Back in June, Twitter introduced a new feature as an experiment on Android and tried on a few sets of people. Whenever a user tries to retweet an article, Twitter sends a prompt to urge the user to read the article before retweeting.
This feature was meant to promote informed retweeting and careful sharing. It was to urge people to read before retweet, sort of like ‘think before you speak and react.’
The reason why Twitter decided to introduce this feature was the fact that many people are habitual of sharing articles and tweets without even reading them properly. There are many people out there who do not open the articles to read what they are about, and just judge them based on their headlines and pass them on. Now, sometimes, these passed articles may become a source of great information for others, but many times these unread and un-opened and un-thoughtfully shared articles or tweets can actually cause a lot of harm. They can be a source or misinformation; they can be triggering for some people and they may initiate heated arguments and Twitter wars.
To avoid all this, Twitter decided to bring in a feature that would nudge people to read the articles they are about to retweet, and the experiment proved to be very successful. Users opened articles before sharing them 40% more with Twitter’s gentle prompt than without the nudge. Users opened an article and retweeted it 33% more than what they did without the nudge.
Twitter Director of Product Management, Suzanne Xie says that the test prompt seems to be successful because it can make people read before they retweet. And considering the success of this experiment, Twitter is now going to make this feature available for a larger audience.
This is a small change, but it is quite significant. It can actually make social media platforms more inclusive, tolerant, and can allow people to be more respectful towards others instead of being toxic or reactionary all the time.
While many people are appreciating this step, there are a few people who think that Twitter is trying to curb their freedom of expression and is trying to control what anyone wants to share with others. But that is just so wrong because clearly, Twitter is not doing anything like that. Instead, Twitter is just trying to make its platform more peaceful and teach people what basic manners and etiquette dictate. We all should really think before we indulge on social media platforms because one careless post of ours can bring harm to someone out there.
Read next: You Might Soon Be Able To Talk With People You Follow Or Mention On Twitter
This feature was meant to promote informed retweeting and careful sharing. It was to urge people to read before retweet, sort of like ‘think before you speak and react.’
The reason why Twitter decided to introduce this feature was the fact that many people are habitual of sharing articles and tweets without even reading them properly. There are many people out there who do not open the articles to read what they are about, and just judge them based on their headlines and pass them on. Now, sometimes, these passed articles may become a source of great information for others, but many times these unread and un-opened and un-thoughtfully shared articles or tweets can actually cause a lot of harm. They can be a source or misinformation; they can be triggering for some people and they may initiate heated arguments and Twitter wars.
To avoid all this, Twitter decided to bring in a feature that would nudge people to read the articles they are about to retweet, and the experiment proved to be very successful. Users opened articles before sharing them 40% more with Twitter’s gentle prompt than without the nudge. Users opened an article and retweeted it 33% more than what they did without the nudge.
Twitter Director of Product Management, Suzanne Xie says that the test prompt seems to be successful because it can make people read before they retweet. And considering the success of this experiment, Twitter is now going to make this feature available for a larger audience.
This is a small change, but it is quite significant. It can actually make social media platforms more inclusive, tolerant, and can allow people to be more respectful towards others instead of being toxic or reactionary all the time.
While many people are appreciating this step, there are a few people who think that Twitter is trying to curb their freedom of expression and is trying to control what anyone wants to share with others. But that is just so wrong because clearly, Twitter is not doing anything like that. Instead, Twitter is just trying to make its platform more peaceful and teach people what basic manners and etiquette dictate. We all should really think before we indulge on social media platforms because one careless post of ours can bring harm to someone out there.
Read next: You Might Soon Be Able To Talk With People You Follow Or Mention On Twitter
