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X, formerly known as Twitter, has launched a feature of live videos on iOS. The format of the functionality is the same as it was in X’s now-discontinued separate livestreaming app ‘Periscope.’

 

CEO Elon Musk and engineers at X seem to be pretty hyped about live videos arriving on X, although at least at surface level, there isn’t much that it could potentially offer. Live streaming typically works as a successful engagement feature when live streamers consistently come live to connect with followers with entertaining content. When that is not the case, users eventually lose interest in tuning in.

X Introduces Live Videos Feature on iOS



X, previously known as Twitter, is making its Ads Revenue Sharing program available to all creators around the world. As a result, creators will be able to earn from ads displayed in replies on their posts.

 

X is Rolling Out the Ads Revenue Sharing Program to All Creators



Twitter is undergoing a major change: the platform will soon be known as “X,” as confirmed by the CEO Elon Musk himself. When you visit X.com, you will be redirected to Twitter.com, and will also see a new “interim X logo” in place of the iconic bird logo for Twitter.  

 

The day before, Musk joined a Twitter Spaces session where after an hour of silence, he finally confirmed that the new Twitter logo would be out the next day. While Twitter’s business has already been renamed as X corp, it’s the first time that the platform’s logo will become a symbol for the change.

Twitter to be Soon Rebranded to ‘X’



After showing a brief appearance on the Play Store a few days back, Meta’s latest Twitter-like app Threads went officially live on web for a short period of time for everyone to view and explore it. Threads is set to be launched tomorrow on iOS and probably Android too.

 

The app’s early access was provided to a handful of accounts, including those belonging to Mark Zuckerberg, Netflix, Instagram, Adam Mosseri, as well as some renowned creators and brands. These Threads profiles, however, were taken down after some time.

 

Instagram’s Twitter Competitor ‘Threads’ to be Released on July 6



TweetDeck, which is Twitter’s native tweet management platform, is being updated with new and improved features. On the other hand, however, TweetDeck is going to become a Twitter Blue exclusive feature in the next 30 days.

 

 

New additions to TweetDeck include an updated tweet composer, improved Advanced search filters, option to categorize TweetDeck columns into Top Tweets or Latest Tweets, and a Video Docking feature that allows one to watch a video while working with other functions.

Twitter to Begin Charging Users for TweetDeck



Meta reportedly accidentally released its newly developed Twitter-like app ‘Threads’ into the Google Play store for a brief moment. The occurrence was spotted by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi who shared screenshots of some UI elements of the app.

 

 

The screenshots show what Threads looks like, and its format and interface appear to be very similar to Twitter. It has all the features that are part of Twitter, including character counts, icons for attachment, liking, sharing, reposting, and replying, circular profile pictures, and Meta’s version of verification checks. In one of the images that shows the app’s login screen, it is evident that Threads users will be able to log in using their Instagram accounts.

Meta’s Upcoming Twitter-Like App ‘Threads’ Could be Rolling Out Soon



Twitter has added a new tab in the app ‘Highlights’ for subscribers of Twitter Blue after having tested it for a month with a limited number of users. Similar to Highlights on Instagram, this tab is where users can add their own favourite or best tweets which will be displayed on their profiles.

 

 

In the three dots menu on the top right of a tweet, you will find a new option ‘add/remove from Highlights,’ using which you can add any of your tweet to the Highlights tab or remove it if it’s already there. Your Highlights will not appear on other users’ feeds, but anyone can view your Highlight tweets when they visit your profile.

Twitter Launches Another New Blue-Exclusive Feature: A ‘Highlights’ Tab



Elon Musk has introduced yet another monetization opportunity for creators on Twitter. Creators that are either subscribers of Twitter Blue or have purchased the blue verification check, will be paid for “ads served in their replies.”

 

 

On the other hand, Twitter has reduced ad exposure in the For You and Following timelines by 50%. This is not to be mixed with the recent monetization update, since the number of ads shown in replies remains unchanged, regardless.

