Dan selling his stuff on first page

I don't know why i really care but somehow i get a bad taste in my mouth everytime i visit the site and see Dan selling stuff in the "Twitter-box". I've asked before if there could be a way to filter out his tweets (because some days its just filled with his tweets) but this is on an whole other level it feels like. I'm an paying premium member (payed for three years now) and i don't want to know that Dan "made enough on his books to cover his flight and hotels" for some Wrestling event.

Am i being unreasonable?

The thing with the twitter box is it's twitted the private lives of the personalities that are on this site. I don't know if that's it's purpose or not. As such, it's mostly filled with Dan, Patrick and Alex who are the most active users of twitter. Unless the guys start using "professional" accounts I don't think there's much that can be done about it. I always thought the point was to see what they get up to off the site.

It seems a bit redundant if it's just for professional use, as most of their professional tweets just link right back to the site. There's no point in Dan tweeting about the podcast and you seeing the tweet about the podcast on the site that you're already on which will have already updated with the podcast.

Even stranger is that Alexis's tweets keep showing up.

I wish you could customize who you saw in the box, would be a nice feature. Asking to just exclude Dan would be a dick move, but I think only wanting to see certain staff members tweets is totally reasonable.

They should put John Carmacks tweet of the week in that feed.

Yup, I agree.

Totally agree. I actually thought they were going to get rid of it a few weeks back when the feeds were blank.

Actually that John Carmack idea makes me realize how much more interesting a Dev Feed would be.

Anyways I tend to just ignore the Twitter box. I love the whole crew quite a bit but everybody and their dog sounds like a fool in half their tweets. Jeff is at least far more, uh, selective? when tweeting.

As soon as this thread descends into "I wish I didn't have to ever see ______" territory it's getting locked.

I'd actually like for the tweet-box to be bigger, as in link to all their tweets for the last week or two properly time-stamped. My own twitter is filled with too much garbage so a little Giantbomb-only filter would be nice so I could keep up with my duders' exploits and adventures.

As for not liking Dan's interests I'd advise ignoring it or getting over it. Personally I love reading about that stuff, but I also wouldn't technically miss it if it weren't featured on the front page of Giantbomb. I could, again technically, read about it elsewhere. Like on Twitter!

I believe the prior sentence does make you unreasonable. Just because you pay doesn't mean you're entitled to everything going your way. You choose to pay, if you don't like aspects of the site you can choose not to pay. To avoid the problem you're having you can make a Twitter account and follow who you want to follow, it updates in real time, too, unlike the feed on the site.

@geirr: If certain people who don't post on twitter often interest you and you'd like to make sure you see their stuff, I highly recommend using the list feature. I have like 6 different lists on twitter for various things (from game devs and other gaming personalities to interesting writers etc), with the extra added benefit of only reading people from certain perspective's opinions at a given moment.

This guy gets it.

I didn't know such a thing existed. Thanks! :D

I can flow. I understand the tweets are their private-public parts musings. At various times they all have made me laugh or think. I read Pat's consistently for some article or such to access. Vinny and the doorknob tweet the other day had me going. They are worth it, and Dan is due his.

I like these particular tweets all the more because I do not do Twitter.

Hear, hear!

Only guy whose twitter I check regularly apart from the GB dudes

@librorumprohibitorum: Also he can totaly voice his oppinion on this forum becouse the staff would like to hear it.

I didn't even know there was a Twitter box on the front page. It's so far down the page, it's basically non existent.

Yup, when Jeff tweets its usually internet gold for me...and I LOVE IT.

Absolutely, there's no issue at all with voicing an opinion, however to expect your needs to be catered to purely on the circumstance that you're a paying member is a bit much. If that decision were to be met based on the user being a paying member that would devalue non-paying members, wouldn't it? If the opinion he stated was an actual general consensus among users, paying or not, it would be no issue at all to cater to those people.

I really don't see the point in the twitter 'feed' - it should really just be replaced with links to the staff's twitter pages - that way you avoid the situations like this - which I agree, is a valid complaint.

