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Twitter's searchable stickers can add pizzazz to your photos
Post a lot of photos to Twitter but feel like they're lacking something? Twitter's changing that with today's announcement of #Stickers, which will let you spice up your pictures with props, emoji and more.
Report: Twitter won't count links, photos in 140-character limit
According to Bloomberg, Twitter is prepping an update to its service that will keep photos and links from counting against the 140-character limit of a post. Currently the URL that points to images and sites takes up some of that available space.
Politwoops is back preserving politicians' deleted tweets
Politwoops is back in action, capturing and storing the boneheaded mistakes of politicians around the world. Twitter pulled the plug on the site last June, claiming that it violated user privacy and its terms and conditions. However, newly reinstated CEO Jack Dorsey said that Twitter has a responsibility to aid public transparency and specifically called out Politwoops as the kind of organization he wants to support. After Twitter reinstated the site last week, it's now back online, and its parent, the Open State Foundation has added some features in the interim.
Twitter reinstates Politwoops for cataloging politicians' tweets
Back in June, Twitter pulled the plug on Politwoops, a site that cataloged the idiotic things that politicians post on the social networks. At the time, the company said the website violated its terms of use and that the collection of tweets was a privacy issue. Now, Twitter has reached agreements with The Sunlight Foundation and The Open State Foundation in regards to the site. Politwoops will be able to resume its storing of tweets, both published and deleted, in the US and abroad.
Twitter brings curated 'Moments' to the UK
For years, Twitter has served us text, photos and videos in chronological format, allowing us to keep up with news and events the very minute they happen. That's great if you follow a wide range of people, but when information isn't centralised, it can be hard to stay up-to-date with developments. The company has dabbled with features like "While you were away" recaps, which have been met with mixed responses, but more recently it launched Moments: a feature that makes keeping up with trending topics and news items a whole lot easier. After being let loose in the US in October, Twitter has finally decided it's ready for testing in the UK.
Twitter tests Promoted Tweets for users who aren't logged in
Twitter is looking to expand its advertising reach, and to do so, the company is testing Promoted Tweets for folks who aren't logged in. This means that if you're browsing a profile or viewing a tweet's details, you could see the social network's ads before you enter your log-in info. TechCrunch reports that Twitter is only testing the new practice, and for now it's only doing so on the web. Of course, this means that not only will the ads display for Twitter users who aren't signed in, but also for visitors who don't have an account at all.
Twitter trademark filing lays claim to the word 'subtweet'
It appears the practice of subtweeting has become so popular that Twitter wants to trademark the term. In a recent application, the 140-character social network filed for a trademark on the word "subtweet" (both as one word and two separate words) following Jack Dorsey's return to the CEO chair. The application was posted for opposition on November 19th, giving any other companies or individuals time to dispute Twitter's claim. If granted, the trademark will give the company the ability to approve (or deny) any commercial use of the word. Of course, Twitter will have to make use of it commercially to keep its grip, which is interesting because no one affiliated with social stream seems to have coined the term.[Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Twitter tests emoji reactions for the times a heart won't do
Still bummed that tapping a heart is the only way to show your appreciation, sadness or any other reaction for a tweet? Well, that may change. Twitter user @_Ninji stumbled across emoji reactions in a jailbroken version of the social media app. Despite being included in the developer build, the feature still needs a lot of work, but it does allow users to employ the frown, party noisemaker and 100 emjois (just to name a few) to get their point across. The discovery comes right on the heels of Twitter swapping stars out for hearts when a tweet is favorited, much to the chagrin of most of the internet. Facebook recently added animated options for more appropriate reactions than a simple Like as well. Since the Twitter emojis appear to be a long way from finished, we'd surmise we'll hear more about the tiny pictures in tweets soon enough. Here's to hoping the taco and poop emoji make the cut. We've reached out to Twitter for more information, and we were sent the monkey with its hands over its mouth emoji.
