There has been a lot of discussion around the blogosphere the past few days about Twitter’s Suggested Users feature and whether or not it’s fair, valuable, and so on. Jason Calacanis offered up $250,000 to be near the top of the list for two years, and stated he thought that price was a bargain. (Jason has also been pushing the value of Twitter followers for a long time now, but that’s a whole other story. For this, let’s assume there is some value to the number of followers you have.)

I gotta admit – I agree with folks on this – there is a problem here.

Twitter is like any other social network – it’s no fun unless you have friends to follow. It does make sense to create a list of people for new users to add and it avoids having to create a “Tom” (MySpace) type person who will give you something to do when you first join.

My problem is around the way the list has been implemented. I have multiple problems with it:

• The only people being listed are those who already have thousands and thousands of followers. I was personally already following anyone on that list I cared about.
• The list is fairly static
• There is no clear way to get yourself on the list, beyond knowing someone at twitter.
• The list isn’t “fair.” One newspaper has already complained because another newspaper has had multiple feeds listed, they have done, and can’t figure out how to fix it.
• There doesn’t seem to be any actual logic to what’s in the list. You’d expect the list to cover a wide range of interests, but it’s all sorts of weird.

The list is truly akin to an advertisement, which, let me make clear, I have absolutely no problem with. When I was at MySpace, we created (and this still exists) an Editor’s Pick spot for applications that would receive the same sort of promotion as paid ads, but would be clearly designated as an editorial choice. Ads would be marked as ads, and anyone who wanted to be featured could ask to be listed (btw, if interested, head over to http://developer.myspace.com) more information about this program is here:  In fact, everywhere I’ve worked in the last, oh, 10+ years, has a rule that ads must state they’re ads.

The Suggested User “ads,” while not being a result of money being paid (as far as we know), are clearly there because of….something. Is it knowing the right person at Twitter, is it having a certain number of followers, is it ‘quality’ of what the person says, is it some sort of evaluation of the person themselves, what? “Payments” do not always involve cash.

Suggesting users is a great idea. The problem is in the execution, and, really, all issues that are fairly easily fixed. It is to Twitter’s benefit in the long run to make sure their users are not all following the same 20 people, and to possibly create a revenue model that doesn’t exist right now.

If the list is editorial, it should be rotated, and be pulling from a larger segment of users than just the ones who are already popular. Twitter should also tell people what the requirements are to end up on that list. If the list is going to be the result of paid sponsorships, that’s fine as well, it should just be marked as such.

Until the issues with that list are fixed, if you want to find new people to follow, I recommend checking out the #followfriday hashtag over at twitter search. You’ll be exposed to a much larger and more diverse segment of the Twitterverse than you will on the Suggested Users page.

A few days ago Burger King posted an application on facebook allowing someone to win a coupon for a free whopper if they removed 10 friends from their profile. The app would then notify the 10 friends that they had been removed, and give them a chance to install the app (and re-add the friends if they wanted) for their own free whopper. The app was subsequently pulled from Facebook for violating policy.

I obviously have a very skewed perspective on this, having worked heavily in policy enforcement just about everywhere I’ve ever worked, and specifically in application policy at MySpace, but I also think I have a very educated opinion as a result.

The app was a very cute, original idea, and I am one of many who installed it and removed friends for my free coupon (I’m curious to see if I actually get one). At the time, I was slightly uncomfortable with notifying people that I’d removed them from my friends list, but hey – I’ll take a free whopper.

