Twitter will soon start asking its users to click on a link to an article to read them before retweeting them. This has naturally come up because the trend of retweeting and reacting to an article title is not new on Twitter.
According to a tweet by Twitter support, the social media platform is now testing a prompt on its Android app such that when you retweet an article you haven’t opened on Twitter, you may be asked if you’d like to open it first.
Here’s how it looks:
I did read it, actually 🤔 pic.twitter.com/sqikMwu0pV
— Eric Tendian (@EricTendian) June 10, 2020
This recent announcement was received with mixed reactions.
Obviously journalists and writers would top the list of those who praise the idea, while regular Twitter users are split between admiring the ‘bold’ move and spelling doom for the social network.
Wait I thought the headline was the article. https://t.co/BpxkNWbpzY
— hend amry (@LibyaLiberty) June 10, 2020
Amazing. Twitter are trying to guilt people into actually reading articles before they angrily retweet the headline. Which will be a challenge, given the RT count on some stories can sometimes be higher than the number who ever click the link. https://t.co/Dl6QpvSCTw
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) June 10, 2020
What is really, really interesting about this is that it deliberately introduces friction in a platform normally designed to be v. Frictionless.
Sounds like almost nothing, but friction can have huge impacts in aggregate behaviour. https://t.co/xrhYSJRxNe
— Carl Miller (@carljackmiller) June 10, 2020
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
The funniest version of this would be if Twitter actually just alerted your followers when you tweeted an article you hadn't opened. https://t.co/5NGxGfXlnj
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) June 10, 2020
Hey kids, here’s some advice from your good friends at Twitter.
Possible bumper stickers for this campaign:
If you didn’t read it, don’t feed it.
If you care, think before you share
Don’t seed before you read. https://t.co/0GvawqSohe
— Ron Miller (@ron_miller) June 10, 2020
So this represents a fun set of assumptions.
1. You do all your reading based on things you click on Twitter
2. Twitter tracks every single article you click on and records the full URL against your profile.
3. Retweeting unread links is very commonhttps://t.co/scW20WShLE
— Aram Zucker-Scharff (@Chronotope) June 10, 2020
— Dominique Taylor (@floridahoya) June 10, 2020
It's easy for links/articles to go viral on Twitter. This can be powerful but sometimes dangerous, especially if people haven't read the content they're spreading. This feature (on Android for now) encourages people to read a linked article prior to Retweeting it. https://t.co/qdYZ8w9e27
— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) June 10, 2020
Down with this if it also prevents people from blasting an article where they've only read the headline https://t.co/XujhUd2lp0
— Jeremy B. White (@JeremyBWhite) June 10, 2020
Healthy conversations is no longer just a buzzword at Twitter. Asking people to read an article before they retweet it is a solid step in reducing mindless sharing of sensational headlines & click bait.
This + controlling who can reply to your posts + fake news label = 🏆 https://t.co/DZro4my2Zy
— Dare Obasanjo (@Carnage4Life) June 10, 2020
"Read it before you Tweet it." — the battle cry of our generation https://t.co/PFkCxbGiVH
— Rishi Iyengar (@Iyengarish) June 10, 2020
omfg i hope the prompt is "did u even fuckin read that" https://t.co/jBKmXUUfUR
— darth™ (@darth) June 10, 2020
Guess now is as good a time as any to admit I've never read an article on the internet https://t.co/xUgvitQ9Ng
— David Pierce (@pierce) June 10, 2020
Now you're on to something
— Brandy Zadrozny (@BrandyZadrozny) June 10, 2020
a truly novel idea: reading something before you share it https://t.co/MgtBgQx5Rn
— Kaleigh Rogers (@KaleighRogers) June 10, 2020
Label the RT with "This user did not read the article," and I'm sold. https://t.co/VEl7LEAQDY
— Brandy Zadrozny (@BrandyZadrozny) June 10, 2020
I love this. Do this for the whole internet please. https://t.co/94ssvlsfGV
— caught dunkin' (@margarita) June 10, 2020
interesting idea here to combat misinformation — I imagine there is a lot more retweeting without reading going on than we think (I know I am guilty…) https://t.co/0zKtgIGO6X
— Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) June 10, 2020
Sometimes you can go one step further and pay a few bucks to click on even more headlines! It's a pretty remarkable system
— Lauren Goode (@LaurenGoode) June 10, 2020
Truly important piece! [Link]
Twitter: (@bendreyfuss has not opened this article)
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) June 10, 2020
That’s a good idea
— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) June 10, 2020
Next: answer these five questions about the article's premise and supporting evidence before RTing or commenting. Yes, we want you to read the kicker — why do you think the writer worked so hard on it!!
