Twitter Is Testing A New Feature That Prompts Users To Read An Article Before Sharing.

Sharing articles on twitter is, for some, now coming with a new option in addition to retweet and retweet with a comment.

Twitter Support tweeted on Wednesday:

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Sharing an article can spark conversation, so you may want to read it before you Tweet it.

To help promote informed discussion, we're testing a new prompt on Android –– when you Retweet an article that you haven't opened on Twitter, we may ask if you'd like to open it first.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) June 10, 2020

Twitter are supposedly only going to verify if a user has opened the link on Twitter and nowhere else. I have tried to see if this is working on my device but I still only have “retweet” and “retweet with a comment” when I try to share.

So what are they trying to achieve?

This I’m guessing, is Twitter’s way of showing that they are doing something about misinformation. There are a number of eye-catching titles that might not be what the article represents. Even in those that represent exactly what their saying there is sometimes a complex back and forth and context that goes beyond the headline.

After the 2016 United States Presidential Election they have been rooting people that deem bad apples. They weren’t alone in this Facebook too upped its security in an effort to appear as though they were on top of things. I recently tried to reactivate my Facebook account, and I was shocked to see that they wanted some sort of photo ID or membership card.

How have users responded to this?

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Love this shaming tactic. 😂

— Eliza Orlins (@elizaorlins) June 10, 2020

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Twitter be like … pic.twitter.com/WkRi68rADp

— Brian A. Hernandez (@BAHjournalist) June 10, 2020

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We're not testing ad products with these prompts. They're designed to empower healthy and informed public conversation.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) June 10, 2020

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Big move! Will be super curious about the data here. I expect it will help reduce the spread of misinfo. Side effect might be a barrier for paywalled news orgs to get their stories shared https://t.co/7EVzVzBxxf

— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) June 10, 2020

It’s been a mixed bag, some people welcome the move others aren’t really for it. Some have chosen to see the funnier side of this. The responses to tweet by Twitter Support are worth scroll through if you have the time.

Thoughts

The experiment, I think, has good intentions but is in my opinion a little over the line from Twitter. There is a need to make sure people understand what it is they are sharing but this isn’t something they should be policing. It is down to the individual and their audience about what it is they would like to consume as long as it adheres to Twitter’s guidelines.

The ecosystem on the platform is already good at pushing back on information shared. There is no real need for this. I could have understood if they ramped up fact checking on articles. Giving the reader knowledge beforehand that they will be encountering ideas that they themselves may need to verify. I think would be a better measure.