remember correctly, same idea with a fan in front of a CRT because of the scan rate.

    5. fredwilson

      Its both and its best when they are balanced and comingled

  12. Jan Schultink

    Until now, I did not really understand the discover tab (clicked it 3x maybe), I will try again

  13. William Mougayar

    I’m currently enjoying the ExFm discovey Explore feature. Ever since @kirklove introduced me to it last week, I’m hooked. I like today’s focus on Disco music in honor of Donna Summers♪ Listening to Rain by Q http://ex.fm/song/6nhch on exfm for iPhone

    1. ShanaC

      now if only the android app stopped crashed all the time…

    2. fredwilson

      Ex.fm is great. So is Kirk

      1. William Mougayar

        They both rock, literally 🙂

  14. ShanaC

    Meanwhile, I am looking for a tweetdeck replacement…..

    1. Cam MacRae

      what platform?

      1. ShanaC

        android just stopped working, and the new version for snow leopard isn’t nearly ask good, especially when you are following hashtags.

    2. jason wright

      Never used it, but why?

  15. Mark Zohar

    At TrendSpottr (http://trendspottr.com), we’ve been focused on social content discovery by helping users find the content and information that is and will be the most interesting, engaging and important for their key interests. More specifically, TrendSpottr identifies emerging news and events around key topics and interests hours and, in some cases, days before they have reached general awareness.For example, TrendSpottr was able to “spot” the OWS movement days before it received front page coverage. Similarly, we are able to predict which videos will go viral based on as little as 100 initial views. Our users and customers (news organizations, PR agencies, brands, social analytics and marketing companies) are using TrendSpottr as an “early warning system” to identify early trending stories that have high viral potential and that will grow in importance, reach and impact over the next few hours and days.In terms of the #Discover tab, we are about to launch a new product that will essentially take this concept to a new level by allowing users to personalize it even further (what are you interested in right now?), make it portable (embed this on your own site or blog) and make it mobile. Imagine having real-time access to the most important, timely and trending content about any topic or interest and being able to take this information with you anywhere and receive real-time alerts via email or text when we detect unusual or aberrational trending activity about your topics and interests. We’ll be releasing this product with some key partners in the next 3-4 weeks.In the meantime, since it is Facebook Day, here’s a link where you can view the top trending information about $fb and the Facebook IPO: http://bit.ly/KtFgqC.

  16. awaldstein

    The more (and better) discovery mechanisms the better.Right now, conversations are my best source of context and discovery. The more these are informed and discoverable through data, the happier I am.I’ll play with Twitter discover some more. So far, the idea is way better than the reality it seems.

    1. William Mougayar

      “Conversations are my best source of context and discovery.” Me too…and I’ll steal that line for an Engagio tag line I will quote you on. Amen. There is no better quality discovery than the one that comes from engaged people around you. It’s like having a virtual party.

  17. testtest

    until there’s non-deterministic algos for this stuff we’ll have to rely on people as part of the equation. it seems to me, that currently, when algorithms are used best they are the glue that bind people together

    1. awaldstein

      Well said!

    2. Kirsten Lambertsen

      Right on!

    3. William Mougayar

      That’s a tough one. People change their minds constantly. Algorithms will lag in figuring this out when change happens.

  18. Kirsten Lambertsen

    I think Twitter is going in the right direction with their recent additions. I’m very appreciative of machine-filtered discovery. I was one of Summify’s first users and love it. I use Curate.me also.The concerns about letting machines discover all your content for you are valid, though. I think it will be important to offer and continue to develop human-filtered discovery, too, which is Engagio’s gift and also what I happen to be working on 🙂

  19. Luke Chamberlin

    I’m still frustrated by Twitter’s search in the Discover section. I can type in the exact name of a friend who I know is on twitter and not get any results. Then it turns out that they had to misspell their last name by one letter or something to get a user name. Given that I follow a bunch of people who also follow that person, it should be intelligent enough to guess who I’m really looking for.

    1. fredwilson

      They know it and they are working on it

  20. Dave W Baldwin

    Well done.To clarify movement forward related to replies from @ShanaC:disqus @awaldstein:disqus @hymanroth:disqus @egoboss:disqus…. Shana is right and it is a matter of POV. Those of us growing up during the 70’s tend to see things entering into the ‘me’ness where there are those that think 900 million people read whatever you put on FB this morning. Those that grew up moving into this Century, though they can say (due to younger age, faster brain) who posted something, they don’t really care. And that translates into not caring about privacy concerns that are being played with currently.The ‘Discover’ plays into the user finding something that is more real time and fits into the wish list of the menu of a real personal assistant. And it fits in the evolution of the ‘We’ group where the user is not so concerned with who else is reading that quip, but the range of quips you get are relevant to you. Then communicating via quoting that quip grows the group of We’s that add that subject matter to their Discover.Love the timing as we get the headlines about Google and their fashioning search more in the form of the arranging of neurons…..

  21. JimHirshfield

    I need a discovery app for discovery apps. There are SO many discovery tools. That said, I’m enjoying reading what y’all are reading…’cause Engagio’s “Popular Discussions from your Friends” daily email hits the spot. Good work @wmoug:disqus !!