Days later, Facebook pulled the application down for violating their policies. Of course it’s not ok to tell one user another removed them as a friend, that’s just asking for an argument to start “why’d you remove me, don’t you like me anymore?” It’s why people add friends on twitter, then mute them, they don’t want to offend anyone.  Violate policies, get your application yanked. Period. But…

Why was an application that violated policy live in the first place? There’s a pretty simple answer to that, and while I can’t claim I know it’s right, I’d bet that sales was heavily involved in this. The violation in this case was so egregious there’s no way people didn’t know it was violating policy (certainly, at some point, everyone everywhere has approved something to go live where they honestly missed a policy violation). But in this case someone specifically had to have said, “I know this is breaking the rules, but we should put it live anyway,” both on Burger King and Facebook’s side of things. People have let Burger King off the hook for this, but come on, they’re not stupid. I fully believe they were well aware they were breaking policy. It’s not a policy unique to facebook, after all, “don’t tell one user when another deletes them as a friend” is policy on pretty much every service on the internets.

The question for me, anyway, is why did Facebook take it down after allowing it to go in the first place. I personally didn’t hear any kind of outrage over the app breaking policy, most of what I read about the app was exceptionally positive. I really was waiting for some story somewhere to point out the very obvious violation in the application, but most people aren’t quite as much of a policy nut as I am. The media blowup didn’t happen until after Facebook pulled the Burger King app.

So…why risk the PR mess and yank the app? There’s something to this story that we don’t know, and I don’t know if we ever will. But I can’t imagine Facebook deciding to take the app down after it had received so much pickup unless something happened, somewhere. Someone realized it was violating policy, someone threatened them over the privacy issues, Burger King beat Facebook at foosball….something. Enough people had the app installed, and it had gotten so much press attention that there was no way it could be pulled without tons of people noticing.

Ultimately, I’m glad it was yanked, and don’t believe it should have been approved at all. Companies need very clear, very specific policies about this sort of thing, and they need to enforce them. I kind of equate “waiving privacy policy for dollars” to “bribing a cop to get out of a speeding ticket.” Wouldn’t you question why a cop let a guy go who was driving 90 mph, and ticketed you for driving 45 in a 40? There isn’t all that much difference in my mind.

Just play nice with each other. Sites need to make the rules clear, and developers need to follow them. I’ve had people say to me more than once “but the rules don’t apply to me, right?” Rules are rules, no matter who you are or how large your pocketbook is. Until everyone gets to that point (and facebook’s hardly alone at this), this is going to keep happening.

I’m sure some folks are wondering why I’ve been talking on twitter about looking for a new apt in SF.

Well..this is why.

Last week, on my birthday (won’t ever forget that bday!), I gave (what ultimately turned out to be) three weeks notice. My last day at MySpace will be 11/21, this upcoming Friday.

Since I gave notice, I’ve begun the transition thing. I’ve been reaching out to developers who work on the MySpace Platform to let them know who they will be working with moving forward. If I haven’t talked to you yet, don’t worry, I will – every single developer I’ve worked with, large and small, will have a new contact name at MySpace before I leave. If I haven’t contacted you yet and you’re antsy to move forward, just shoot me an email to sbergman -at- myspace and I’ll get you hooked up.

I love MySpace, and have had a wonderful time working here. It’s hard not to get inspired when I spend so much of my job working with people in startups. I’ve spoken here about the one I used to work for, and there’s a feeling in the air at a teeny new company doing something original that is very exciting. I was burned when my first startup went bankrupt, and didn’t want anything to do with that world for a while. If nothing else, I wanted job security! But…the project is right, and I’m mentally ready to do this again.

I believe everything happens for a reason, and this all came together too perfectly not to be right. A friend introduced me to a friend, who introduced me to the guy starting the company, and it all went from there. Very natural, and just felt like the right thing to do. The company I’m going to does not have a name yet (closed beta of it will come out soon), so for the sake of this blog I’m going call it Operation Turtle. The Turtle is something completely new, something that nobody’s ever really seen before, so I can’t answer it with a quick two word description. It’s enabling a new form of “social interaction,” but that doesn’t really mean anything. I’ll get more specific when I can.

