The problem began sometime early on the 29th. At 9:44 pm CDT, help@twitter.com received an email to inform them 40+ users were affected. This was followed by 5 more emails documenting escalating counts of users impacted with the last one at 1:56pm on August 31, with 800+ users impacted.

Finally, around 3pm CDT on August 31st, Twitter posted a status page update:
“Working on problem whereby some cannot follow or unfollow: A small percentage of people are currently unable to follow or unfollow others. We are aware of the problem and the root cause. And we’re working to fix this as soon as we can.”

This was the only indication of your awareness of a problem. Your users knew it Saturday afternoon. When several people experience the same problem in a short time frame, the issue is systemic, not user specific. Your reporting and monitoring processes are inadequate. You were slow to respond and slow to acknowledge the problem. You support a global community but act as though they are local to California. No wonder your tweeps are unhappy (view sample comments @ http://bit.ly/1Wsdn).

Then, you gave us “attitude”. “A small percentage” as in “you’re not really that significant”, but we’re working on this now. Granted, 1000 out of 1.2 million customers does represent a very small percentage (.08%). However, consider this: What would have happened if all of them were small business owners who then dropped your service and then their followers left? If 9 levels of followers leave taking 2 friends each time, the Twitter community would be decimated, leaving the porn and spam bots.

Wake up Twitter! You have a bright future. However, you need to be faithful as a free service provider in order for anyone to take you seriously as a fee based premium service provider.

As a business owner new to Twitter (about 2 weeks) I am assessing your viability as a means for quickly delivering a message. I would be one who would consider paying for enhanced services.  However, I can see why the typical user only stays for a month before abandoning the service. Your community presents interesting challenges. Do yourselves a favor and don’t aggravate your customers with poor support.

Finally, don’t underestimate us. Insignificant percentages can be quite powerful. Reports of bad service spread like wildfire in a small community. These 1000 people are customers who can and will leave you. If enough of them leave at once and take their followers, you have a problem. Eventually, poor customer support will impact your ability to attract new investors and customers.

Best wishes for your success! I’ll be watching.