    1. Aviah Laor

      Agreed.

    2. awaldstein

      How much stuff do you actually find past 9.30 in the morning when you’ve hit your news feeds, few community blogs, email, Twitter, FB.I discover more through my networks.What’s missing is what I’m not looking for! Huge opportunity and gap.

      1. JimHirshfield

        Tough to say.

      2. panterosa,

        @awaldstein:disqus Since I make things, and its hard enough to keep up on that front, I will never read as many news or feeds or blogs as you. But perhaps I am a perfect candidate then for study. I get almost all my news through my networks. My network is a huge filter, which saves me a lot of time.

      3. William Mougayar

        “What’s missing is what I’m not looking for!” This is brilliant & the very definition of Discovery & serendipity.

  22. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    We can build algo for PULL….I am not too sure whether we can do the same for PUSH …I believe there is definitely place for building an algo based on PULL and then PUSH.PUSH the items what i have been pulling before and my friends were pulling and use the location i’m in and use the traits i have and use the sentiments i have … only only when i am PULLING for something….don’t just PUSH PUSH and I may start to vomit and run away.

  23. John@PGISelfDirected

    If you fancy seeing what headlines those who you follow on Twitter are chatting about in one compact list, some new functionality in the Discover tab will offer their insight in a few clicks. Essentially, the new feature tracks stories that your pals in the Twitterverse post and allows you to see what the commotion is all about via the “View Tweets” option along the bottom of each article link.

  24. bsoist

    I guess I haven’t really given it a chance. I really like the idea, just assumed it wouldn’t really help me “discover” anything. I assumed the personalization would lead more of the same thing I see already. I’ll give it a whirl.

    1. Matt A. Myers

      Same here. Today was likely a bad day to show results, as most of it’s related to Facebook or who’s getting rich off of the IPO. There was 1 non-Facebook-related suggestion in it for me… the other one was politics related.

      1. bsoist

        Mine was FB/Zuck heavy all weekend. It is better today, but still not much news I wouldn’t have already seen. I’m adding it to my news dashboard and I’m going to give it a chance.

  25. jason wright

    Was this new feature released today?

    1. fredwilson

      No. A few weeks ago

  26. Tom Labus

    A “shuffle” for news, finance and events localized.

  27. Brandon Burns

    Thank you for not talking about the Facebook IPO today. This appears to be the one spot on the web that realizes that the rest of the world, in fact, still exists.

    1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      What ?rust of the world?

  28. ChuckEats

    when it was launched, i checked it out. it’s mostly large-ish newspapers & larger-sized blogs (techcrunch, etc).i read twitter *for the people* and i think twitter has this wrong. i don’t want to read a NYT article unless someone i trust is vouching for it. when i see the articles on the Discover, and review my feed, there’s no real correlation. it hits on very generic topics (food, tech) but no stories of interest.does it make twitter more mainstream? perhaps but, again, i don’t think that is its appeal.i suppose it will get better; but, in the hype for social, has everyone forget personal? this implementation feels like the sort of thing that would have received a press release, and a 30% stock bump… in 1999.

    1. fredwilson

      i get a ton of links from obscure blogs and publications. i think you may be following the wrong people

      1. ChuckEats

        if it’s not useful, it’s not useful. i follow enough people (200-ish) to keep it manageable and all are relatively influential in their relative niches (my perception of the real power of twitter.) and i suspect it will take a long while before twitter is really intelligent about these very fractured niches.

  29. jason wright

    I have a question about how Disqus is working.What decides where a new comment appears in the thread of other comments? Not a reply to a comment, but a fresh comment. To my untrained eye they seem to pop up randomly here there and anywhere in the thread. I can’t see a pattern to it.

    1. fredwilson

      it depends how you set up your disqus settingsat the top of the thread it says “discussion”. there is a drop down. you can select best, newest, or oldest.

      1. jason wright

        I see it, and at the moment it’s set to ‘best’. What I don’t get is why my comment asking about where comments appear in a thread has appeared where it is, which seems to be some way down the thread but not at the end. What’s it doing there? It hasn’t received up or down votes, it isn’t the oldest comment, it isn’t the newest. It’s position still ‘seems’ (to me, hungry, tired,…)… random. I can’t spot a ‘rule’.

        1. fredwilson

          i guess new comments get dropped into the middle between “best” and “worst” until they have some data on them

          1. jason wright

            It seems to stack on top of all earlier comments and comments with replies that haven’t (yet) received any votes, up or down. I guess there’s a reshuffling as the votes flood in. I wonder if a visual breaker at the top of that stack might be helpful? Time for food. Bon appetite.

          2. Sam Parker

            Yes, in Best sort, the comments with positive votes go to the top, the comments with negative votes go to the bottom, and those that are mixed or new start in the middle of a thread.This is designed for primarily for those new to a thread, to quickly get a sense of the conversation.We’re considering how we might better highlight the newer comments. Timestamps aren’t very scannable, we know.

