Let me start off by saying we hope you like the new look of the site, and we would really love to get some feedback from our readers on possible improvements, or to hear that it is perfect the way it is.

The topic of this post is a sensitive one; how to improve Twitter. The reason it is sensitive is that Twitter is already hands down the most addictive and enjoyable website on the current worldwide Web, and talking about its imperfections, even though there might be a few, is like discussing what would make Vanilla Haagen Dazs ice cream even better.  What I mean by that is that Twitter’s success, in my opinion, stems from its simplicity. People like it better than Facebook for example, due to the lack of clutter and complexity, so adding new features, might just destroy the very balance, upon which Twitter was established.

Having said that, there are some small things I would love to see implemented. Now, remember, I am still a Twitter newbie, so I am sure there are some things I am forgetting, so please feel free to add them in the comments. The first thing I felt was missing from Twitter, was a better way to import friends. Is it really so difficult to have an Import From Facebook tool? I would love to see how many of my 1,000 Facebook friends are on Twitter, and import them in a click. There are tens if not hundreds of articles about the famous people who tweet, but is there one effective way of importing the regular people that you know? I have not found it.

The next thing I would love to see, and I do not thing this or the import tool should in any way detract from the brilliant simplicity of Twitter, is a Retweet button. Now, I know I am not alone on this, as I have read countless articles on this topic. Everyone who discusses building yourself a good Twitter network says that the importance of retweeting is stellar. Yet, for some odd reason, I need to depend on 3rd party software to effectively retweet. Just for the readers who are not familiar (YET), retweeting is for all intensive purposes, like forwarding an email. One of your tweeple tweets something you like, so you retweet it, and thereby share it with your followers. You would think there would be a little retweet button next to the reply, I have to believe the developers are working on this as we speak.

Now, this next feature is a real no brainer. Could anyone think of any reason Twitter should not have search capabilities? Now I am using Power Twitter, so I have a search box, but cmon, why is this not included in the Web interface? Would that clutter things up? Compared to the added functionality, I think it is a good trade off.

Additionally, I think there has to be a better system in place for notifying me when I get a reply from someone. Yes, it appears in my replies, but too often, I am away from my computer,  and miss a reply. When I return, I would like to have some sort of a notification next to the replies, maybe like the bubble that appears on the iPhone home screen when I have new mail or app updates (I just had to mention it even in an article about a totally unrelated topic, unbelievable).

OK, one more thing. The whole API limitation thing, I cannot think of something that makes me angrier than getting a rate exceeded notification. There has to be some sort of counter on the Web, “You have used this much”, “Slow down”, or “Your counter will reset in 10 minutes”. Once again, this is not something too far fetched, as we see it in desktop clients like TweetDeck, but why not have it built in to the Web?

To summarize, in order to use Twitter and get the maximum out of it, I have to use many clients and add ons. These include TweetDeck (to view the API status and reset time), Digsby (the program with the most functionality, if I had to choose one, it would be Digsby), PowerTwitter (Search functionality), TwitterFox (Retweeting functionality), and TwitterFon (the ultimate iPhone app, I dont care what anyone says).

I think, looking at that list, anyone with a half a brain, can tell you something is wrong. So, Twitter people, if you are listening, please take some of these features to heart, and implement them, so your site can become even more addictive. After all, that is what we all want, isn’t it?

-Hillel