Except that "people in Philadelphia suck" isn't a shorter way of saying "some people in Philadelphia suck". It's an entirely different statement.
Why not shorten it to "some Philadelphians suck"? It's shorter and, arguably, more accurate.
>The 140 character limit and general focus on brevity encourages people to drop specificity and shift to bold proclamations and absolutes.
I disagree that the limit encourages vagueness, bold proclamations, and absolutes. Those are side effects of not stopping to think about how to effectively convey a greater-than-140-characters thought in less than 140 characters (without changing its meaning.)
"Personally, I dislike Twitter for my personal use. I think it is a fascinating way for brands to sell products to unsuspecting consumers, but there is no value as a standalone "Away Message" platform... that would be the job of something like Facebook status updates, since all of my friends are already connected on there."
Twitter seems better for personal use. Advertising/commercial use is everywhere, and it's nice to have a tool that's relatively uncluttered where I'm not being "targeted".
There are several advantages of twitter being "a standalone 'away message' platform" over Facebook:
•It's simpler (both in its look and its goal). I don't have to worry about applications, games, polls, or whatever else people do on Facebook that isn't communicating a single, focused idea, link, or observation. To me all that stuff isn't added value, it's just more baggage.
•Following can be one-sided, whereas friending is an agreement and is based on a real-life identity. I don't need to have a pre-existing connection to follow or be followed on twitter. Because Facebook is based on who you actually are, it doesn't have a "shit my dad says" or a "yelling bird" or whatever else that's silly and entertaining unless you have that one hilarious friend.
I thought the same thing as movix- that footer is definitely the weak point of the page.
I get it- they are supposed to convey travel/adventure/situations where your app would be useful- but the images mostly communicate "hastily edited clip art" to me. (Maybe try the same gradient as the header?)
Why not shorten it to "some Philadelphians suck"? It's shorter and, arguably, more accurate.
>The 140 character limit and general focus on brevity encourages people to drop specificity and shift to bold proclamations and absolutes.
I disagree that the limit encourages vagueness, bold proclamations, and absolutes. Those are side effects of not stopping to think about how to effectively convey a greater-than-140-characters thought in less than 140 characters (without changing its meaning.)