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Twitter has revamped its “quote tweet” functionality to let users say more about the original message they are retweeting.
The overhaul will now embed the original tweet instead of displaying it as a text version, the company announced late Monday. The tweak will also allow Twitter users to add 116 characters of commentary in addition to the 140-character limit of the quoted tweet.
The update addresses a key complaint that Twitter users had with the quote tweet function, namely that it formerly left little or no room for other users to add commentary to retweets, defeating its purpose. The new functionality underscores Twitter’s push to increase user engagement with the product — something investors hope will translate into increased advertising revenue.
Say more with revamped quote Tweet! Rolling out on iPhone and web, coming soon to Android. https://t.co/Bcl3E859ne pic.twitter.com/fioAPPi0nW
— Twitter (@twitter) April 6, 2015
The social network announced a new feature in August that would surface tweets for users from accounts they don’t follow — a significant departure from its traditional practice of showing users only tweets from accounts they follow, as well as retweets and promoted tweets. With the same goal of increased engagement in mind, Twitter announced a new feature in January called Recap that recycles tweets deemed most relevant that were originally posted while users “were away” that they might not otherwise see.
Twitter said in February that 288 million people now actively use the service every month, up from the 284 million it reported in the third quarter. While Wall Street had looked for 295 monthly active users, investors welcomed the news, sending shares up more than 23 percent in the past two months.
Twitter began rolling out the update to Web and iPhone users on Monday, according to Mike Davidson, vice president of design at Twitter. An Android version is promised to be “coming soon.”
