Twitter just spiced up engagement a bit within its ‘Communities’. As its latest push, Twitter just gave Community admins the ability to pin Tweets at the top of the Community tab. Twitter Community mods will now have a new ‘Pin to Community Timeline’ option on any Community Tweet, which will then keep that Tweet atop the Community Feed, essentially serving as a ‘Forever Note’.
As Twitter explains:
“Some Tweets deserve the spotlight, which is why mods and admins can now pin their Community Tweets on web. This feature was highly requested and we’re excited to see how you use it. Coming soon — the ability for mods and admins to pin their Community Tweets on iOS and Android!”
Pins and Prompts
The option could help spark more engagement within your Twitter Communities, though whether or not Twitter’s more enclosed Communities option actually fits on the service at all is another question. Thus far, Communities hasn’t really taken off, at least not as much as it was expected to. Part of the reason for this is likely the variance in approach – Twitter had always aimed to be the ‘Public Square’, enabling everyone to have their say on the latest topics. Communities go the other way, limiting that discussion, in hopes of emulating the success as seen in certain Facebook Group examples. So there are certain benefits to niche groups with only niche conversations, but is that format even compatible with Twitter?
To be clear, there is room for such – some users have already created alternate handles for different topics. Say, for example, you’re into UFC and you work in digital marketing, you can then have a separate Feed and audience for your topical Tweets for each. With such a setup, you avoid spamming each community with stuff they wouldn’t otherwise care about. Communities wanted to resolve this, though Twitter does have other, more practical solutions available that better align with its primary use case, as opposed to changing user behaviors and limiting conversations.
Called ‘Facets’, users would be able to Tweet about different topics from the one profile, with their followers then able to select Tweets and elements that they care about or don’t. The added complexity here is that you would need to categorize each Tweet as you post them. This extra ‘friction’ within the process might be the reason why Twitter chose not to push ahead with the project yet. However, the concept does seem to better align with Twitter’s actual use case over Communities.
The Wrap
Do Twitter users really want to limit their Tweet reach for the sake of more immediate discussions based on their key topic areas? Only Twitter knows for sure. Despite claiming that it’s ‘happy’ with the option’s progress, they’ve yet to post official usage numbers.
For now, it all boils down to personal perspective and what value/s you’re currently driving from Twitter Communities. Pinned Tweets could at least help spark a bit more interaction in this respect.
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