7 Things Twitter Needs To Fix

Twitter is a fantastic social media network that I recommend all of the time. Still I hear comments like "Twitter is a waste of my time," "I don't get it," and "I tried it, but didn't get anything from it." As a Twitter evangelist, I think Twitter the company needs to work a lot harder at improving their service so these opinions go away.

Here are 7 things I believe Twitter needs to fix.

Image by davis.jacque via Flickr

1. The Twitter home page needs to help users who come to the site for the first time.

This home page needs to address key topics like how to use Twitter, why use Twitter, and most importantly, the benefits of using Twitter. It's reported that Twitter loses 60% of their new users after one month. Why? I know that it's not because the service is too expensive.

2. Get rid of spammers ASAP.

Maybe the new policy will help to get rid of all the spammers, but I doubt it. There are way too many of these losers, and they are always coming up with new ways to spam. While you should report the spam to @spam, I'm sure these folks are overwhelmed. Guess what--so are Twitter users.

3. Trending Topics have become virtually useless.

This was a great idea when it started but now there is no reason to go beyond the list that appears on your home page. If you click on a topic you get so much spam, you don't who to believe and where a link is going to take you. What a waste! The new policy should have stated that if you abuse the trending topics section, as Heidi Klum says on Project Runway, "You are out!"

4. Fix both the Twitter people search and main search features so people who join get listed and their tweets will appear.

The Twitter search features are excellent concepts but they do not work flawlessly. I have had friends complain about it, and now I am suffering the same problems. Try to find this blog by searching for it on people search. Try to find my tweets by using some of the keywords in Twitter's main search area. It's not going to happen. Twitter search tools are great but they need to work.

5. Twitter needs someone in charge of customer experience.

I believe that users get frustrated by Twitter and their experience on Twitter. But is there anyone at Twitter in charge of researching these issues and fixing them? If so, this person needs a lot more help to make changes needed. If Twitter doesn't improve, customers are going to seek out alternative networks.

6. When it comes to customer service, Twitter doesn't seem to really care all that much.

I know it's free to use Twitter, but customer service is paramount for any business. While they have a Twitter support section, this is level web 0.5. Twitter should have a customer service account on Twitter, like Best Buy and Comcast, where people can get their questions and problems answered promptly. Yes, you can contact @twitterapi but I believe it's run by only three guys who are probably engineers.

7. Twitter needs to generate revenue so they can fix their product sooner rather than later.

I know that Twitter received over $50 million in their last round of funding. That money is great but it's not recurring revenue. Twitter needs to put in place a revenue model that will work. It will give them the funds to fix things and improve their operations.

Can you think of other things Twitter needs to fix? Please let me know.

Thanks!