#ICYMI: Freezing lasers, tweeting video games and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-912973{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-912973, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-912973{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-912973").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Microsoft debuts a Kinect-based room mapping system that understands furniture; we watch LEDs change color as they're frozen in liquid nitrogen (because science!) and a programmer creates a game whose code fits into a single Tweet. From the cutting room floor: Google rolls out 60 FPS video playback for its mobile app so now the walkthrough on your phone matches the gameplay on your console. Let the team at Engadget know about any interesting stories or videos you stumble across by using the #ICYMI hashtag @engadget or @mskerryd.
Twitter bars site that kept politicians' boneheaded tweets
Politwoops -- a database of tweets US lawmakers would rather you forget -- has been banished by Twitter for violating its terms of service. The Sunlight Foundation, which created the site (and still operates an EU version) recently tweeted that "Twitter (has)... decided to kill Politwoops. We're sad we're losing this public record of deleted tweets." The site has been tracking politicians since 2012, and occasionally surfaced controversial messages and images that were later retracted. Despite that, many political figures actually praised the site for bringing greater transparency to Washington.
Mobile Google searches now show real-time tweets
Google and Twitter announced a new service today that will allow US mobile users to receive live Tweets -- now that the social network's firehose is connected once again -- in their web searches. For example if you search for Golden State Warriors, Danger 5 or Game of Thrones on your cell phone, their most recent tweets pop up at the top of your search results. Users can also search specifically for, say, "NASA Twitter" to find everything that the space agency has recently tweeted. According to the official Twitter Blog, this feature will be landing on the desktop soon as well as expanding to other countries.
Bloomberg: Twitter is reconnecting its firehose to Google
Tomorrow Twitter will release its latest quarterly earnings figures, but ahead of that Bloomberg has word that the service is bringing its "firehose" of data back to Google's search results. The two have been estranged ever since 2011 when Google announced its agreement to access Twitter's data directly had expired. As a result, it suspended the "realtime" search feature that included up-to-the-minute results from social media. Of course back then Google was still going all-in on Google+, Twitter had expanded relationships with Bing and Yahoo, and webOS was still kicking. Now, Google has backed off of the hard sell for its social media platform, Twitter finally launched a decent search tool and there has been significant turnover in the executives at both companies. According to the report, at some point in the first half of this year Google will again include Tweets as soon as they're posted, so there's one more reason to check for typos before hitting Enter. Update: In another curiously-timed release, The Verge has obtained an internal memo from Twitter CEO Dick Costolo admitting that "we suck" at dealing with online abuse. There's no word on how it will fix its practices going forward, but at least there's recognition of the problem. Update 2: Twitter's Dick Costolo has confirmed the company's deal with Google in its quarterly earnings call. [Image credit: Shutterstock]
Super Bowl hits new tweet record, but Twitter still prefers soccer
Gridiron football isn't exactly a world game, but the spectacle of the Super Bowl still draws nearly a billion viewers who do a heckuva lot of tweeting. It just horse-collared its previous Twitter record with around 28.4 million tweets from around the globe, easily surpassing last year's mark of 24.9 million. This year's edition did have a lot going for it: a tight match, a crazy finish, all those pricy ads and the whole Katy Perry dancing shark hoedown. But despite all that, it still couldn't touch the World Cup, which triggered 32.1 million tweets for the finale and 35.6 million for the Germany vs. Brazil semi-final matchup. And most of those likely involved the game, not a gigantic animatronic tiger.
Twitter lets you share public tweets in your direct messages
Well, that was fast. Twitter casually mentioned at its Analyst Day festivities last week that it'd soon give users the ability to share public Tweets in private conversations, and now a new update to its apps and web clients means you can do just that. Either a long-press on a Tweet or a quick pop into the 'More' menu in Twitter's mobile and desktop versions respectively will let you dump that micro-missive into a Direct Message conversation, where it'll pop up in a tiny card for lightspeed perusal. We can hardly contain our excitement either.
Twitter makes every public tweet searchable
Remember your first tweet? Neither do I, but it was probably something along the lines of "first tweet," or an equally terrible first impression. Twitter has been working on a way to let you sift through every 140-character message sent publicly over its social network, and now the full backlog of short messages is ready for your queries. To make this possible, the company had to scale its tools -- like the real-time index -- during a multi-year project, accommodating not only the existing library, but properly sorting the billions added each week. Of course, this is a gold mine for businesses, sports teams and others who want to see what audiences were discussing at any given time. "We built a search service that efficiently indexes roughly half a trillion documents and serves queries with an average latency of under 100ms," Twitter's Yi Zhuang explains in a blog post. The ability to hunt through the massive index is rolling out to users over the next few days. Inside mobile apps and on the web, the "All" tab of search results will display that full gamut of tweets.
