Twitter in 2021 was a lot to put together. At least the first few months of the year were about people coming together to help each other with Covid-19 resources, not just in India but globally. As things got a little out of control in terms of the second wave of Covid-19, the micro-blogging platform added a number of features to improve the user experience.
And before the end of 2021, Twitter saw CEO Jack Dorsey step down and make way for the new person at the helm – Indian-born Parag Agrawal.
Agrawal has just started his tenure as CEO and it remains to be seen how his time as leader helps shape the platform. But for now, here are all the things Twitter introduced in 2021:
Twitter begins testing Communities
Twitter began testing Communities on the platform to better connect people who care and want to talk about the same topics. For users who join Communities, you can tweet directly to the group instead of writing to all your followers. And only community members can reply to tweets and join a conversation. This feature is currently only available on iOS and the web, with Android functionality coming soon.
Blue Twitter
This is for the professionals. Twitter Blue is a special subscription service that gives people access to exclusive features like ad-free articles, featured articles, bookmark folders, unsubscribe tweets and a reader mode. Twitter Blue is available on iOS and Android in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Spaces on Twitter
Twitter Spaces introduced live audio chats to the platform, and the platform also introduced a number of features for this, including support for hosts to schedule Spaces, record Spaces, and a Spaces tab is also being tested.
Ticketed spaces
Ticketed Spaces is Twitter’s way of supporting creators for their time and effort. Creators may earn a share of revenue from tickets purchased by audiences to participate in Spaces hosted by them. This is currently available on Twitter for iOS and Android for a select group of US creators.
Super Follow
Twitter introduced “Super Follows” to give creators on the platform the opportunity to earn monthly income by sharing Tweets that are intended only for their paying subscribers. As the platform explained, “with Super Follows, people can create an additional level of conversation on Twitter and interact authentically with their most engaged followers – all while earning money – through a monthly subscription.”
This feature is currently only available on iOS for a handful of creators in the US.
Twitter buys Revue
In an effort to make the platform a better home for writers to create, share and monetize content, Twitter acquired Revue. Revue is a service that makes it easy for anyone to start and publish editorial newsletters, and it’s free. In August of this year, Twitter also introduced a way for newsletter creators to add a subscribe button to their Twitter profiles. The subscribe button is currently only available for a test set on Android and web.
Tips on Twitter
Twitter added the Tips feature for users to support their favorites on the platform with money. Twitter takes no cut of these payments and the transaction is facilitated through third-party services such as PayPal, Patreon, Razorpay, etc. Twitter users can add Tips to their profile from Settings.
In September, Twitter allowed people to pay each other with Bitcoin using Strike, a payment app built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network. This made it easy for people to send and receive Bitcoin Tips for free and instantly.
Twitter Safety Mode
Twitter’s Safety Mode is a feature currently being tested with a small group of people that includes female journalists and people from marginalized communities to “better protect the individual on the receiving end of Tweets by reducing the spread and visibility of harmful remarks”. Safety mode temporarily blocks accounts that respond to tweets with potentially harmful language (insults or hateful remarks). It also blocks accounts that send repetitive and uninvited replies or mentions. This feature is currently being tested on iOS and Android with a select group of users in English.
Choose who can follow you
Twitter’s new feature, which debuted in September, allows users to curate their list of followers. Without having to directly block someone on the platform, this feature allows anyone to tap into their follower list and actively unfollow someone.
Choose who can answer
Twitter added “Conversation Settings” to let people “Change who can reply” to a tweet, even if it’s in the middle of a conversation. This allowed people to limit spam responses and engage in more meaningful conversations with the people they wanted.
Tweet from end to end
Twitter improved the quality of photos and videos on the platform so that photos, videos and GIFs look better. It also added support for sharing a tweet to Instagram and YouTube.
No more automatic cuts
Twitter removed the automatic cropping feature on the platform so that the aspect ratio of the image being posted remains unchanged. Users can see a preview of how the image will look in the compositor tool before they go ahead and post it. “This was the first step in our larger plan to improve media on Twitter so people can share and view content in its original intended form and have more flexibility and control over how photos are displayed.” theirs on their timeline,” Twitter said.
AP and Reuters come on board
Twitter built its own curation team to help surface credible information on Twitter and joined hands with the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters for the process.
New and improved misinformation tags
Twitter created redesigned misinformation labels to make it easier for people to recognize when the content of a tweet is potentially misleading. These tags appear with color-coded backgrounds making them easier to spot.
Community-based approach to dealing with misinformation
Twitter introduced Birdwatch to collaboratively add useful annotations to potentially misleading tweets. Twitter’s Birdwatch is currently a pilot program being tested in the US.
New language settings
Twitter launched a new language environment that better handles the feminine form in Arabic including a way to address women in a tweet instead of men by default.
Return of the blue tick
Twitter’s verification program returned to the platform with updated eligibility criteria. “Eligibility criteria are more transparent thanks to our new policy that was largely shaped by public feedback,” Twitter said.
See what you write on Twitter
In 2020 Twitter was testing prompts to encourage users to pause and review a potentially abusive, offensive or harmful reply before hitting send. “These tests showed us that if prompted, 34 percent of people revised their initial response or decided not to send their response at all. It also showed us that after being prompted once, people received, on average, 11 percent fewer offensive responses in the future,” Twitter said.
This year, Twitter added an update to the test including a consideration of the relationship between the tweeter and the person responding, how often they interact, etc.
Read also: End of 2021: From the best Covid-19 response to WhatsApp payments
Read also: Twitter now lets you listen to recorded Spaces
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