An edit button (but on one condition), a setting to disable Spaces and other extra features, a proper way to display large-height images, and ability to show bold text, are at the top of my wishlist.
Did you know that in the 19th century a slang phrase “all in a twitter” described being in a fright or fidgety state?
Well, I am all in a twitter right now, because I don’t know where the network will evolve and whether I will accept the changes.
I joined Twitter 15 years ago. Since that time, I tried to embrace other platforms and social media management tools, but was always coming back, despite the network’s ups and downs.
Twitter is still the only social network I use every day. And I spend no less than an hour a day reading my timeline and looking for content ideas. I don’t tweet a lot, I’m one of the passive heavy users.
It’s not a perfect place, though. The biggest problem I have is with new features that are being introduced without giving users any choice.
Here are the things that would make Twitter a better place (well, at least for me).
Twitter improvements and features – my wishlist
Manage Spaces and other new tools
When Twitter introduced Fleets and Spaces, users had no way to get rid of them. Not everyone likes to be prompted to take part in a currently running conversation. Why should I look for tricks to disable Fleets or Spaces sticking to the top of my timeline?
I don’t know why Twitter is doing it, but it has to change. And it’s not as hard as going to the Moon and back.
Just like other networks do, simply add in the settings section a button that will let users disable Spaces, Fleets, Teslas, or any other new or tested tool.
Twitter should make it a rule: any newly introduced feature is optional.
Edit tweets
Everyone would love to have a chance to correct a typing error or change the wrongly picked Twitter handle.
But, obviously, editing social updates is a gigantic, seen from outer space, “welcome” sign for manipulations. You post a tweet with a cute cat, get 1,000 retweets, and then change the text to claim that not only the Earth is flat, but also the Moon.
There are many ideas to reduce the level of manipulation resulting from tweet editing. However, one thing is worth considering more than others: an edit history right below the tweet.
This edit history should be displayed right under the edited tweet. A button “see the edit history” is not a solution. A warning saying “this tweet has been edited” is not a solution either. Both ways will let users see the previous version(s) of the tweet only if they perform an action.
Users should see the edit history without taking any action. It will force tweet authors to think twice before making any edit.
Additionally, when you make an edit, the likes and retweets start counting from zero. The edit history should display the number of likes and retweets received by each specific version.
Here is how it could look like:
Properly display images that have uncommon proportions
Twitter is not an image-focused network, and I don’t expect to see the full-resolution images right in the timeline, no matter how long or wide they are.
Right now, if someone posts a long infographic, you see in your timeline a terribly blurred, unpleasant preview. When you open it, the image fits the display no matter how long or wide it is. You have to pinch to zoom it. The longer the image, the worse resolution it has.
Proper image handling is not something beyond the now cosmic technology Twitter will offer. Just show the high-resolution preview in the timeline. In an image view, show it with its original width, with the ability to scroll down to see the rest.
User friendly search
Twitter search is far from being perfect.
Saved search phrases appear at the bottom of the search drop-down list. They deserve to have a separate tab or list. It would be especially helpful for users who, like me, use Twitter as a content discovery tool.
If you search for a phrase, and select the “Photos” or “Videos” tab, you will only see the top results. There should be a way to see the latest photos or videos as well.
When you save the search, it appears as a long sequence of search operators. Why not allow users to give their advanced searches specific titles?
Send tweets to multiple accounts
Sending tweets to multiple accounts is nothing more than spam, I fully agree with that.
However, I would welcome an option to send at one time a tweet that I manually write for each of my Twitter accounts. In fact, any way to manually write or adjust tweet content already gives a quite good level of spam protection.
There could also be a condition that tweets sent to multiple accounts at the same time should not be the same.
Display bold font
You can use millions of emoticons in a tweet, but you can’t have the bold font.
I’m not asking for an advanced text-editor-style formatting bar in a tweet composer. What I’m asking for is a simple way to bold or italicize the text.
Write **bold text** to see the bold text.Write *italic text* to see the italic text.Yes, it’s basic Markdown. What’s more, you can explain it in one short sentence under the tweet composer.
More efficient and user-friendly way to introduce new features
Every time Twitter introduced something new (a new shape of a retweet button, a new font, or a new feature like Fleets or Spaces), I was asking myself why they had to do it in such an unfriendly way.
I understand it could be also intended to make people talk, but forcing users to accept the changes is not what freedom is about.
Social networks have to evolve to meet new needs, but other networks do it better than Twitter.
Twitter can introduce any new feature or design they feel users will love – but users should have the right to decide.
If I try the new feature or design and don’t like it, I should have the option to go back to the old one, at least for some time. It’s the basics that Twitter for some reason does not apply.
Keep exploring. Here are other posts about applications:
[gu-archive number=5 tag=”applications”]
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