Twitter is testing a new display option of Tweet view counts
with a limited number of users, which shows the total number of times a Tweet
is viewed by people. It could be seen next to the Retweets and Likes listings
and is represented by an eye icon in the main feed.
While this is not a major addition, it could be helpful in providing users with insights about how well their Tweet engagement is doing. For example, if you get only a few likes on your Tweets, but the view count is much bigger, then that could help you improve your approach in ways that would ensure more engagement.
Moreover, it could also be Twitter’s way of demonstrating
the popularity of its app, which is generally deemed to be lower than that of
other more popular platforms like Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat. Perhaps by highlighting
the reach of Tweets that may be otherwise overlooked or underestimated, Twitter
could encourage brands and creators to turn to its platform.
On the downside, however, users could also be discouraged by
fewer view counts, which could consequently impact their desire to put out more
content or engage with the app. Since Twitter is just testing view counts for
now, it would be interesting to see how it goes about the new option, depending
on the kind of feedback it receives from users.