Twitter to Start Paying Select Creators Based on Ads Served in Replies



Some Twitter users in the US have recently spotted a voice recording feature in their DMs that has been in testing since 2020. The feature has been available to users in India, Brazil, and Japan, and seems to be expanding to more countries now.

 

What’s evident is that the voice recording tool isn’t entirely new to the platform, much like several other elements that Twitter has either revamped, relaunched, or delayed the roll out of, ever since Musk took over Twitter.

Twitter Expands its Lesser-Known Voice Recording Functionality in DMs to More Regions



Twitter CEO Elon Musk has announced a new Twitter service that he is calling a “win-win” for both the public and media groups. Starting from next month, Twitter will let media publishers charge users who do not wish to subscribe to media offerings, for each article they read.

 

In other words, users who do not sign up to a monthly subscription will be allowed to pay a “higher per article price” for occasional reads. Musk hasn’t revealed any additional information regarding the one-click service or the regulations that publishers will need to comply with.

Twitter Introduces the Option to Pay Per Article for Occasional Reads



In another attempt to acquire more subscribers, Twitter has announced a new policy that requires advertisers to sign up on Twitter Blue or Verification for Organizations to be able to continue running their ad campaigns on the platform. Subscribing to either of the programs would verify an account as a “real” person and/or business, according to the social media company.

 

Twitter Blue costs $8 a month for a blue tick and other features, while the Verification for Organizations offering is more expensive, priced at $1,000 per month for premium customer support and more benefits that aren’t included in Blue. Subscribing to the cheaper offering would add up to $96 a year, which won’t likely equal to a considerable impact on a business’ annual budget.

Twitter Makes it Mandatory for Business Accounts to Become Subscribers in Order to Run Ads



Twitter’s Super Follows feature that was announced in 2021 is being rebranded to ‘Subscriptions,’ with most of its elements maintained. More specifically, Subscriptions will allow subscribers to access exclusive content like tweets, subscriber-only Spaces, and special badges. Twitter additionally plans to bring newsletters and other features to Subscriptions later.

 

Before becoming subscribers of the feature, users can check their eligibility for it from the Subscriptions section in the menu. Subscriptions can be accessed from “Professional Tools” from the three dots menu, and then by clicking “Monetization.” The section also provides analytics of the estimate amount that a subscriber is likely to achieve in a month.

Twitter is Rebranding its Monetization Feature ‘Super Follows’ as ‘Subscriptions’


Since Thursday, Twitter was reported to be restricting access to tweets containing Substack links and marking them as “potentially spammy or unsafe.” Noting that these tweets were clearly safe, it was speculated that Twitter was acting out of vengeance against Susbtack for a new Twitter-like feature that the company was going to release. After all, Musk had clarified back in December that Twitter would not tolerate “relentless free advertising” from competitors on its platform.  

 

 

The feature, called ‘Notes’ had been in testing with a limited number of writers for some weeks and has now been announced to roll out in a separate tab on Substack. It is meant to help users share shorter posts like posts, quotes, comments, images, GIFs, and links. Unlike Twitter, it has no character limit. Up to six photos and GIFs can be shared within Notes. Moreover, users can engage with other Notes using the Like, Reply, and Restack buttons. The Restack option is basically Substack’s version of Retweet.

Susbtack Releases its New Feature ‘Notes’ that Resembles Twitter



In a new blogpost, Twitter has revealed how its algorithm works to rank and filter tweets on users’ timelines. Explaining the process in a simple manner, Twitter says that it occurs in three main stages.

 

According to Twitter, its algorithmic system first gathers the “best” tweets from various recommendation sources. On the For You timeline, for instance, Twitter aims to display around 50% tweets from accounts that a user follows and 50% tweets from accounts that a user doesn’t follow.

 

In the ranking stage, the system uses a machine learning model to rank tweets based on engagement analytics including Likes, Retweets, and Replies.

