The Twitter Updates You Need to Know in 2023

If you're a social media manager, content creator, or small business owner who manages a brand Twitter account, chances are that the platform has felt a lot like the Wild Wild West lately.

In 2022, Elon Musk announced his acquisition of Twitter, and since then, there have been significant changes to the platform that have had huge implications on how brands should create content for and grow an online presence on the platform. Keep reading for a rundown on all of the changes.

Since acquiring Twitter, new features, changes, and updates include:

‍#1 The Introduction of Twitter Blue

One of the first changes Elon Musk announced upon his acquisition and appointment as CEO was Twitter Blue. This paid subscription offers a range of premium features and that ever-so-coveted blue verification badge.

Twitter Blue includes a range of perks, including account security and priority in replies, mentions & searches. But of all the perks afforded to Twitter Blue subscribers, the most exciting might be the ability to (finally) edit tweets and an extended new character limit.

Edit Tweets - Twitter Blue subscribers no longer have to face the embarrassment of sharing a tweet with a typo and having to delete and repost it, thanks to their new editing feature. The only caveat is that you can only edit tweets in a limited time frame. For example, if you want to make small changes like addressing typos or adding tags, you'll have to do it shortly after you publish the tweet. Paid subscribers have early access to this new editing tweets feature, which may become a standard feature for all Twitter users.

New Character Limit - Ever wonder how some users can share SUPER long tweets, but you're still limited to Twitter's standard 280-character count? Here's your answer! Twitter Blue subscribers can now share tweets with up to 10,000 characters.

#2 The Newsfeed

Twitter has replaced its classic "Home" and "Latest" tabs to introduce its new 'For You' and 'Following' tabs. Like Instagram's recent re-introduction of multiple feeds, including their classic chronological feed, the 'following' tab only shows tweets from people you know. The 'for you' tab shows tweets from accounts you don't follow as recommended based on the algorithm.

‍#3 More Metrics

Twitter has updated the number of metrics you can see under each tweet. Previously, you'd only see the number of times a tweet was liked or retweeted. With this new update, you can now see the number of replies, likes, retweets, bookmarks, and views for each tweet on your feed.

‍#4 Topic Tags

Twitter has also introduced topic tags, which enable users to follow topics they're interested in.

‍How it works: From your profile menu, on your Home timeline, and in search results, you'll see prompts to follow various Topics. You can follow the Topic, and Twitter will share relevant Tweets, events, and ads on your feed. This feature opens great marketing possibilities, who can leverage topics to indicate trending topics they should cater to in their content to reach their desired audience.

‍#5 Twitter Circle

Twitter Circle is similar to the close friends feature on Instagram. With Twitter Circle, accounts can share certain content with a small portion of their audience, up to 150 people. You choose who's in your Twitter Circle, and only the individuals you've added can reply to and interact with the Tweets you share in the circle.

#6 React to Tweets with Video

Twitter is taking a page out of TikTok's book by introducing a feature that enables users to react to tweets with a video. Instagram also introduced this feature in 2022, and it has been widely popular on these platforms due to how it directly engages followers. From a marketing standpoint, this feature gives creators and brands an effective way to introduce more video into their Twitter content.

‍#7 Alt Text and Image Descriptions

Talk about a win for content accessibility! You can now add alt text and image descriptions to tweets, enabling more diverse people to see your content and offering excellent SEO opportunities to help your brand become more discoverable on Google.

‍#8 Twitter Subscriptions

Over the last few years, social media platforms have been making a more concerted effort to support creators in monetizing their content. Twitter's subscription feature is their effort to join this conversation.

Twitter accounts can now offer their followers the option to subscribe to receive exclusive content on the app. Subscribers receive badges on their replies to the person they've subscribed to. Currently, you must apply to access this feature.

‍Takeaways

As you can see, many changes are happening at Twitter, with more changes likely as Elon Musk embarks on his mission to make Twitter what he likes to call the 'everything app.' Whether these updates are better or worse, PLANOLY supports you with features that make it easy to manage your Twitter presence. PLANOLY's multi-channel workspace allows you to customize, schedule, and auto-post content for up to 7 channels in one central planning view.

‍Try PLANOLY with our 7 day free trial and start planning your content strategies in the multi-channel workspace!