Twitter is temporarily changing the way users are able to retweet ahead of the U.S. election to prevent the spread of misinformation.
Although the changes are being implemented ahead of the U.S. election, the changes will apply to users worldwide.
Users will still be able to retweet, but they will be presented with an extra step. Starting October 20th, when you click the retweet button, Twitter will encourage you to quote tweet instead of retweet.
“People who go to retweet will be brought to the quote tweet composer where they’ll be encouraged to comment before sending their tweet,” Twitter outlined in a blog post.
The social media giant notes that although this adds some extra steps for those who simply want to retweet, it hopes this step will encourage users to not only consider why they are amplifying a tweet, but also increase the likelihood that people add their own thoughts.
“If people don’t add anything on the quote tweet composer, it will still appear as a retweet,” Twitter states.
Further, Twitter is also going to prevent “liked by” and “followed by” recommendations from people you don’t follow from showing on your timeline.
These changes will be implemented until at least the end of election week in the United States, after which Twitter will assess their continued necessity.
Image credit: Twitter
Source: Twitter
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