The microblogging got some inspiration from Facebook (again) and implemented photo tagging and sharing in its mobile apps for iOS and Android.
This is not the first time social networks are copying (in the lack of a better word) each other, but this time, Twitter’s features are blatant reproductions of the ones implemented by Facebook. The features themselves will add some functionality first on the mobile apps, and then on the desktop version of Twitter. However, not everybody is happy with how Twitter decided to name them, and some users of this microblogging platform have been quite vocal about this.
Twitter software engineer César Puerta exposed in a blog post the advantages of this new feature, as if they weren’t obvious already: “Tagging people in a picture makes conversations around photos fun and easy. And tagging doesn’t affect character count in the Tweet — you can tag up to 10 people in a photo and still have all 140 characters at your disposal, making it easier to connect with your friends. If you’re the one being tagged, you’ll get a notification. You can adjust notifications, as well as who can tag you, in your Settings.”
Puerta also explained how sharing multiple photos in a single post is supposed to work: “And now, you can also share a series of photos that automatically create a collage. Just tap on a preview to get the full image and slide through the group. The ability to upload multiple photos is starting to roll out today on iPhone, and is coming soon to Android and twitter.com. Whether you’re on iPhone, Android or twitter.com, you can view Tweets with multiple photos.” It should be noted that people can share photos with up to 4 people at a time.
As with all changes, this was received with good eyes by some and with bad eyes by others. For example, Bournemouth university computing student Paul Cousins commented on the microblogging platform: “Surely not ?! @twitter ..Retweet better buzz word!” Another user, @wantedjustin, said that “Its R-E-T-W-E-E-T not share @twitter YOU COPY CAT! I HATE YOU”
As far as I’m concerned, I think that people are right, even though they’re not expressing their opinions in the most diplomatic way. The fact that posts could be retweeted, and even the word retweet itself, was something original, which Twitter is giving up now, just to mimic Facebook.
Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about Facebook’s Trending Topics and the redesign of Twitter profiles.
