Twitter tests status update feature

Source: @wongmjane / Twitter

Twitter is bringing back a common feature of the early days of instant messaging. According to app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, the company is testing out a "Vibe" feature, which essentially lets you set status updates you may have used in the heyday of IM clients. It looks like you can select the status at the profile level or attach a specific tweet you want to share. 

Wong shared some of the generic presets, including eating, listening to music, shopping, etc. It's unclear if you can write your own update or if you can use a third-party app to connect to it, like linking a song or video. Of course, since the feature is still being tested, there is no guarantee this is what it'll look like or whether it'll even get released.

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Twitter bans climate change denial advertising

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Twitter isn't allowing ads that promote climate change denial on its app. The company announced this change on Earth Day, saying that misleading advertising contradicts the scientific consensus on the crisis, and it'll ban it under its policy on inappropriate content. It also promises to "work to add reliable, authoritative context to the climate conversations happening on Twitter."

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Twitter's edit feature could get tweet history tracker

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Twitter has confirmed it is working on an edit feature, and it looks like it might have a digital trace of your tweet's history. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong shares in a tweet that the edit function appears to have an "immutable" quality, meaning Twitter may create an entirely new tweet when one is edited while preserving its previous versions. It's unclear how the edit history will appear to users. But we're hoping Twitter does make it public.

That is a reasonable approach to the feature if you think about it. And it could address the concerns of those who believe editing tweets will alter the public record and mislead users. So far, we've seen how the edit button could appear in the interface.

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Twitter walks back on change that turned deleted tweet embeds into blank boxes

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Aside from working on an edit button, Twitter is reversing a change it quietly made that no longer showed deleted tweets embedded on third-party sites. A company spokesperson told The Verge, "After considering the feedback we heard, we're rolling back this change for now while we explore different options. We appreciate those who shared their points of view—your feedback helps us make Twitter better." Twitter hasn't expounded on what they mean by different options.

According to an earlier statement from Twitter product manager Eleanor Harding, the company tweaked its embedded javascript to "better respect" people who decided to delete their tweets. But the potential issue with this is embedded tweets are typically in news stories to provide context. Many are tweets by known personalities, and these serve as public records of what has been said. And that was the idea Twitter ran with when it intentionally kept the text of deleted tweets. Harding said it planned to roll out additional messaging that explained why a tweet was no longer visible. 

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