Unlike some of the other platforms, Twitter’s main focus in 2019 was improving functionality, instead of new features. While there was still no option to edit tweets, there were some interesting updates…
Following limit In an effort to avoid spammers, Twitter has limited the number of accounts you can follow per day, which is 400; however, if you are a verified account, you are permitted to follow 1,000 new accounts per day.
In addition to this new principle, the social media platform also put into effect a follow ratio. Every account can follow up to 5,000 accounts – once you hit your limit (which will be different for everyone), you may need to wait until you have more followers yourself before you can follow anyone else.
Images/GIFs/Videos in RTs
Twitter finally added the possibility of retweeting with GIFs, images and videos! Why use words when you can express yourself visually?
This is useful for people or brands who want to add a bit more personality to their retweets.
Account switching Twitter’s mobile app has long allowed you to be signed in to more than one account at a time – but it was only in June 2019 that the functionality was rolled out on desktop.
Perfect for those who deal with multiple accounts – just make sure you’re tweeting from the right one!
Twttr prototype app
The main purpose of Twitter trying out this prototype is to ensure that this version is easier to understand, read and use.
One of the main changes to the app’s features, according to TechCrunch testing, is to test chat bubbles as replies to Tweets within reply threads, which are more rounded chat bubbles for replies featuring colour-coding to make it easier to follow conversations.
The image below, from TechCrunch's testing, shows what responses look like on Twitter on the left, compared to Twttr on the right.
Conversation Insights Twitter added a new tool called ‘Conversation Insights’ to its Media Studio. The tool enables marketers, or publishers, to see tweets they missed through Twitter’s content listening tools. Why is this essential for your business to monitor? Well, check out our previous blog post on the importance of social listening.
Media Studio users with more than 1,000 followers will be able to access Conversation Insights via a new page housed under the “Insights” tab. It's worth noting that not all accounts have access to Media Studio - it's currently on an invite-only basis.
The below screenshot from Matt Navarra shows what the new tool looks like, with the number of daily tweet mentions, and who is talking about you.
Twitter Topics
Twitter has recently rolled out customisable timelines based on topic lists. The swipeable format will allow users to create curated stream of their chosen interest topics (e.g. one for NFL news, one for music, one for marketing), and they can swipe left or right to move between the streams. Twitter's curation team will essentially build Twitter lists of key accounts to follow for each subject – so it’s different from the current system where you need to manually add people to a list.
You’ll be able to follow conversations about a topic similar to how you’d follow an account with one single tap. Topic suggestions will appear in your timeline and in search based on what you tend to look for and already follow on Twitter.
Scheduled Tweets
A late contender, only being announced in November, Twitter has been testing their new option to schedule tweets natively.
It seems odd that this has taken so long (especially since Twitter owns scheduling tool Tweetdeck) but it will be exciting to see if this functionality rolls out for everyone.
