More of this – less of this, please [English version]

I have been blogging about Twitter and the noise that comes with it. My perception is that it’s just too much “not so interesting” going on in the twitter-universe for the average Joe to get engaged.

Personally I sort of keep up with everything because I can filter, remove, scan and group. But the average won’t feel it worth going trough as much hassle to have their Twitter feed look less daunting.

I think the only way to clean up is by good old self justice. And, of course, I do have a proposal on how to do it

Let every single tweet contain a “More of this” and a “Less of this” link.

A click on the “More of this” button gives the tweet a plus point and a click on the “Less of this” button gives the tweet a negative point. But here’s an important clue:

No one else but the original tweeter will be able to see the feedback and they will not see who gave positive or negative feedback. It’s not supposed to be a system for public humiliation. Rather a system for telling the tweeter what’s interesting and less interesting.

When someone on Twitter tells me they drink coffee, I can click “less of this” and that way awaken the tweeter (as the caffeine obviously didn’t). I will have (anonymously) told him/her that knowing if he/she is drinking coffee is not so interesting for me to hear again.

If the same tweeter tweets something interesting I can give him a virtual clap on the shoulder by clicking the “more of this” button. That way I will let him/her know there’s someone out there who wants more of this.

I don’t think the “scores” should be used in any other way than for a specific tweet. Twitter should never create a “global ranking system” to try to pick the most interesting tweeter or anything like that. Keep it as a feedback system per tweet and nothing else. A system that will give the tweeter feedback in the moment and then forgotten.

Who knows, maybe it’s sufficient to give positive feedback in the form of nothing more than a “more of this” button?

There are many psychologists who believe that people learn just as much from positive feedback (telling people what to do more of) in contrast to the more negative way of behavioral learning by “telling people what not to do”.

So, what do you think, could this actually work?