Twitter has recently implemented a series of changes which improve and amplify users’ opportunities on the micro-blogging Social Network. That’s why today I’m presenting you with the latest Twitter updates for Community Managers, so you can ensure to keep your strategies up to date!
The Twitter updates that you’ll see here have been announced over the past months and a large part of them will be implemented over the next weeks in the U.S. and the rest of the world. Therefore, if you still aren’t seeing the Twitter changes, don’t despair! They’ll get to you shortly.
Now, let’s move on to what you’re really here for:
The Latest Twitter Updates that Every Community Manager Should Know in order to Keep their Campaigns Up to Date
1- Images and links will no longer affect Twitter’s 140 character limit.
The Twitter team recently announced that in a few weeks it will be possible to include images and links in tweets without any characters being taken from the 140 limit the platform established. So now users have an additional 47 characters to utilize in their publications. Awesome!, right?
As for the origins of the change Jack Dorsey, the company’s CEO, stated: “We spent a lot of time observing what people do on Twitter and noticed that a lot of people share photos with a caption. So we thought: “¿What if this text… was actually text, (…) that could be searched for and reiterated?”.
And that’s how they put their minds to this task.
This Twitter update signifies a drastic change to the “traditional” world in which the Social Network was using a limit on the characters that publications could have. This update’s purpose it to give users a larger ability to express themselves and take advantage of text benefits in terms of searches and positioning.
2- The Twitter application for Android will enable the possibility of transmitting live on the Periscope platform
Twitter has recently announced the inclusion of a “Periscope button” in the Twitter app for Android, which will allow users to make live video transmission from their Twitter accounts through the Periscope platform. The change is expected to be implemented in the next few months.
So when people touch the “Periscope button on Twitter”, they will be redirected so that they can download Periscope from the Google Play Store. It should be noted that Periscope is the platform that Twitter acquired in order to enable real time video transmissions on the micro-blogging Social Network through streaming.
“We are developing a ‘Transmit live’ on Twitter button to test it out among a small number of users”, the programmers explain. “In time, the entire Twitter community will be able to transmit live videos from their Twitter profiles”.
The implementation of this button will be the first sign of integration between Twitter and Periscope since it’s acquisition by the Social Network last year.
3- Users will now be able to use a GIF search on Twitter
To the delight of animated GIF lovers (myself included!), Twitter announced the incorporation of a GIF search that users will be able to utilize while composing their tweets. This way, they’ll be able to find the perfect animated image to accompany their publications without needing to look for it outside of the Social Network.
So, in order to utilize the Twitter GIF search, all you have to do is click on the “GIFS” button that you’ll see in the tweet editor. After pressing it, a window will pop up in which you’ll be able to choose the best animated GIFS, ordered by category, to enhance your publications with a touch of humor or visual art.
In regards to the incorporation of this tool, the Twitter team explained that they decided to implement it after noting that during 2015 more than 100 million GIFS were tweeted on the Social Network. In the following animated GIF, you can see how the Twitter GIF search appears in the tweet editor:
Lastly, this is big news, being as tweets with images, animated GIFS and videos obtain many more views than those who only include text, therefore I advise that you be aware of this implementation in order to take advantage of it with your publications.
4- Advertisers will be able to utilize new tools, such as Conversational Announcements
As you may have noticed, the past Twitter updates not only expanded their presence on the Internet (through the Google-Twitter Partnership) and broadened user experience, but also aimed at providing more tools to advertisers.
So in addition to the “promotional tweets” launched over the past years, now Twitter will allow you to create Conversational Advertisements. With these you’ll be able to interact with your audience through tweets linked to your brand in order to promote your hashtags, define your business and obtain information for your market studies.
For this exact purpose, Twitter created Conversational Advertisements, which are characterized by appearing in users’ TimeLine in the form of survey tweets, as you can see in the image above. In these, a phrase or tweet with a question for the audience is seen, as well as two buttons in order to respond through the announcement’s preconceived hashtags.
This way, people will be able to opt between two or more hashtags as a form of response. Additionally, in order to respond, users will have to publish one of the proposed hashtags (by simply pressing the button, as shown in the photo), which will greatly favor the spread of each campaign.
5- Twitter will incorporate a Connect tab in order to help users socialize with other people
In the near future, Twitter Android and iOS users will be able to benefit from the Connect tab, created by the Social Network in order to facilitate interaction with and ability to find people. In it you’ll find the accounts suggested through refined algorithms and users will be able to synchronize their contacts list with these addresses.
Furthermore, the Connect tab is one of the latest Twitter updates for helping new users learn how to utilize Twitter, and help them find content which interests them. To do this, it offers people a selection of relevant news based on their users’ profile.
Moreover, the “Connect Tab” will allow you to discover popular people in your geographical zone and international news. As for when it will be available, the Twitter team announced on its blog that the new ta will be available in different countries over the next two months.
6- New functions will be added to the Twitter app for the Universal Windows 10 platform, such as the possibility to have private conversations in groups
Of late, Twitter has updated its app for the universal Windows 10 Platform by making it so that the users of said operating system have new opportunities while using this Social Network. Among them, we’d like to highlight the ability to privately send and receive messages directly from a group of people.
It’s important to mention (just in case you didn’t already know) that the Universal Windows 10 Platform is a technological development from Microsoft whose goal is to permit the use of its operating system on all class of devices. Some of the other latest Twitter updates developed for Windows 10, are:
- The possibility to quote tweets and add your own comments to them.
- The power to record, edit and share videos on Twitter.
- A new way of identifying active conversations among contacts that you follow by the use of a blue line on the Twitter Homepage.
7- People can now comment on their retweets
While this feature is already available, it seemed appropriate to highlight it since it was just recently implemented. It focuses on the possibility of commenting on retweets though the “Quote Tweet” function. So, every time you make a RT you can add comments to the publication, or share it in its original format.
This possibility includes a new expression place for individual users as well as commercial accounts. This can also help you in multiplying the possibility that your content spreads, for example with the addition of hashtags or the mention of influential users while quoting the tweet.
So for example, a good way to take advantage of this Twitter characteristics is to go back and share your most successful old tweets, by renewing them with a retweet with comments that are clever, witty and attractive. This way, you can ensure that your most successful comments last much longer.
For best results, I advise taking a look at our Guide on how to schedule tweets automatically.
As you may have noticed in this post, the latest Twitter updates are varied and numerous, and it’s expected that a lot more are coming. This is because of the Social Network’s need to stay competitive, especially when Facebook has launched their own updates that will be implemented during 2016.
That’s all for today! To get the maximum success out of your campaigns on Twitter, I advise Reading the following articles from our blog in order to supplement what you’ve just learned: The Best Technique for Multiplying your Followers on Twitter and 10 Simple Tips for Boosting your Twitter Account.
Did you like this article? Which of the latest Twitter updates mentioned here were most interesting to you? Why? Tell us your opinion! And please, remember to share this blog post with all your contacts. We’ll see you next time!