With more than 330 million active monthly users, Twitter is
one of the most widely used social networking sites in the world. Since its
debut in 2006, Twitter has experienced a number of modifications that have
completely changed how users interact with the service. Here are a few
significant changes that Twitter has undergone over time.
Number of characters
The increase in the character limit for tweets was one of
Twitter's most important adjustments. The character restriction on Twitter was
first set at 140, so users had to get creative with their tweets to fit their
ideas into the limited area. Twitter increased its character limit in 2017 by
doubling it to 280 characters, enabling users to write longer messages.
Multimedia Materials
The addition of multimedia content was another noteworthy
change to Twitter. Tweets could only be text in the early days of Twitter.
Twitter, however, expanded capability for pictures, videos, and GIFs as
technology advanced. Users were able to express themselves in novel ways as a
result, which increased the variety of the content posted on the network.
Hashtags
Hashtags were made popular by Twitter as a technique to
organize material and increase its discoverability. Hashtags are words or
phrases that users can put in their tweets to increase the searchability of those
tweets. Hashtags were first used in 2007 and have since spread to other social
media sites, becoming an integral element of the Twitter experience.
Current News
Real-time updates and breaking news are increasingly
available on Twitter. Twitter has grown to be a well-liked tool for
journalists, news organizations, and individuals to post breaking news and
updates on events as they happen because of its swift pace and capacity for
information sharing.
Automated Timeline
Formerly, tweets appeared in chronological order on
Twitter's timeline, with the most recent tweets at the top. Instead of only
displaying the most recent tweets, Twitter started displaying users an
algorithmic timeline in 2016 that it believes will be most relevant to them.
Several users thought that the algorithmic timeline made it more difficult to
see all of the tweets from the accounts they were following and that they
preferred the chronological timeline, hence this change caused some
controversy.
Twitter Rooms
A brand-new feature called Twitter Spaces was unveiled in
2020. Users can host real-time audio discussions with other platform users.
Twitter Spaces has been a popular way for users to engage with others and
discuss various topics in real-time, much like the well-known app Clubhouse.
Credentialed Accounts
Verified accounts were first launched by Twitter in 2009.
Verified accounts are those whose affiliation with a public figure, celebrity,
or brand has been verified by Twitter. Users may follow verified accounts and
avoid imposters and phony accounts by using this verification badge.