We’d just like to let you all know that due to the overwhelming support for the ability to confirm replies before they are sent out (i.e., not automatically sent as soon as they are found), we’ve built this functionality into the site and launched it in the public beta.

Users can now see a queue of matches recently found, and can confirm / delete / edit the response to create a more personalised experience for the recipient.
This should alleviate a lot of the concern people had about replies being sent out to people that might not be the right match for them, even though they met the search criteria.

Thanks for all your support and suggestions, keep them coming

Regards,

Chris – TwitterHawk
http://www.twitterhawk.com

Your Myspace example made me think of Tide on Facebook (a brand that I used to work on). TideTotalCare has a facebook fanpage that has over 3,000 participants (although they are actively promoting it with ads on facebook). At least it is clearly marked as an AD and a FANPAGE so I know what I’m getting into if I choose to participate.

Thanks for joining the discussion – you are a smart guy

- Krista

First of all GREAT post. I didn’t know that a tool such as TwitterHawk was available. I tend to come down on the side of saying that its SPAM. The whole purpose of twitter is to make people quickly accessible and to enable us to have quick conversation. Once you inject automated response tools and crawlers into the mix, I think it only has a negative impact.

At the crux of it, what so many of these automation tools are trying to provide are SHORTCUTS to growing your followers, or marketing your business / blog. Twitter has become a tool that rewards autheticity, participation, and good ideas.

Its like when TIDE Detergent wants to ‘Friend’ you on Myspace. No you don’t. You want to sell me Tide, not participate in my space. Its this influx of shortcuts that have made a lot of people jump ship on the platform and move to something else. Hope that doesn’t happen with Twitter.

Thanks for another very insightful post!

@ryancmiller

Thanks for stopping by and joining in the conversation I appreciate you’re desire to listen to feedback and build a model that works for the community. I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys have in store. I think that you could have a very powerful tool if it can be managed correctly.

- Krista

Cheers for the comments and feedback, as you’re all aware we’re trying to be pretty hard on spammers and have already canceled a few such accounts to reflect this, but are aware this is something that is a touchy and ongoing topic.
We are currently looking into a few ways to improve the product and will soon be announcing it’s future plans which will include a few matters to make it a lot more personal and (as the keyword repeated here) authentic.

At Rob Hunting: All messages sent via twitterhawk do contain the footer text ‘via TwitterHawk’ (granted this isn’t viewable using some 3rd party apps).

We’ll be revealing more over the coming days on the site, and via our twitter account @twithawk, but I guess the main thing we’d like to leave you all with is that we are listening to you all, and working towards a solution that will not dilute, but enhance twitter users experiences.

All the best,

Chris – TwitterHawk

I understand the desire for something like this. There’s a lot of chatter out there and it’s hard to find the time/resources to monitor and respond in person. But if you want to be authentic, that’s what’s required.