This is a very interesting question. Personally, I think that a product being Free does not make it exempt from reasonable expectations of functionality. Have these companies no pride? Twitter should step up on this one.

Hmm... is free really free? Without users, Twitter has no draw for advertisers or any other form of revenue stream. The users make it happen...they should do *something* about it.

Putting the "Free" debate aside, Twitter has grown into a tremendous resource for many businesses. As such, when Twitter says, it will be fixed Monday, they damn well better have it fixed Monday. If they don't, they, at the very least, need to notify the affected users.

It's a matter of accountability. If Twitter ceases to be accountable, it ceases to be viable. There are other platforms out there and Twitter isn't even the best channel for near real-time social communication. It's just the noisiest.

Sure, these are probably just growing pains for Twitter, but given all the other pains, one has to question how long Twitter will remain viable as a communication channel.

Since a lot of people have been asking, I don't automate anything on Twitter.  I only follow those who are legit, and about a week or so before this happened I blocked all of the spammy, porn, and bot followers that were following me.  So the closer proximity to the TOS update is just a coincidence.  Not to mention twitter admitted to the problem on 9/11 in their "support" forum. http://twitter.zendesk.com/forums/31935/entries/49964

I made multiple comments in the forum to no avail, and have since submitted my own personal help ticket that has been sitting "Awaiting assignment to a help desk operator." for the last day.  Free or not Twitter should be at least updating users as to what is going on with this issue.  Monday came and went without a single update from the service in the forum thread, on their blogs, or anywhere else.

Free or not there needs to be some level of service here.  It would be less frustrating if the users being affected knew what was going on, but we're being left in the dark.  Not to mention if they plan to monetize in the future poor customer support isn't going to help.

Since a lot of people have been asking, I don't automate anything on Twitter.  I only follow those who are legit, and about a week or so before this happened I blocked all of the spammy, adult material, and bot followers that were following me.  So the closer proximity to the TOS update is just a coincidence.  Not to mention twitter admitted to the problem on 9/11 in their "support" forum. http://twitter.zendesk.com/forums/31935/entries/49964I made multiple comments in the forum to no avail, and have since submitted my own personal help ticket that has been sitting "Awaiting assignment to a help desk operator." for the last day.  Free or not Twitter should be at least updating users as to what is going on with this issue.  Monday came and went without a single update from the service in the forum thread, on their blogs, or anywhere else.Free or not there needs to be some level of service here.  It would be less frustrating if the users being affected knew what was going on, but we're being left in the dark.  Not to mention if they plan to monetize in the future poor customer support isn't going to help.

Unfortunately "free service" never guaranties any type of support unless otherwise implied. But that aside; with the amount of public exposure, big business involvement and even multi-government praise that Twitter has received, they have an innate responsibility to provide the best service possible and at the very least be transparent enough to admit if and when there are any issues with the service and provide updates so users are not left in the dark.

During the Iran elections the US D.O.D, jumped in to help Twitter stay online, if the computer company Dell suddenly lost all their followers, I’m sure Twitter would jump fast to fix the issues.

No service should treat regular users different then celebrity or big business etc... The regular person is what makes up the bulk of Twitter.

Twitter grew because of the regular user, Twitter can die because of them too.

Looks like Twitter is having this issue with people just joining the service as well.  Just read some updates on their help form from new users who can't follow anyone or be followed.  You would think with as big as Twitter is in terms of user volume they would want to address this and/or give us some sort of update.  But alas, nothing...  Is anyone else having this issue?  Had a few folks mention other users having the problem, but not them specifically.  Just curious to know how wide spread it is.

DOWN almost all the time unless you move over to PREMIUM PRO. Hey, even premium pro is down a lot, unless you move on over to PREMIUM PRO PLUS! :)

Thought I'd update everyone on the subject.  After 6 days without Twitter they FINALLY restored my followers.  However it was restored without me being notified and without updating my personal ticket.  However they did update the support forum with this pathetic number, "If you are still experiencing this problem, please send a tweet to @Charles with the word 'pineapple'. You don't need to elaborate on your problem, just send the word 'pineapple'. I will know what is wrong with your account and will fix it right away. Thank you!"

I'm happy to have twitter back, but if they hope to monetize in the long run I REALLY hope their support improves.

I've always been of the opinion that I expect to get what i pay for. If I pay for a subscription then, yes, I expect a service, if it's free, then I've lost nothing but my time when it doesn't work, and it was my choice to spend time on it in the first place.