It’s fun, it’s new, it’ll help you connect with new and old friends in a whole new way, it is NOT a social network…although I could make a pretty good argument that a site can’t be JUST a “social network” anymore. All sites have to have content, first and foremost, then social networking features integrating that content – like MySpace has Applications, music, games, celebrities, etc. The social improves the base product, but the base has to be there. “Create a profile” doesn’t quite cut it anymore. A profile is only one feature to what had better be a larger product. I’d love to give examples, but let me leave my current position yet. Suffice to say that there are some some stellar examples of companies with a business that has integrated social networking features and/or user generated content. Operation Turtle is social, but has a very unique twist with the content.

This is a tiny industry where everyone moves in the same circles, and always end up working together again. I’m always amazed when people I worked with 15+ yrs ago show up again asking if we can work together. I love it, and without a doubt, pre-existing personal relationships always result in a better, stronger product. So don’t forget me!! I know I’m going to want all of your feedback on Operation Turtle once you get to play, all of your opinions are very important to me.

I can also promise that I would never leave a job I love at MySpace to work for a teeny company with no live product unless I totally believed in what they were doing. And I really do. This stuff is the bomb, and I can’t wait to show it off.

I have always jokingly said to people that I’ve followed the ‘largest community online from company to company, from Yahoo to AOL to MySpace,’ and I fully believe Operation Turtle belongs on that list. I don’t think small, and wouldn’t want to work on something that doesn’t have the potential to change the world.  Mr Turtle will show everyone an entirely new way to communicate. And I think people are going to love it.

So, here I am in in SF this weekend looking for an apartment, and I am quite happy to report that I found one. What can I say, I’ve moved 6 times in 4 years, three of those moves cross-country, so a “simple” move from Los Angeles to San Francisco is hardly a major problem. At least, not a problem at this phase, I’m sure I’ll be bitching enough as soon as I have to start packing. This was the easy part.

The apartment is in a fantablous location, right over Whole Foods in SOMA, by the entrance to 101 (which is perfect for escapes to south bay, to family in Novato, or to my old vet in San Ramon – so psyched to go back to them!!). It’s also close to bus and bart; although a lot of stuff looks like it’ll be within walking distance…my new office included.

My lease starts December 5th, so now I have to do the ‘paperwork’ side of moving. Turn utilities off here, on there, move car/home insurance, and so on.

I need to find movers, which I haven’t done on my own in a long time (all the cross-country moves have been company relocations), so if anyone has recommendations on a short haul moving company, would love to hear them!

Lots of stuff going on, but all good, and I’m very excited for what lies ahead. I will miss you Tom, but how could I resist the call of the Turtle?

I’m leaving SF tomorrow, but will be back soon enough. This last week at MySpace is bound to be sad, I really am going to miss everyone, but I’m excited by what waits for me here in San Francisco. So, shortly after turkey day, I will become a resident of San Francisco.

And I’m starting to really like the sound of that.

If you know me, you know I’m a little Broadway obsessed. And if there’s any musical I’m fixated on, it’s A Chorus Line (previous entry on it here). A Chorus Line is closing on Broadway, and is only running here in LA for another month or so, but that won’t stop me from listening to it constantly, or referencing it endlessly. After all, why would I stop now? I’ve been at it since I discovered the record at the age of 5.

The other day at work, I was listening to A Chorus Line on my iPod. I was getting punchy, and set my status on MySpace to “Stephanie thinks everything is beautiful at the ballet.” It’s a line from a song in the musical, but not exactly one of the most popular, or most well-known lines to people not obsessed with the show. So, imagine my surprise when I got an ad on my homepage for the musical in LA:

Sometimes I think ad targeting is creepy – I wonder how on earth it knew whatever about me.

But sometimes? It just makes me giggle.

And I’ve also discovered that when I’m tired I talk like a LOL cat. Go fig.

MySpace Applications are now live!!! There are sooo many cute ones to play with (and some really useful ones too). Go check it out, have fun, and look at what’s been stealing my life away for the last whoever knows how many months

MySpace Apps. YAY!