2020 was – and still is – full of surprises, politically, economically, and socially. As the world continues to change, social media continues to adapt to it, and Twitter is no exception. From COVID-19 to the Presidential election, Twitter has updated and revised its platform to create a ‘better’ experience for its users.
With advancements in technology and social media, there have been questions about how these tech companies can handle things like spam, trolls, fake news, and any other source meant to mislead the public.
Twitter has changed tremendously over the years, especially in 2020. For Twitter to stay credible, especially with the Presidential election, it has been making monthly updates on the platform to limit the spread of misinformation.
As a result, here are some Twitter updates that changed the platform significantly.
Limit Who Can Reply
Last November, Twitter rolled out a new update that will allow the user to control their replies by hiding them. Since that last update, the platform has been working to give users more control over their responses. As a result, in May of this year, users are now able to choose who can reply to their Tweets.
Before you Tweet, you will be presented with three options: everyone (which is the standard default setting), people you follow, and only people you mention. If the last two options are picked, users who do not meet the criteria will have the comment button greyed out, meaning that they will not reply to the user.
People who can’t reply are still able to Retweet, like, and Quote Tweets, but there has been some backlash of users accusing Twitter of censorship. Many didn’t like that individuals weren’t able to reply because they thought it would increase the amount of misinformation without rebuttal. Not only that, but people are afraid it will lead to more bullying, trolling, and more.
Because of some of the negative feedback given by users, Twitter created new features that will allow them to view Tweets easier.
Retweets, Quote Tweets, & Likes
The way people interact with Tweets has been changed the most this year, starting with Quote Tweets. At the beginning of 2020, users could comment, Retweet, like, and quote a tweet. When Twitter gave users the ability to control who can reply, they couldn’t view Quote Tweets directly from the original Tweet.
In August, Twitter gave users the ability to view Quote Tweets. Now, when a person views a Tweet, they can see the number of Retweets and Quote Tweets it has.
In October, a significant update was released to the public that most users did not enjoy. Twitter temporarily took away the Retweet function, so when you click ‘Retweet,’ it automatically takes you to the Quote Tweet option. To Retweet, you need to leave the comment blank. People believe this temporary change is because of the upcoming US Election, and Twitter has specified that this is somewhat true.
Read It Before you Tweet It.
With the spread of fake news and spam, Twitter rolled out a new update to immediately remind users to read an article before they Tweet it. They rolled out the update in June for Android users, but in October, they expanded the update to Apple users.
Many users get sucked into controversial headlines, or clickbait, before opening the link and reading the article. This leads to the spread of rumors, false sources, and more.
Explore Page Updates
The Explore page allows users to look at trending topics, hashtags or keywords, news, and more. Over the past few months, Twitter has tweaked the Explore page to make important information more prominent. Here are some updates:
- Worldwide trends are gone. Instead, users can get content from their current location or explore other locations in the world.
- There is now a tab for COVID-19 updates.
- From September to November, there is a tab for the US Elections.
- You can access your topics tailored for you under the ‘For You’ tab.
Every month, Twitter updates the public with new features, updates, and any fixes that need to be made. Each year, Twitter is getting increasingly popular, so it’s essential to keep up with updates and new features.
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