Twitter Experiments with Blogging in Long-Form ‘Notes’ Test

Twitter is reportedly poised to launch a tool that enables publication of long-form content on the platform. Currently said to be in test mode, the new Twitter Notes will let users create content through a combination of rich formatting and uploaded media. Once published, the Twitter Notes can be shared. Twitter rolled out threads in 2017 as a way to accommodate longer commentary, and users today frequently create numbered threads to connect a string of related tweets (also known as “tweetstorms”). The move may be the result of increased focus on monetization following Elon Musk’s purchase offer. Continue reading Twitter Experiments with Blogging in Long-Form ‘Notes’ Test

Twitter Will Pay $809.5 Million to Settle Class Action Lawsuit

Twitter has agreed to pay $809.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the social media giant of inflating stock value and misrepresenting user data for the benefit of insiders. In an SEC filing this week, Twitter stipulated the final settlement agreement will not “constitute an admission” or finding of liability or wrongdoing. The settlement agreement still needs approval from U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The suit originated with a shareholder complaint filed in Q3 2016 and was later consolidated. Continue reading Twitter Will Pay $809.5 Million to Settle Class Action Lawsuit

Twitter Releases Daily Active Users Total For the First Time

Twitter shared details regarding its total number of daily users for the first time, and it turns out the platform has more than 60 million fewer daily users than Snapchat, and significantly less users than Facebook’s messaging service WhatsApp. However, since Twitter currently has 126 million daily active users (DAU), that means about 39 percent of its monthly active users (MAU) are now using the app on a daily basis, which should prove to be an important metric to investors as it shows that Twitter is in fact growing. Continue reading Twitter Releases Daily Active Users Total For the First Time

Twitter to Hire Experts, Accept Proposals to Stop Bad Actors

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey has brought his own company to task, for what he said is a less-than-stellar performance in handling malicious activity. More specifically, he said that he did not move quickly enough to take action against the Russian efforts to create divisions between Americans. Dorsey, who has previously expressed contrition for his slow reaction, has now made it clear that the company needs to take actions to prevent this from happening again, rather than just reacting after the fact. Continue reading Twitter to Hire Experts, Accept Proposals to Stop Bad Actors

Save Tweets for Later With Twitter’s New Bookmark Feature

After years of requests (and users experimenting with inefficient workarounds), Twitter is finally introducing a feature called Bookmarks that allows users to save tweets in a private area on the app for later viewing. The feature, which Twitter announced last fall was in development, should provide a convenient option for saving articles and videos. “In the scheme of things, Bookmarks is a small change,” notes Recode. “It’s not the kind of feature that’s going to have a notable impact on Twitter’s user growth or revenue. It’s not going to help with Twitter’s abuse problems. It’s just a simple way to make Twitter better.” Continue reading Save Tweets for Later With Twitter’s New Bookmark Feature

Twitter Doubles the Longstanding Character Limit for Tweets

After more than a decade of limiting tweets to 140 characters, Twitter announced yesterday that the limit has been doubled in most countries. The new 280-character limit has been testing since September in hopes that it would increase engagement. “In addition to more tweeting, people who had more room to tweet received more engagement (likes, retweets, @mentions), got more followers, and spent more time on Twitter,” the company explained in a blog post. Twitter considered expanding character limits in the past, but retreated due to negative response from its community. Continue reading Twitter Doubles the Longstanding Character Limit for Tweets

Usernames No Longer Included in Twitter 140-Character Limit

Twitter is following up on last year’s promise to offer its users more room in their tweet replies. Now, when a user responds to another’s tweet, that individual’s username will not be counted as part of the 140-character limit in the response. “The move is part of a broader effort at Twitter to go ‘beyond 140’ characters and give people more room to tweet without dramatically altering the company’s signature 140-character limit,” notes Recode. “For a while in late 2015 and early 2016, the company considered expanding the character limit to 10,000 characters. But that plan fell through.” Continue reading Usernames No Longer Included in Twitter 140-Character Limit

Besieged Twitter CEO Dick Costolo to Step Down This Month

Twitter announced that CEO Dick Costolo plans to leave the company at the end of the month. Co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey will serve as interim CEO starting July 1 until a successor is found. Twitter shares jumped eight percent following the announcement. Since the company went public in 2013, Twitter has experienced numerous challenges, including an effective means of attracting new users and developing revenue streams based on advertising. Some are speculating that Twitter is ripe for acquisition, with Google listed as one of the interested parties. Continue reading Besieged Twitter CEO Dick Costolo to Step Down This Month