Author here. Excellent question! That's because Twitter doesn't offer fine-grained control over what permissions you request.
The website that asks for that stuff is open-source[1], though, so you can take a look at what it does (just send out a single tweet).
If you still feel uneasy about granting me access to tweet through your account, that's perfectly understandable, and I have two options that may work for you:
- Revoke access right after you authorize the app. The tweet will still be sent out, and you will still keep your access to the HTML chapters. Since I don't get access to your DMs, there's no harm nor potential harm done.
- Just read the book on GitHub[2]. It isn't as pretty as the HTML version, but it works well enough and alleviates your security concerns.
I'm not sure that the benefit of sending out a few Tweets outweighs the ill will among the book's potential audience requesting Twitter account access creates. It seems like a distraction based on the 'Twitter thing' dominating the discussion here in lieu of a conversation about the book's content and value to the reader.
Personally, I'm more likely to give attention to someone's organic Tweet than autogenerated marketing because it implies that the book is good at being a book. I don't really care about books that are good at social media and SEO.
In purely product terms, company's that care more about their brand than my 'brand' don't garner a high level of trust.
I'm not a company, and besides four comments on HN, there's been over 400 people sharing a single tweet to get access to the HTML version of the book.
Considering that I'm giving five books away entirely for free, asking for a single tweet isn't that high of a bar, to be honest. I don't mind a few people being annoyed by it, particularly because I can point those people to GitHub and be done with it :)
I have to second others' concerns. Not because I distrust you -- in fact, because of your other contributions to JS development, I'm happy to spread the word...but that's the thing, I would already tweet about this on my own. So would most people in this sphere who have Twitter accounts. And these people also happen to be the kind to really be anal about giving app access. And other free books (Zed Shaw's, for example) give free HTML access while enjoying popularity through social network sharing, so mandatory tweeting is not a requirement for word-of-mouth success.
I just went through the process and I'm not a fan - I thought it would let me compose the Tweet, didn't realize it was going to send out a prewritten one immediately (no confirmation).
Author here. You can just read the book on GitHub[1], no tweetwall involved. It isn't as pretty as the HTML version, but it works well enough and alleviates your security concerns.
At least for me, security isn't the concern. The problem is that I have no idea what I'm recommending. Have you considered letting users read a bit before asking for the Tweet?
I've been a PonyFoo reader for a long time. You're obviously a talented guy. But I still want to get an idea of what you have produced before tweeting about it.
That said, I'm very much looking forward to "Mastering Modular JavaScript" and "Deploying Modern JavaScript Apps"! :) I'm sure you know better than most that the internet is full of unappreciative haters, but keep up the fantastic work. There are many of us who have benefited from your writing in amazing ways.
Is there a reason you don't make a book dedicated to just dealing with grunt, gulp, browserify, babel, web pack, etc. instead of splitting some of each between ES6 and Universal JavaScript?
I made a book just like that before[1]. The decision to split the books was a conscious one. In writing JavaScript Application Design, I found that very different concepts ended up being tied together for no good reason other than being on the same book.
The series, instead, clusters all the ES6+ teaching on its first book. This leaves me open to assuming ES6+ knowledge across the rest of the series, being able to use ES6+ language features in my prose, etc. At the same time, while tooling may be relevant to deployments and maybe testing, it's only tangentially relevant to proper application design, which is the subject matter of books 2 & 3.
I also hate that you describe it as "free to read" but then require me to give you access to my Twitter account in order to read it. I don't know you, and I don't want to give you access to update my Twitter profile or post Tweets on my behalf. (Yes, I know, then just pay for the book.)
Author here. You can just read the book on GitHub[1], no tweetwall involved. It isn't as pretty as the HTML version, but it works well enough and alleviates your security concerns.
To me it looks different than the standard "grey text on white background with lots of whitespace and a few basic and/or muted colors" style that you see on the vast majority of websites these days, and I think it's great!
That's the thing about design -- there is no one right answer, rather it's about reinforcing the overall vibe or message of a particular site... in this case I think the color choice conveys a sense of fun and whimsy.
17 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 25.4 ms ] threadRead Tweets from your timeline.
See who you follow, and follow new people.
Update your profile.
Post Tweets for you.
Seems a little excessive. Edit: Link to screenshot - http://imgur.com/a/rAO0d
The website that asks for that stuff is open-source[1], though, so you can take a look at what it does (just send out a single tweet).
If you still feel uneasy about granting me access to tweet through your account, that's perfectly understandable, and I have two options that may work for you:
- Revoke access right after you authorize the app. The tweet will still be sent out, and you will still keep your access to the HTML chapters. Since I don't get access to your DMs, there's no harm nor potential harm done.
- Just read the book on GitHub[2]. It isn't as pretty as the HTML version, but it works well enough and alleviates your security concerns.
[1]: http://github.com/ponyfoo/ponyfoo
[2]: https://github.com/mjavascript/practical-es6
Personally, I'm more likely to give attention to someone's organic Tweet than autogenerated marketing because it implies that the book is good at being a book. I don't really care about books that are good at social media and SEO.
In purely product terms, company's that care more about their brand than my 'brand' don't garner a high level of trust.
Good luck.
Considering that I'm giving five books away entirely for free, asking for a single tweet isn't that high of a bar, to be honest. I don't mind a few people being annoyed by it, particularly because I can point those people to GitHub and be done with it :)
[1]: https://github.com/mjavascript/practical-es6
I've been a PonyFoo reader for a long time. You're obviously a talented guy. But I still want to get an idea of what you have produced before tweeting about it.
That said, I'm very much looking forward to "Mastering Modular JavaScript" and "Deploying Modern JavaScript Apps"! :) I'm sure you know better than most that the internet is full of unappreciative haters, but keep up the fantastic work. There are many of us who have benefited from your writing in amazing ways.
I made a book just like that before[1]. The decision to split the books was a conscious one. In writing JavaScript Application Design, I found that very different concepts ended up being tied together for no good reason other than being on the same book.
The series, instead, clusters all the ES6+ teaching on its first book. This leaves me open to assuming ES6+ knowledge across the rest of the series, being able to use ES6+ language features in my prose, etc. At the same time, while tooling may be relevant to deployments and maybe testing, it's only tangentially relevant to proper application design, which is the subject matter of books 2 & 3.
[1]: https://ponyfoo.com/books/javascript-application-design
I also hate that you describe it as "free to read" but then require me to give you access to my Twitter account in order to read it. I don't know you, and I don't want to give you access to update my Twitter profile or post Tweets on my behalf. (Yes, I know, then just pay for the book.)
[1]: https://github.com/mjavascript/practical-es6
https://github.com/mjavascript/practical-es6
That's the thing about design -- there is no one right answer, rather it's about reinforcing the overall vibe or message of a particular site... in this case I think the color choice conveys a sense of fun and whimsy.