Microblogging app, Twitter has announced that it will soon be launching an update which will allow tweeps to react to tweets with videos.
According to Twitter’s latest announcement, it’s currently testing a feature called “quote tweet with reaction”. It will enable embedding a copy of a tweet into a photo or video instead of just replying to it with text.
The retweet menu would have a “Quote Tweet with reaction” button. When a user taps it, it will direct to a screen where the user can take a photo or video or choose directly from the camera roll. Once the user selects, the tweet is placed on top of it.
As much as the new feature takes similar route with TikTok’s video replies, which Instagram also recently adopted for its Reels feature, some Twitter users, as well as tech experts at ‘The Verge’, have expressed concern that the new feature could make way for more bullying harassment on the app.
Speaking on the flexibility and privacy concerns of the feature, Twitter’s spokesperson Viviana Wiewall said: “currently you won’t be able to turn off who can and can’t use the feature on your tweets, as it inherits the standard quote tweet behaviour”.
When asked if the feature being used for harassment was a concern, she replied by noting that “The safety of people on Twitter is our priority and while we don’t anticipate this being used in a harmful fashion, we’ll be closely monitoring the usage of the product and ensure that any abuse is adjudicated as per the Twitter Rules”.
According to Tech experts at ‘The Verge’, while it’s relatively easy for the platform to moderate regular quote tweets, it’s harder to programmatically scan the contents of a photo or video.
Twitter on a normal day is regarded as an app for the ‘savage minded’, it therefore comes as no wonder why a lot of people prefer to stick to Instagram and other happy triggering apps like Tiktok and Snapchat.
More Features Rolled out on Twitter
Meanwhile, Twitter announced that it has rolled out new updates to the app this week. These updates include new ways to compose and reply tweets.
Many of these features are in the testing stage, though if they prove to be successful they will likely be rolled out more widely.
Twitter is rolling out another test on iOS that makes it easier to Tweet by giving you easy in-line access with a new composer bar. The new tweet composer bar appears directly above the bottom navigation menu and replaces the big, blue button with the plus-sign that was previously used to compose tweets.
Twitter is rolling out another test on iOS that makes it easier to Tweet by giving you easy in-line access with a new composer bar. The new tweet composer bar appears directly above the bottom navigation menu and replaces the big, blue button with the plus-sign that was previously used to compose tweets.
Twitter User Researcher, Cody Elam says this is being tested based on feedback the company has heard from users:
“From our research, many people tell us that ‘it’s hard to Tweet’. One of the problems we hear is that the mechanics of Tweeting make it difficult to get started as a new user”.
Coddy Elam
Elam further noted that when new users sign up, it’s not immediately obvious how to begin tweeting.
“The blue button isn’t familiar to everyone, so Twitter is testing something more universally recognized like a text box. If the new composer bar gets more people tweeting then this change will likely be rolled out more widely”.
Coddy Elam
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