Twitter looks to improve DMs, will bring search into the feature

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It's definitely long overdue, and we can't wait until Twitter implements the change. The social network is going to be "re-energizing" its efforts around DMs. And one of the highlights will be adding a search feature to direct messages. It's high time for Twitter to focus on its more private space. With competitors like Facebook planning to turn its attention to chat and other "simple, intimate" spaces, this is the time Twitter can respond.

Twitter also plans to include support for Live Photos from iOS devices as GIFs and to give you the freedom to reorder photos in the app after you've uploaded them. So, if you're doing live event tweets, it'll help you rearrange the tweets in an order that makes sense. We don't have details yet on when these plans are coming, but they're something to look forward to.

Source: Engadget

Twitter takes out precise geotagging for tweets

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No one was using its precise geotagging feature so Twitter decides it’s time to axe the feature. What will remain is the ability to tag precise locations for photos. And if you use services like FourSquare and Yelp with Twitter, you can still add your location to your tweets. Twitter introduced geotagging back in 2009 in hopes that people would start browsing location-based tweets to look things up like local events. But people used hashtags and trending topics more. Plus, there’s a privacy risk associated with sharing exact locations. And since people weren’t taking advantage of the feature, it thought it best to get rid of it.

Source: The Verge

Twitter doubles down on fake election news with easier way to report misleading tweets

High profile elections are taking place around the world in the coming months so social media networks need to prepare themselves for the inevitable arrival of misleading information and fake news. Twitter, for its part, is adding a new feature that will let its users report this problem directly. Starting off in India on April 25 and then Europe from April 29, Twitter users will see a new “It’s misleading about voting” in the “Report Tweet” section. You can then flag the content and expound on it as you wish. The feature will roll out globally afterwards.

The kind of content this feature could flag can be anything from misleading information about how to vote and the requirements needed for voting to misleading information about those involved in the elections. It might be a small change, but getting feedback from their users will help Twitter determine how its platform is being used during elections. And that in turn will hopefully help them tackle any abuse effectively.

Source: Engadget

Twitter cuts down daily follows from 1,000 to 400

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Twitter hopes to combat spam and bot accounts by limiting the amount of users you can follow in a day. It’s now down from 1,000 to 400. Admittedly for us, that’s still a whole lot of accounts to follow in a 24-hour period. "As a part of our commitment to building a healthy service, we remain focused on stopping spam and abuse on Twitter," a spokesperson for Twitter told Engadget. "We found that having a high daily follow rate contributed to follower churn, and as a result, we are reducing the daily follow rate limit from 1,000 to 400."

Follower churn is described as the process of following and unfollowing accounts. It’s done to get a users’ attention and try to get others to follow back and increase follower count.