It's easy to say that people shouldn't complain about the site, whether they are subscribers or not, but I guarantee that if there was a feasible way for the guys to create a site where every single person could configure it only to precisely see what they want to see or never see what they don't want to see, they would do it in a minute.

Since I don't use Twitter, that little box fulfills my Twitter needs. No more, no less.

With Dan selling stuff, it's interesting. At Game Informer I'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to talk about personal side adventures. No such policy here. I'm fine with it, but I suppose it's a valid complaint.

Whenever there are tweets about Wrestling I just skip them, it's not really a problem. It's not like it takes up a lot of real estate on the site anyway.

Eh. I get your concern and it is a valid one but its his personal twitter and personality is a part of the site and that widget certainly falls in line with that personality attitude.

I do feel odd about someone advertising something like that on the front page. But he shouldn't be filtered out or change how he tweets imo. I don't think it's a major concern since so few people notice that or wouldn't realize it's his personal twitter and not something site produced.

It is a little odd but that box is linked to their personal twitter feed and they can do what they want personally. I have no great issue with it, though the more common and specific it gets then perhaps I might change my mind.

It is a little odd but if the box was bigger, or had a larger page linked to it, I would like it to include certain "Friends of the Site" as well. Though with only 5 spaces that not really feasible.

Maybe instead of taking away the feature they could give the users the ability to hide it if they wanted too. I could definitely see this getting irk some for people I don't see it as top of the line issue.

To be fair, I'm pretty sure Wrestlemania is taking place in the bay area this year, so he's only made enough to cover the cost of a ticket to the event.

@geirr said:

You can do that within Twitter with lists.

I do find Dan selling his stuff a little strange; it's like he has this new, larger audience and is monetising it. I don't mind the personal / professional aspect (in fact, it's why I love the site), but when his semi-professional business crosses over with the site...

Maybe the Twitter feeds aren't as relevant as they used to be. Jeff practically doesn't use it, saying he prefers Tumblr. I always though segregating their tumblrs away from the main site was an odd choice. It seems like the things discussed there are far more relevant to the GB users than anything that comes up on Twitter.

My only problem is that clicking the name on the tweet takes you to the practically useless site profile page and not the twitter account (or better, the post) it came from. Aside from that, I kind of like seeing their tweets show up there as it gives me less reason to visit that vitriolic website.

EDIT: And now I just realized there's also a link to their twitter profile on there.

It's his personal twitter feed, and he can do what he wants with it. It's linked on the site, sure, but that does not equate to the site endorsing his personal ventures. If it bothers you, you should make note of it, message Rorie or someone on the staff, and then move on.

I'm all for the idea of replacing the staff feed with a feed that's just a combination of John Carmack and Riff Raff.

I don't see the problem here. Tweets are kind of meaningless anyway now (only reason I even ever started using twitter was to see when Giant Bomb live shows started or to call out Dave when the site was down back in 2010, but now they have a thing on the site itself for live shows and Dave doesn't work here now) and it's not Dan's fault his personal twitter shows up on the site all the time. He has other things to make money outside of his work (Giant Bomb). There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with him talking about it on twitter or that showing up on the Giant Bomb home page. I just don't see what the issue is.

To be frank- to me this reads like whining.

@hatking: To go to the twitter webpage you click on their Twitter handle. If you click their name it goes to their Giant Bomb account page. It's not super intuitive, though, I agree.

Seems like a really really easy thing to just look past if it bugs you. The twitter box isn't that big.

@hatking That busted links however has bugged me for years!

That's a really pessimistic approach there. This is, at best, loosely related to the scenario you're naming, but different in tone and context. And I really think it should be okay to dish out constructive criticism towards the site as long as it's done in a pleasant and helpful manner. You're coming off somewhat threatening there, my friend. I realize that you guys have to deal with a lot of threads of that vile nature, but let's not jump the gun here.

