Twitter is coming out with a feature that would enable users to generate long-form content. Reported to debut as ‘Twitter Notes,’ the tool will permit the direct posting of long-form content on Twitter.
What are Twitter Notes?
As reported by TechCrunch, Twitter will deploy its new long-form blogging function in the coming weeks. It is being tested with select users ahead of an expected public rollout. Although Twitter has rejected additional comments on Twitter Notes, the company indicated it would soon publish updates regarding the tool.
Twitter Notes has been in the news for quite a time. In May 2022, Jane Manchun Wong revealed feature images, either Twitter Notes or Twitter content, that let users compose styled blog entries with photographs, links, and embedded tweets. More screenshots of the same tool were published in April 2022 by another app researcher, Nima Owji, revealing choices for users to share content with their followers or create posts with links to share on other platforms’ internet.
According to TechCrunch, the feature is now dubbed Notes and has been given a central location in test versions of the Twitter app. Although it will be supposedly ready to debut in the following weeks, there might be delays in the introduction owing to more experimentation.
Twitter before ‘Notes’
Before the release of Twitter Notes, long-form material existed on the site in different ways. Generally, users built numbered Twitter threads to connect a sequence of tweets as a way of narrative. Twitter threads were also regularly noticed while describing any subject that ran above Twitter’s permitted character limit.
Owing to increasing user activity, Twitter officially released ‘Threads’ in 2017 with a new Twitter composer screen that permitted users to multi-tweet posts—or tweetstorms—that were easier to develop and publish.
Initially, Twitter’s character limit was 140. Further, in 2017, the site upped its character limitation to 280. With Twitter Notes, users may compose articles utilizing sophisticated formatting and uploaded material, which can be further tweeted and shared with followers after posting.
Possible Impacts on Twitter Characters
Adding long-form material to Twitter might drive more fundamental changes to the platform. This is because raising the character count from 140 to 280 characters might impact how certain users utilize the site to convey their in-depth views and opinions. Moreover, if generally implemented, the character doubling might impact the micro-content generation of the site.
Arguably, bringing long-form content authoring to Twitter might radically affect the platform’s essence. However, Twitter is already loaded with long written screeds, shared as tweeted images of others’ publications or threads of tweets of users’ writing (most of which are composed in the iOS Notes app)
By introducing long-form writing into its platform, Twitter may grasp the significance of these pieces. In reality, uploading articles or notes straight to Twitter would make the material indexable for marketing and search purposes. It might also provide a headstart to Twitter’s budding Newsletter function. In 2021, Twitter purchased a business newsletter to compete with brands like Substack and has since incorporated Revue newsletters into users’ Twitter accounts. However, the process does not yet seem to have attained widespread adoption.
