More changes are coming to Twitter as the social network giant looks to simplify tweets and add more users.
The company announced four impending changes today in a blog post. They mostly revolve around tweaking what counts toward the 140-character limit, as well as the ability to retweet yourself.
For example, “@username” will not count toward the 140-character limit when replying to a tweet. And when adding attachments to tweets like photos (24 characters), GIFs, videos, polls, or Quote Tweets, that media will also not count as characters within a tweet — this change was previously reported last week. The idea here is to allow people to express more of their own thoughts.
You’ll also be able to retweet your own tweet, “so you can easily Retweet or Quote Tweet yourself when you want to share a new reflection or feel like a really good one went unnoticed,” Twitter said.
Finally, there are changes coming to the “.@username” trick that people use to get their responses seen by all followers. Soon, new tweets that begin with a @username will reach all followers, not just those shared between you and the @username account. Once you’re engaged in a conversation — after the initial tweet to @username — “if you want a reply to be seen by all your followers, you will be able to Retweet it to signal that you intend for it to be viewed more broadly,” Twitter noted.
https://twitter.com/hunterwalk/status/735109811482722304
There seems to be a bit of confusion around that last change. The key point is that only new tweets that start with the @username will be seen by all followers; any replies after that will still be only seen by those that follow both you and the @username account.
As I read these new changes, Twitter won't show @ replies to everyone unless you RT your own tweet. Not that big a change.
— Anil Dash (@anildash) May 24, 2016
Basically, @ replying will work same as now. If you make a new, non-reply tweet that starts with an @ name, it'll be visible to all.
— Anil Dash (@anildash) May 24, 2016
Only new tweets starting with '@' go to everyone. Replies stay under the radar unless you RT yourself.
— Cristen (@cristencaine) May 24, 2016
In the blog post, Twitter noted that “we’re exploring ways to make existing uses easier and enable new ones, all without compromising the unique brevity and speed that make Twitter the best place for live commentary, connections, and conversations.”
A few simple changes to make conversations on Twitter easier! And no more removing characters for images or videos! https://t.co/7XjGN8k0p6
— jack (@jack) May 24, 2016
The changes, which will go into effect in the coming months, are among a number of tweaks that Twitter has implemented this year that range from highlighting “important” tweets to sharing Periscope broadcasts within tweets.
Twitter is making these moves as it tries to fix slowing user growth, which has sent its stock down more than 60 percent in the past year. There are other possible changes to Twitter’s product on the horizon, like increasing the tweet character limit from 140 to 10,000.
Shares of Twitter are down 3 percent today.
