TWITTER IS WELL known for carrying out different experiments on its app as it looks for ways to bring in new users.
In the last few months, the site has experimented with different features including (deep breath now) replacing the retweet button with share, removing @ replies, favouring users as well as tweets, video sharing via hashtag, retweet with comment (which eventually became a feature) and an account called @AchievementBird, which presents users with stats relating to retweets and favourites.
Its latest experiment is now showing what people you follow have favourited in the main news feed, similar to how a retweet appears. While it started roughly a few weeks ago, the company has expanded it and well, people aren’t particularly happy about it.
The reasoning behind this could be due to the lack of attention Twitter’s Activity feed gets.
While it’s one of the more intriguing sections, where it shows all tweets that are favourites by those you follow, most users would view favourites as a mostly private action, using it to bookmark tweets or just use it as a sign of acknowledgement, while retweets are public. That distinction has left many feeling cold about the experiment.
Since it’s an experiment, there’s nothing to suggest that it will be officially rolled out, but since Twitter is looking for ways to make the site more accessible to new users, it won’t be the last one you’ll see.
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