 

In the final step, tweets are filtered out to be displayed on users’ timelines. The filtering happens in categories like tweets from people one has blocked, tweets one has already seen, or tweets that are not safe or appropriate. The aim of this process is also to ensure that a user isn’t seeing too many tweets from the same account.

Twitter Makes its Recommendation Algorithm Code Open Source

Twitter designer Andrea Conway recently revealed a new notification option for tweets that is currently being tested. The functionality would enable users to get notifications of activity on any tweet, such as new replies or quote tweet.

 

The new ‘Notify Me’ option could be accessed from the three dots menu on a tweet that a user wants to be updated on. Whether it’s a conversation on a celebrity’s account or business account, or news about an important event, it wouldn’t be possible to miss out on it after enabling this new alert feature.

Twitter is Experimenting with Tweet Activity Alerts and Other Engagement Features



Twitter CEO Elon Musk recently announced in his tweet that Twitter will begin prioritizing replies in a new way in the coming weeks. Replies will be prioritized in the following order: from people one follows, from verified accounts and lastly from unverified accounts.

 

In January, it was observed that Twitter was going through significant declines in tweet engagement, which was later found to be a result of difficulties with implementation of new code changes, including re-ranking of tweets.

 

While the new ranking method is limited to replies only, it could hopefully bring some exposure to tweets that deserve more engagement. However, this could also result in exposure given to the “wrong” verified accounts, such as spammers and attention seekers that intend to newsjack viral tweets.

Twitter Announces Updated Ranking System for Tweet Replies



Twitter’s For You feed has lately been showing users a considerable number of tweets from accounts they don’t follow. While this has led to frustration among the users, Twitter explains that the algorithm isn’t all that random.

 

According to Twitter, all the content highlighted in the For You feed is ultimately connected to a user’s activity. Additionally, mutual follows and their activity, and related interests based on in-app actions also play a part in how the algorithm works.

 

To further give insight to users on this, Twitter is adding a tool that allows users to view why they could be seeing certain tweets. The option labelled as ‘Why you’re seeing this tweet’ would be accessible from the three dots menu on a tweet and would provide a brief overview of the reasons for the tweet showing in the feed.

Twitter is Letting Users Know Why They Could be Seeing Certain Tweets, Via New Tool



After releasing the option of posting longer tweets, Twitter is now bringing the ability to post even longer tweets, up to 10,000 characters, to be exact.

 

The first time Twitter introduced longer tweets was only a month ago, which enabled Twitter Blue subscribers to post tweets containing up to 4,000 characters. For some reason, it seems that CEO Elon Musk wasn’t satisfied with that limit, hence the decision to further extend it, which is now going to result in super long tweets.

Twitter Announces the Option of Posting Tweets Up to 10,000 Characters Long



Starting next month, Twitter is taking away the SMS two factor authentication option away from Twitter users except subscribers of Twitter Blue, hence making it a Twitter Blue exclusive feature.

 

This means that only those who are willing to pay Twitter $8 a month will be able to keep their account safe from hacking. Explaining the reason behind its decision, Twitter says that it has “seen phone-number based 2FA be used - and abused - by bad actors.”

Twitter is Disabling SMS Two Factor Authentication Method for Non-Subscribers of Twitter Blue



Twitter is providing subscribers of Twitter Blue the ability to post longer tweets, up to 4000 characters long. In addition to that, subscribers of the program can also access TweetDeck, a tweet management tool, as an exclusive feature.


With 300,000 subscribers at the moment, Twitter Blue seems to be lagging behind in terms of its potential to generate the revenue that Twitter aims for. As a result, the company is looking for ways to lure users into signing up for Blue.

 

TweetDeck may become a successful add-on in Twitter Blue, since people already pay third-party apps for the purpose of tweet management. Similarly, the ability to create longer tweets may also attract more people to Twitter Blue; although it seems pitiful that this option isn’t available to all Twitter users.

Twitter Blue Subscribers Will be Allowed to Post Longer Tweets and Possibly Have Access to TwitterDeck

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