— John O'Neil (@THAToneil) June 10, 2020
For what it’s worth, I don’t think we speak nearly enough about how important friction is.
Behavioural scientists and platform designers really obsess over it because they know how powerful it can be. https://t.co/feFbviWkRy
— Carl Miller (@carljackmiller) June 10, 2020
Carl gets it https://t.co/0oStvXeJuP
— Rowland Manthorpe (@rowlsmanthorpe) June 10, 2020
Very worthy story about the government failing a vulnerable group: high RTs, tiny clickthrough.
Messy inside-media drama story of no consequence to society: low RTs, mass clickthrough.
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) June 10, 2020
So either Twitter has started storing click through data on profiles at a specific level it previously avoided or its exports exclude it? I'm running another data export now to see if I get every link I clicked on via Twitter.
— Aram Zucker-Scharff (@Chronotope) June 10, 2020
Twitter now policing you when you haven't even read the article you're tweeting is too much policing https://t.co/mNJObQEva3
— Kim Zetter (@KimZetter) June 10, 2020
bold product move that threatens to bring conversation on this platform to a total standstill https://t.co/uVglKbyO2C
— Stephanie M. Lee (@stephaniemlee) June 10, 2020
"so you may want to read it before you Tweet it" https://t.co/jeetlUVzya
— Ian Bogost (@ibogost) June 10, 2020
twitter pretends to hear the pleas of journos everywhere https://t.co/vtJTA4ObKr
— Lizzie O'Leary (@lizzieohreally) June 10, 2020
this is interesting https://t.co/XNeWqvkk2T
— Adriana Lacy 🦅 (@Adriana_Lacy) June 10, 2020
Imo this passes the vibe check https://t.co/eSEccGSbvt
— Caroline Haskins (@carolineha_) June 10, 2020
this rules as a simple UX nudge to try and reduce the infinite twitter takes based on just the headline https://t.co/pkcFUWQlTM
— Owen Williams ⚡ (@ow) June 10, 2020
Lolllll this is gonna be the end of this site https://t.co/Q3I1DeuKR5
— Jack Hamilton (@jack_hamilton) June 10, 2020
this is so needed in 2020 https://t.co/ZyOIfLj0Zu
— Matt Navarra | 🚨 #StayAtHome (@MattNavarra) June 10, 2020
Twitter's new recipe for fixing the discourse: Automated passive aggression https://t.co/xH9EMSjH2s
— Brian Merchant (@bcmerchant) June 10, 2020
Twitter is testing out a new feature that shames people for sharing stories after only reading the headline and I'm all for it https://t.co/E9nnWHBKZ2
— Alexis Benveniste (@apbenven) June 10, 2020
This is a great way for Twitter to get itself *great* press, even if users hate it.
Even funnier though would be allowing the RT/QT but publicly flagging the link hasn't been clicked… https://t.co/0N8xxJa93G
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) June 10, 2020
About fucking time https://t.co/e6NQj4DWpF
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) June 10, 2020
Twitter is testing a new thing on Android to "nudge" people to read the article before they retweet it.
I predict the new order of operations for many of these Android users will be:
See Tweet >
Click article to preempt Twitter question >
Do not read it >
Click Retweet https://t.co/BG0BjVZV8U— Hamza Shaban (@hshaban) June 10, 2020
Hurray! Now Twitter will do my "But have you read the article?" snark for me. https://t.co/qNqtEg5rue
— Kiran Stacey (@kiranstacey) June 10, 2020
And next step will be requirement to spend predefined time reading. Only after that you will be allowed to retweet, comment or like.
And well, no, there is no Edit button for Tweets in sight. https://t.co/g5AmwfZma1
— Daniel Dočekal (@Medvidekpu) June 10, 2020
Kudos to Twitter. Trading engagement for a healthy society is difficult when engagement = money. But this is the right move. Sets a precedent that Facebook should follow. https://t.co/5vFDppj50S
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) June 10, 2020
This is Twitter’s latest effort to fight misinformation especially in curbing viral clicky bait articles from going viral.
The company recently started labelling false and or misleading tweets especially from US President Donald Trump and other tweets that link 5G with coronavirus.
The prompt will be based on clickthrough and not time spent on page. This test will run for at least a few weeks to get enough data to make an informed decision on next steps.