Twitter's a big deal right now. So you've heard all the good stuff about microblogging in 140 characters but here's a short list of the most annoying things about Twitter.

  1. The site is down. Lots. (And by lots I mean almost every day).
  2. Lots of programs/sites automatically "update" their Twitter feed (read "spam it to death"). From updates telling you which song your friend is listening to to websites telling you that people are looking at certain products Twitter can be a whole heap of irritating. (Time to Block them!)
  3. A metric cartload of Twitter accounts are trying to sell stuff, and a lot of this comes via (automatic) Direct Messages when you follow someone. (Block!)
  4. Shortened URLs don't tell you what site the link is taking you to so you have to click it to see... inevitably you'll already have seen it or you wouldn't have clicked it if you'd seen the real URL first.
  5. Twitter breaks websites (or, more accurately, if you see a link from Stephen Fry or Neil Gaiman the chances are that the site will be down by the time you click on it).
  6. Some people think that the point of Twitter is getting the maximum number of followers. This is not the case. The point of Twitter is to interact with people. (Sucks to be them... block).
  7. Some profiles are distincly lacking in profile pictures or bio info - come on... it's not that hard to write about yourself!
  8. Some followers are robots and are just plain annoying. (Block)
  9. People expect you to follow them back. You don't have to! How can you expect people like Stephen or Neil to follow 200,000 people and read all of their Tweets? Seriously?
  10. Some people have nothing interesting to say. (That's what the Unfollow button is for!) Twitter's interface is severely lacking in some features. No ReTweet button, URLs aren't auto-shortened when posting, URLs aren't auto-lengthened when reading, hashtags aren't links etc.