          3. LE

            A color bar of some kind overlayed over the “n minutes ago” or “x hours ago” would help. Different color to give a general sense of the freshness of the comment.

          4. panterosa,

            @fredwilson:disqus I find it very inorganic to the chronology to have the comments move all the time as well as not always show in reply to. I’ve also found a lot of mis-stamping of time recently, which only makes things worse. Sadly I have yet to find something in the new Disqus which is an improvement.I prefer Engagio’s keeping of the chronological order. However I find time lag slows my commenting down. @wmoug:disqus Will the refresh speed up at some point?

          5. William Mougayar

            Thanks @panterosa:disqus we’re aiming for a 6 minute delay from Disqus, but we have been falling behind sometimes. I’m trying hard to improve this.

          6. panterosa,

            @WilliamMougayar Perhaps I am lazy, but chasing the comment thread through the new DISQUS I find quite annoying. The type of disjointed conversation which is found in a fast text exchange or IM thread which has many replies out of rider really only works in real time, or if you are an ADD thumb jockey. I am on AVC to participate in conversation, not soundbites. I hope Engagio can save me on this front 🙂

          7. fredwilson

            Just set your disqus to most recent and you will get it the way you want it I have a few pet peeves (font size and no “in reply to” linkBut all in all I vastly prefer the new version

          8. William Mougayar

            I will add this. There are two different use cases for the commenting workflow. If a post is fresh and the flurry of comments is at a fast and furious pace, I suggest you stay with the AVC site or respond to email notifications via Disqus. That’s typically for the first 3-4 hours of posting. Engagio is not going to keep up with the real-time nature of commenting on the post itself, especially that it won’t show you the threads you’re not participating in yet.But later, Engagio is great at showing you who responded to you, so use it that way when you want to dip back into the conversations.

  30. laurie kalmanson

    Not just in the filter bubble?

  31. Monica

    Not sure if you’ve posted about this before, but I was wondering if you’ve ever written about a ‘how to’ guide of guidelines to use when considering whether or not to work for a start-up. I’m going to a group interview/meeting next Tuesday and I just have no idea as to how to evaluate whether I think it’s a viable opportunity or not. Any thoughts, links or info you have would be super appreciated.Sorry about the comment being off topic.Thanks in advance.Kindly.Monica

  32. William Mougayar

    I’m surprised no one mentioned the weekly discovery Email that Twitter started sending out. It surfaces content that may have been missed. Also, in their policy update email, there’s a link where they explain personalization: “We determine the people you might enjoy following based on your recent visits to websites in the Twitter ecosystem (sites that have integrated Twitter buttons or widgets). Specifically, our feature works by suggesting people who are frequently followed by other Twitter users that visit the same websites.”That’s pretty good & headed in the right direction. But I still want an aggregated stream of all my Saved Searches. Am I the only one wanting that?

  33. Prokofy

    Funny, I didn’t notice that DISCOVER until you told us about it — I look at Twitter several times a day, but I tend to zero out all the clutter of the interface like I do with every other social media thing and just look at the feed.I don’t know how it’s picking my stories, but I only was interested in about half of them. It looks to me like it’s deliberately interspersing what it calls “trending tweets” with “tweets by people who share your interest.” But I don’t care about “trending tweets” and I wish I could cut it out.It also needs to squeeze the UI a whole lot. It’s suffering from the same white blankness that Second Life’s search UI with the GSA has been suffering from. Give me the headlines, I don’t need 3 lines of text and a picture, it’s just wasted space. That way they could fit in more links.

  34. Dan Abdinoor

    I will have to revisit the Discover tab. I checked it out a while back when it was released in the iOS client but didn’t find it to be very relevant. I’m sure they’ve tweaked the suggestion algorithms by now. I like the idea of checking it first thing in the morning like Hacker News, I’ll give that a try.

  35. Carl Rahn Griffith

    Almost one week since I deleted Facebook from my iPhone and I posted on my Facebook profile that if people want to message me or show me a funny pic/etc, they’d better Twitter, SMS, Skype or (shock!) email me – or (double shock) call my mobile.This IPO is a sick joke.

  36. Rohan

    The very mention of facebook seems to generally annoy Fred.

  37. Donna Brewington White

    That was SO yesterday.

  38. fredwilson

    I write about what I think about.

  39. Cam MacRae

    That remains to be seen, of course.But if I was a betting man I’d put $500 on: A sick joke that’s going to allow a bunch of algos and ibankers to commandeer a tonne of mom & dad’s hard earned money.

  40. ShanaC

    I think their ad quality is odd, and that is going to hurt them….

  41. Carl Rahn Griffith

    Indeed, Cam…

  42. Mark Essel

    Right on.

  43. Brandon Marker

    Which is why I was so happy to see a Twitter post this morning. A sigh of relief was released. #discover is amazing. If someone had been stranded on an island, and needed to be caught up, I would send them to Twitter.

  44. Richard

    Why is that?

  45. fredwilson

    No. It bores me.

  46. fredwilson

    I am pleased

  47. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    U are freaking funny….and that is twitter message.

  48. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    One of the freaking statements i have read.

  49. makesites

    Funny..