Tweetstorm: Twitter Developing Feature To Automatically Post Threaded Tweets

Frequent Twitter users are used to the tweetstorm, which refers to an extended thread of tweets that a user publishes at once. Now, Twitter might be looking into a way to formally make them a part of the social media platform.

Matt Navarra, who works as director of social media at The Next Web, posted a screenshot that depicts a tweet thread feature in Twitter’s Android version. In the screenshot, the app can be seen automatically posting an extended tweet and threading it with numbered tags.

At the moment, it’s unclear whether this unreleased feature will make it to users. The feature was found by a developer and in the replies to his tweet, Navarra points out that it’s hidden within Twitter’s Android app. Twitter also declined to comment on details about the potential feature or when, if ever, automated threading will make it to Twitter users.

For Twitter users, tweetstormed threads are an alternatively major or hated part of the social media network. Commonly preceded with “thread” or another statement, they’re often used to either post in-depth arguments or stories by Twitter users with viral or large followings. As with most commonly used Twitter features, threading was accidentally invented by users. Currently, threading can be done by having a user reply to their preceding tweet, which chains an entire series of tweets together.

While tweetstorms aren’t frequently used by most Twitter users, making them a formal part of Twitter would fit with past user-friendly platform updates by the social media network. Recent Twitter updates like link shortening and discounting user names from character limits have been designed to make the service easier to use and threaded tweets would be the latest way to make Twitter be more approachable for new users.

In particular, user growth has been a persistent struggle for Twitter. While the network has seen an upswing in its profile thanks to the regular tweets of President Donald Trump, it’s had difficulties maintaining enough growth for investors. In its quarterly earnings report from July, Twitter reported that its monthly active user base saw no growth.

At the same time, Twitter has been reluctant to adopt some changes in the past that users have wanted. Tweet editing has been a longtime request from users that Twitter hasn’t put into place yet. Plus, Twitter would likely take the extra traffic upside that comes from making it easier for power users to tweetstorm, but it would also put Twitter’s distinctive 140-character limit into an awkward position, especially compared to traditional social media networks like Facebook.