Twitter Users Rejoice After Retweet Function Returns

Twitter users are beyond excited that the company restored the Retweet function today. Much had been made of the decision to disable the beloved feature in the weeks leading up to the United States election. The company said that their approach to reposting content was influenced by the fact that it can be easy to just amplify an article based on the headline alone. This instance isn’t even the first time that Twitter has tried to address the problem themselves. Previously, they opted to prompt users to click on the link before hitting that RT button. On it’s face, it seems like a change worth making, but users quickly found both loopholes and strange quirks that made the feature uneven. A lot of people also quickly decried the move to just Quote Retweeting content because it added another step where some didn’t want it to be. For example, artist communities had a lot to say about this prospect as their reach was lessened considerably.

Twitter wrote today, “We’re switching back. You can now choose to Retweet or Quote Tweet the way you did before.”

As our own Brandon Davis noted in the replies, now they’ve got some work to do with Fleets. The feature has had a couple noticeable bugs that the company had to address in written statements.

“When you view someone’s Fleet, the Fleet author will be able to see that you viewed it using the Seen By feature, even if your account has protected Tweets,” Twitter explained. “Additionally, please note that we maintain a copy of all sent Fleets for a limited time after they expire or are deleted to be able to enforce against Fleets that are found to violate our rules. If a Fleet was found in violation, we may extend the time we maintain a copy of it to allow people an opportunity to appeal the violation if they believe it was a mistake.”

“Fleets give you the power to use and interact with Twitter in a whole new way, right in the moment. Fleets allow you to share fleeting or transitory thoughts, and after 24 hours, they’ll disappear from view,” they continued on their blog. “Share personal in-the-moment thoughts with your followers free of public reactions. Fleet authors can see who views their Fleets, including accounts with protected Tweets, by clicking into their Fleets and tapping on the Seen By text at the bottom.”

Are you happy to have Retweets back? Let us know down in the comments!

Huge W

BANG

We are live

Give the people what they want

Feels like it’s been a while

What a time to be alive

Go time!

I got that reference