Are You Sure You Read This?
On re-tweeting a piece of content, Twitter will now be asking its users whether or not they actually read the article before retweeting it. This just goes to show how often the rest of the article may not exactly align with the headline. Catchy headlines often get us to retweet without really reading the article. We’ve all been guilty of that! According to that announcement, the feature is being tested “to help promote informed discussion.”
The Results
During the testing period, Twitter found that people opened articles 40 percent more often after viewing the prompt, thus leading to more informed retweeting with 33 percent of people actually opening the articles before retweeting them. In some cases, Twitter found that some people who read the article opted out of retweeting. The feature will soon be released but after the first time, it will appear smaller. That may lessen the effect, but only time will tell.
Is This the Future?
While it might seem like a minor change, this could potentially change the way we use the internet in the future and possibly promote a more honest digital world. The change was the result of a two-year study at MIT that proved users are more likely to unwittingly retweet and share fake stories than real ones. This new feature could combat that. In addition, Twitter also added a feature to limit tweet replies. It’s all about the baby steps, but it looks hopeful.