On account of the US elections, Twitter users across the globe have witnessed a recent change in their option to retweet. Out of the many changes, one very evident change is a prompt to use ‘quote tweet’ in place of ‘retweet’ for its users until the US elections. Amidst numerous complaints by the users against this change, Twitter has declared that this was mainly done to urge and allow people to share their individual opinions on the US elections. However, it has confirmed that users are still allowed to use the retweet option without having to add any comment when prompted for.
US Elections Affects Changes on Twitter
Earlier in the month, Twitter proclaimed that it is trying to implement a change in the action of retweeting, beginning from October 20 until the end of the week of US elections. Consequently, the change has been applied. When users want to retweet, it is automatically put into the ‘quote tweet’ mode. Users are given an opportunity to voice their personal views in front of their followers, along with the retweet.
Today we’re rolling out the updates that encourage more thoughtful amplification of Tweets, and that add more context to content.
This is part of our approach to limit the spread of misleading information during #Election2020. For more on this approach and these updates (1/2): /1GrJLOYQ78
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) October 20, 2020
Twitter users do not seem happy with this change. Many users believe that the prompt cannot stimulate thoughtful conversation regarding US elections.
Following the backlash, Twitter has released a statement to clarify the implementation of the retweet change. They announced that the users can retweet, as they normally did earlier. It is not mandatory for users to add anything in QT (‘quote tweet’) composer while attempting to retweet.
Rise of Fake News Ahead of US Elections
Twitter has also taken active initiatives to label misleading information from political personalities like US election candidates and campaigners. Users are encouraged to retweet verified information and withdraw from sharing misleading data. Moreover, Twitter intends to carefully monitor accounts belonging to users from the US with over 1 million followers. They will also keep a close eye on tweets that receive “significant engagement”.