Personally, I think it's a perfectly reasonable request. For instance, I really like Patrick and his work. I always check out Worth Reading and I stay up almost the entire night when Spookin' is live, which never fails to piss off my boss, but hey it's worth it. That said, if I were given the option, I'd turn his Twitter feed off. 90 % of it is links to his articles on the site, him lamenting the bears being crushed or him linking an article that deals with sexism. I already check the site, so I don't need the first, I'm European, so can't find it in myself to understand how you folks enjoy "football", and I'm trying to balance the amount of sexist related articles I read as it's easy to get desensitized by an abundance. The remaining 10 % that is him sharing his opinions on things I find really interesting, but it's sparsely dealt in that format, so overall it just isn't for me. On the other hand, I really enjoy Rorie's feed, and Vinny's filled to the brim with all things dreams are made of.

I'm sure other people share that view, and I see nothing wrong with giving folks the luxury of choice.

Also, he is not "Selling his stuff on the front page." That's disingenuous. It's his twitter feed that is linked to the site, which is a feature put there by the folks who made it. He is not responsible for that.

I almost never even notice that they're there. This seems like a super trivial complaint.

Which is why the thread is still open.

It's better to let people know that moderators are active in a thread and to pre-emptively warn people which behaviour will not be tolerated. This has repeatedly proved to be a more productive approach to moderation, allowing discussions to stay open for longer, than simply swooping in at the first sign of trouble to lock the thread up. It wasn't threatening, just blunt, though obviously you're free to interpret it however you like.

@sweep: In the past I've compared the feed on GB to the folk's actual twitter pages, and it seems like only some of the editor's tweets show up on that list. Is that the case? And if so, are they somehow selected by something/someone to get pulled here?

(not sure if you'd know, but you certainly know more than we do. thanks!)

@joshwent: It only grabs normal tweets. Not replies or retweets.

I think your original sentence (the basic premise of which I don't object to in the slightest) might've been better phrased as "If this thread...". The users here aren't all bound and determined to turn everything into a character assassination. Sure, I often don't get to see how hateful some people can be, as those kinds of threads are removed long before I get my peepers on them - a sign of a great mod team, for sure. That said, a bit of benefit of the doubt with a simple 'keep it civil, folks' may suffice. Afterall, the OP's point is quite valid, even if you or I may not necessarily agree.

If that earns me a ban for speaking my mind, then so be it. First time for everything I suppose, but know that my comment is made without an ounce of malice.

Back on topic: Dan is perfectly entitled to say whatever he likes on his personal Twitter account. The fact that he happens to be advertising something through it, which ends up on GB isn't his fault. If anything it supports the idea that having a twitter feed on the front page isn't such a great idea in the first place. As the likes of Twitter and Facebook has proven time and again, the tweet of the individual can often be construed as the view of the company he / she works for, and that can - and has - bring terrible consequences for that individual.

That said, the GB staff tweets are my sole interaction with Twitter and I'd dearly miss them if they weren't there, even if a good chunk of said tweets go right over my head, or aren't of interest to me personally.

@joshwent: That seems more likely a bug than intentional design :D

@tehpickle: meh, we're kinda arguing semantics at this point. We've seen enough of these threads start out with the best intentions and descend into chaos that it's worth just reminding people that we're here. *shrug*

Simple solution is to just allow us to filter who shows up in the twitter box.

It's not a huge deal overall but I'm not particularly crazy about anyone advertising personal products on the GB homepage, intentional or not.

I'm not a big fan of Patrick's football-related tweets...

...so I ignore them.

Really? . . .REALLY? This is what were angry about today? The ability to customize the feed would be neat but seriously it's his Twitter, your talking about a tiny subsection on right side of the main page when he starts selling Mt. Dew and Doritos on the main front ad get back to me.

Wow, I guess I have to add him to my Twitter.

I dunno, seems weird to me to complain about this stuff. It also seems like an oddly negative way to paint Dan, like he's trying to take advantage in an unfair way. I don't get it.

It's Twitter. What do you expect? If you want to know what Dan is doing, then you got it. Whether you like his tweets or not is not Dan's problem. He didn't ask you to follow him. You can bring it to his attention, but since this is a personal preference of yours, I don't think he'll care much about it.