Why Samaritans' app to spot depressed tweets does more harm than good
Last week, counselling charity Samaritans launched Radar, a new social media service that remotely listens in on Twitter conversations and warns you when someone you follow might need emotional support. Radar is already tracking over a million Twitter accounts, and while the idea is a virtuous one, the service has sparked a huge online backlash, with many calling for it to be shut down. But why?
Twitter CFO hints at big changes to how your timeline works
Twitter has already started to look more like Facebook, and it might soon start acting more like it too. You see, company CFO Anthony Noto hinted yesterday that the reverse-chronological firehose of tweets that some users hold so dear may give way to a more curated collection of messages cast into the digital ether. To hear him tell it, the Twitter experience as we know it "isn't the most relevant" to the people who actually use the service (a notion that some people would definitely disagree with). That tidbit was lodged inside a broader conversation (which the Wall Street Journal captured) about improving Twitter's search functionality -- Noto pointed out the need for "an algorithm that delivers the depth and breadth of the content we have on a specific topic and then eventually as it relates to people." Those last few words seem crucial -- it sounds like he wants the Twitter experience to become one where content is tailored and presented differently depending on how relevant it is to the user. In the end, it might wind up getting Twitter a bunch of new users (which is exactly what all those antsy shareholders want to see), but would it really be worth alienating the service's hardcore fans?
Twitter wants everyone to know how many people read their tweets
Publishers and verified users have been able to track view counts on organic tweets since last month, but Twitter is looking to make that data more widely accessible. Today, the microblogging social network revealed that this analytics feature is no longer limited to people or companies with a tiny blue check mark on their profile. The tweet activity dashboard is now also available to users who are active primarily in English, Japanese and Spanish, and have had an account for longer than two weeks. And don't worry, support for additional languages is coming -- Twitter let it be known that it is working to bring its tool to everyone sometime "soon." So, there it is, now you won't have to wonder if anyone's actually reading those thoughtful (and wonderful) tweets of yours.
UK's National Archives now saving tweets and YouTube videos as historic media
Already home to the UK's most iconic national documents from the last millennium, The National Archives is expanding its digital collection by going social. It's begun archiving tweets and YouTube videos published by the UK's ruling parties over the last decade, permanently preserving them as the official public record. Unlike in the US, where the Library of Congress has set about archiving all of America's tweets (and has already collected more than 170 billion messages), the National Archives' sights are firmly set on government accounts. While that may include mundane social updates from the Forestry Commission, HM Revenue and Customs and the Office of Fair Trading, the Archive will also preserve moments of national pride: events including the 2012 London Olympics, the birth of Prince George and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee have all been saved in the digital vault. Right now, the collection includes 7,000 YouTube videos and more than 65,000 individual tweets -- it has the capacity to collect 3,200 tweets at any one time, though, allowing you to trawl announcements of past environmental heath issues, premium bond interest rates and possibly a future British Wimbledon winner at your leisure.
WSJ: Get ready for more ads in your Twitter feed
Tired of seeing inane Promoted tweets in your Twitter feed? Well, if the social media company has its way, you'll likely see much more than that before the year's over. According to the Wall Street Journal, Twitter plans to debut 15 new types of ad products over the next six months as a bid to gain more advertising dollars and mobile game developers over to its side. The first round of advertising will apparently be an app-install ad unit embedded within Twitter's mobile app, which is similar to what Facebook has done. Users will see the ad in the form of an expandable tweet, or Twitter card. When they tap on the ad, they'll be kicked over to Apple's App Store to purchase the application, and will be reeled back to the Twitter app once the download begins. Word is that companies like Spotify are already on board, though that has not yet been confirmed. Details are scant as to the 14 other kinds of advertising Twitter wants to do, but we'll likely see this first attempt in the next few weeks.
