Twitter Obscura

November 24th, 2008 · by David Bradley >> 11 Comments

Here are a few random screengrabs from my fellow Twitter users (if you’re on Twitter, follow me here as sciencebase). What do they have in common (no offense meant).

You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to notice that all their background images are tiled and really don’t show the nice image they hoped to display, at least that’s how it appear, because it is obscured by their tweets and the sidebar. Now, some people may not mind this effect. For instance, Guy Kawasaki’s twitter page looks fine, in fact the tiling enhances the effect because it makes the background seem like an infinite gallery of magazine covers. Others work even better, laikas, for instance, but the vast majority don’t work at all, to my eye.

Now, take a look at Wayne Smallman’s Twitter page, that of nowsourcing, Kim Woodbridge’s and indeed, that for sciencebase. Spot the difference between these and the others? Yes, there’s no tiling of the background image, but more to the point you can see all of the background image, as intended. And, each in our own ways we’ve branded our Twitter page in an anti-obscure way, by creating a dummy sidebar on the left of the screen, with contact info and logos.

Unfortunately, your twitter background is not clickable. So, I’ve taken the concept one stage further. I created a Twitter landing page to which I link from my Twitter page. On that landing page, I duplicate my Twitter background. However, because this is a proper web page, it’s possible to make all the buttons and links fully clickable. So each button on my background becomes an active link on the landing page connecting visitors to each of the sites and blogs in which I hope they will be interested.

I’d already scheduled this item when Darren Rowse published his tips on making your Twitter background more esthetically pleasing. Moreover, I discovered that on normal aspect monitors (as opposed to my widescreen laptop) the buttons were getting cropped, so I’ve since made my twitter left-hand “sidebar” a little narrower so that it fits neatly regardless of screen size.

To see what others have done, check out these twitter backgrounds

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11 responses so far ↓

David Bradley // Nov 24, 2008 at 2:21 pm

Since I changed to this new format background, I’ve gained 80 new followers (going from 269 to 349 at the time of writing)
Dean Loberg // Nov 24, 2008 at 2:33 pm

I guess it depends on what someone is looking for on twitter, but I don’t see how your background makes any difference. When I’m deciding who to follow I look at their profile info, their recent tweets and their web site, if given. I follow you on twitter and I have only seen your background once. If I change my background it would be to something that I enjoy because I’m the only one that sees it 99% of the time. For me it would be much more useful to have a good description in the profile.
David Bradley // Nov 24, 2008 at 3:23 pm

Fair enough Dean. That said the kind of tiled images that really don’t work are too common, don’t you think, where the main part of the image is hidden behind the tweets. With this style you can provide some additional info or a smaller photo the whole of which can be seen. It’s becoming more and more common to add this kind of sidebar. They can be fun, informative and since I changed mine I’ve added at least 80 new followers…
Dean Loberg // Nov 24, 2008 at 6:02 pm

Agreed. And in the case of your current one it does provide useful info with minimal clutter.
David Bradley // Nov 24, 2008 at 6:13 pm

Thanks, the prototype version was a bit heavy…I was thinking of adding in my photo though…
Kim Woodbridge // Nov 24, 2008 at 7:56 pm

Hi David! Thanks for mentioning me and my background. I’ve been meaning to update it and make the sidebar more useful.

I’ve had the background for quite awhile – July/August maybe so I don’t know if I got more followers after I added it.

I agree with Dean that I also prefer a good description but when someone is visiting your profile to decide whether to follow you the entire presentation as well as tweets are going to be the first impression someone has of you. It also shows a level of caring about details.
Heidi Cool // Nov 24, 2008 at 8:25 pm

While the background isn’t as important as content, it does factor into one’s initial impression of a site.

If you have a simple clean background, you probably won’t gain many more users by upgrading it.

But if you have a poorly tiles background that looks sloppy you may be keeping some people from following you. For those a clean-up might make a difference.

That said, tiling can be tricky when we’re all using different monitors. My page, http://twitter.com/hacool looks better on my Mac than on my PC. On the latter the bubbles get cut off a bit, but it still degrades pretty well. On Wayne’s page the logo still gets cut-off. So it’s hard to make it work in all cases.
David Bradley // Nov 24, 2008 at 8:51 pm

@Heidi screen res is a major issue. I think you have to choose a common lower limit (1024 width) and assume no one is smaller and work from there.

@Kwbridge It was yours that initially inspired me to update mine, so thanks.
David Bradley // Nov 24, 2008 at 10:23 pm

@Heidi screen res is a major issue. I think you have to choose a common lower limit (1024 width) and assume no one is smaller and work from there.

@Kwbridge It was yours I think that initially inspired me to update mine, so thanks.
Wayne Smallman // Nov 25, 2008 at 10:34 am

It’s funny / fortuitous, because I’d considered creating a Twitter landing page last night, to bridge Twitter and Blah.

Dean makes a point for the alternate perspective; David & I being a little more visual in our assessment. Ultimately, it’s a personal thing rather than a straight right or wrong…
David Bradley // Nov 25, 2008 at 10:37 am

Yes, it’s not a black and white decision, but I think we’ll start to see more and more tweeters/bloggers moving to this kind of approach so that it becomes less seamless a transition between their main site and their presence on various social media.