Twitter test guilts you for retweeting unread articles
On Wednesday, Twitter announced that it would begin testing a new feature, prompting users to think before tweeting articles they haven’t read.
Currently this test will be limited to Android users in English. If a user decides to retweet an article before reading it, Twitter can inspire them to open it before doing so. Twitter did not say when it planned to bring the feature to additional operating systems.
Sharing an article can spark conversation, so you may want to read it before you Tweet it.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) June 10, 2020
To help promote informed discussion, we’re testing a new prompt on Android –– when you Retweet an article that you haven’t opened on Twitter, we may ask if you’d like to open it first.
But again, as Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour pointed out, retweets help spread articles, and can often help users gain access to misinformation or harmful conspiracy theories. He adds, “It can be powerful but sometimes dangerous, especially if people don’t read the content they are spreading.”
It's easy for links/articles to go viral on Twitter. This can be powerful but sometimes dangerous, especially if people haven't read the content they're spreading. This feature (on Android for now) encourages people to read a linked article prior to Retweeting it. https://t.co/qdYZ8w9e27
— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) June 10, 2020
