Twitter Rolls Out Extended Features to Expand Possibilities


The limits of Twitter are being tested. Last week  the microblogging platform announced new features designed to extend the reach of the Twitter experience, and the improvements may mean expanded possibilities for all users. Here’s a look at some of the changes on tap and some news and features critical to users of the service.

New Roll Outs

Build a better tweet. Twitter has announced the roll out of new, expanded tweets already being used by media partners like The Wall Street Journal, Breaking News, and TIME. The new feature allows you to see a preview of a Twitter link with the headline, introduction, and sometimes the Twitter accounts of the publisher and writer. Twitter Blog

What would you do? Twitter’s new expanded feature opens many new possibilities for content creators. Beyond an image and headline, the new links will let visitors see a 280-character summary separate from Twitter’s traditional 140-character posts. It will change the way online publishers, including small business owners, share content on the microblogging platform. Online Media Daily

Sound and fury. Part of the new, extended feature rolling out to members of the Twitterverse adds audio to it’s photo and video offerings via SoundCloud. The new additions make Twitter, more than ever before, a plausible rival to Facebook, and one more way Twitter is becoming more friendly to content creators. Gigaom

Brevity is the soul of wit. Not everyone thinks extended tweets on Twitter is such a good idea. Columnist John C. Dvorak complains, “This seriously violates the original intent of the site and ruins its charm.” He promises that anyone using the extended tweet format will be banned from his Twitter feed, but many say the upgrade does offer benefits. PC Magazine

The numbers game. New features at Twitter include more than just expanded tweets. Twitter is also dumping it 50+ designation for retweets and favorites, introducing an exact count for all tweets past, present, and future without the need to use third party measurement tools to see your social impact.TechCrunch

Here, there, and everywhere. No longer is place a consideration only for Foursquare and Facebook in the social media sphere. Now Twitter also allows you to tailor trends based on location and who you follow, too. The new feature will allow Twitter users to discover content with these criteria in mind, so consider both while crafting your tweets. Technolog

Best & Worst Practices

Twitter business tips. What separates Twitter from Facebook is its ability to create unique relationships, says social media marketing expert Michael Tasner. Tasner goes through a couple of important tips for anyone interested in harnessing that ability for success in marketing and networking. Huffington Post

Trolling for followers. We mentioned earlier that measuring retweets and favorites on Twitter is now as easy as measuring followers. But as Sweden’s national tourist agency may find out the hard way, legions of followers do not necessarily lead to a positive brand. Here’s what happened when Sweden handed over its Twitter account to a troll. TechDirt

More Tips & Tricks

The best offense is a good defense. Whether your using Twitter or some other social media platform, one key to success may be making fewer marketing posts, but doing more listening, customer service, and engagement, says guest blogger Zack Urlocker, chief operating officer at Zendesk. VentureBeat

Employees hate your Twitter account. A study suggests 44 percent of employees still think social media like Twitter and Facebook have an adverse impact on the workplace. The study was done in the UK, but could the results be almost universal? When trying to get your employees to engage customers using Twitter and other social media, be sure you educate them about the positives for your business. All Twitter

3 Comments ▼
3 Reactions
  1. Andy @ FirstFound

    I’m not sure I like the thought of expanded Tweets. It destroys Twitter’s USP of short, easy to digest updates.

  2. Thanks for this article – I’m not sure if I like the sound of expanded tweets but I think the 280-character summary is a great idea for businesses.

  3. I think that when Twitter’s character count is extended, it simply isn’t Twitter anymore. What do you think?