Twitter is expanding its ‘read an article before retweeting’ prompt globally

Back in June, Twitter began testing a new feature that would ask users to read an article before retweeting it. The prompt appeared when Twitter’s algorithms detected users have not actually clicked on the source link to open and read the article, and are retweeting it after just seeing the preview. This was done to make sure that users are actually aware of the content and do not inadvertently contribute to the spread of harmful or misleading information. Well, it appears that the test was a success as the company now plans to bring that “read the article first before retweeting” prompt to users across the globe. 

The official Twitter Comms handle revealed that after seeing the prompt, users actually opened articles 40% more often, and that the number of users who actually read an article before retweeting it rose by 33%. Of course, there was also a small number of people who refrained from retweeting an article after reading it. Now that Twitter is expanding the prompt to more users, the company is also making the prompt UI smaller so that it comes out as a little less ‘in your face’ request. Twitter has lately been fortifying the security aspect of its social media platform too.

Last month, Twitter announced that it will stop amplifying accounts or tweets from state-backed media outlets on the home page. Additionally, the accounts of key government officials and state-backed media outlets as well as senior employees associated with such agencies will be labeled. Additionally, Twitter also revealed earlier this month that it is enhancing the security of ‘high-profile accounts’ to ensure that they’re not hacked to disseminate misleading information. The ‘high-profile’ accounts will be notified to follow certain security protocols such as enabling 2FA, use a strong password and enable Twitter’s Password Reset Protection feature. 

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