Twitter makes 'tweetstorms' easier with 'threads'

San Francisco, Dec 13: Twitter said it would make it easier for users to build "tweetstorms" by linking together posts in "threads" to expound at length at the famously short-form messaging service.

The move comes just a month after Twitter rattled the twitterverse by doubling the limit for tweets in most languages to 280 characters, in a bid to draw in more users and boost engagement. It was the first time the character cap was raised since Twitter was founded.

"A few years ago we noticed people creatively stitching Tweets together to share more information or tell a longer story," product manager Sasank Reddy said in a blog post.

"We saw this approach (which we call 'threading') as an innovative way to present a train of thought, made up of connected but individual elements." An "add another tweet" button is being added to the Twitter application, along with a "show this thread" label that can be clicked to see posts woven together by authors.

Threaded tweets will be published at the same time, but more posts can be added, according to Reddy. "Launching tweetstorms/thread today," Twitter co-founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey tweeted from the firm's San Francisco headquarters.

Twitter posts about a topic, typically fired off in rapid succession by someone intent on writing more than allowed by the character limit, have been referred to as "tweetstorms." Many replies to Dorsey's post called on Twitter to focus on dealing with extremists, trolls, and "bots" abusing the service instead of packaging tweets together.

"This will make some of the thoughtful longform posts on Twitter more accessible to a broader range of people. Good," read a reply to Dorsey from a verified account of venture capitalist Chris Sacca, whose investments included Twitter.

"But not sure why it launched before you make more moves to reduce hate speech, ban Nazis, eliminate Russian trolls, and stop the spread of fake news." Threads will be rolled out in an update to Twitter in the coming weeks, according to Reddy.

PTI