Twitter introduces new Bookmarks feature

Ever liked a tweet just so you could read later what the attached link says but don’t necessarily agree with the tweet’s content? Now, you don’t have to have to like weird or sketchy tweets with a new Bookmarks feature. As the name suggests, it’ll let you save a tweet for later reading. Twitter explains in a press release: "To bookmark a Tweet, tap the share icon under the Tweet and select, 'Add Tweet to Bookmarks.' To find it later, tap 'Bookmarks' from your profile icon menu. You can remove Tweets from your Bookmarks at any time." The feature is rolling out to iOS and Android apps, Twitter Lite, and mobile.twitter.com.

Source: Mashable

Twitter: Blocking world leaders on its service will ‘hide important information’

While not directly addressing US President Donald Trump, Twitter released a blog post to clarify its stance on how world leaders use its platform. A lot of people have called out the service for not blocking Trump, especially for threatening tweets or those that perpetuate violence. The service claims deleting the tweets of political figures will hamper the flow of important discussions. "Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets, would hide important information people should be able to see and debate. It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions,” the post says.

And in what seems to be a response to claims that they are keeping Trump around for the clicks, Twitter says they “review Tweets by leaders within the political context that defines them, and enforce our rules accordingly. No one person's account drives Twitter’s growth, or influences these decisions.” And that they try to “remain unbiased with the public interest in mind.” 

Keep those receipts, you lose your DM history when someone blocks you on Twitter

So for some reason, someone blocks you on Twitter, whether it was due to an argument or harassment. It just happened. What happens when you get blocked? You won’t be able to see each other’s tweets; you’ll unfollow each other; if they try to view your profile, they’ll see they’ve been blocked; and they can’t direct message (DM) you. And on top of that, all your past DMs will be erased. So, if you need those as evidence, you better start taking those screenshots now.

Source: Lifehacker

Twitter’s 280 character limit upgrade now live for all users

What your timeline could possibly look like now with longer tweets

Watch out world, tweets are about to get longer. Or will they? Well, the option is there now officially. Twitter announced after its “successful” trial run in September, the update from 140 characters to 280 is now live for all users around the world—except for those that tweet in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, though. The change is said to be the company’s response to feedback it’s been getting to users. You should be able to tweet longer now or check if your app is the latest version.

The move though comes at a time when the service continues to be under fire for everything from the harassment users experience on its platform, to how it let propaganda that illegally influenced the US’s 2016 presidential election, and then there’s the tirade of said US President. The release of the 280 character update is said to be a diversion of sorts against the larger issues the platform faces, at least according to Kelley Heider, a crisis communications expert at SSPR, a public relations firm that often works with tech companies. "They change their narrative in the news cycle by responding to user feedback," she told CNET