Read Before You Share: Social Media Platform Twitter Launches a New Update

Social media platform, Twitter, is testing their new “Read The Article Before You Retweet It” prompt for Android users and soon-to-be all users to promote informed discussion.

The new Twitter prompt is highly beneficial for many users to promote media literacy and stop viral falsification. Users should acknowledge every detail about what they are reading before discussing the matter more in-depth.

“Many articles are retweeted based on headlines that don’t match the content,” said Elon Musk, Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO, on his Twitter account.

Twitter’s own unique Twitter account, @ TwitterComms, discussed their latest testing discoveries. Twitter discovered that people opened articles 40% more often after seeing this prompt. The number of people who opened articles before retweeting was increased by 33% due to the new prompt.

“I would use this new prompt because I think there is just too much information circulating on social media that is not true,” said Gregory Lopez, senior. “I think it is something worth having on Twitter because many articles use click-bait titles to grab a lot of people’s attention.”

Twitter is currently testing their “Read The Article Before you Retweet It” prompt, which is now only limited to Android users. Twitter is working towards making it available to a more global audience soon.

“When it [becomes] available for iPhone users, I will use this helpful new prompt. I believe different people understand the same media message differently, which sometimes leads to false accusations,” said Elizabeth Owens, senior. “Reading something before you share it is significant for more accurate discussions, and I hope people look at this new prompt as a unique opportunity to stop ongoing misinformation.”

For further announcements regarding this new update, visit Twitter Comms and Twitter Support on Twitter @TwitterComms and @ TwitterSupport.