Twitter continues down its Twitter 2.0 path in re-animating previous in-development Twitter features. The latest addition to the reframed crew is Twitter’s retired long-form option ‘Notes’ that it now calls ‘Articles’. Shared by journalist Fausto Chou, Twitter is currently testing its reformed ‘Articles’ feature. Twitter looks to reinvent the long-form content option to facilitate a broader range of in-app posting opportunities.
Writing Reform
Twitter originally wanted to give ‘Notes’ the name ‘Articles’, back when the feature was in the early development stage. Twitter Notes had a turbulent launch and an even more turbulent early run.
The Twitter 2.0 team thus far seems more focused on facilitating long-form posting to the main Feed. Twitter Blue subscribers can now post 25k character Tweets, including inline images, essentially replicating the long-form Tweet model of Notes. That seems less intuitive than a separate long-form section, like Notes.
By renaming Notes to Articles, Twitter provides a tacit admission that users prefer a separate long-form experience. While it can continue to push for super-long Tweets, users would not support the expanded functionality. Then again, it could also be another supplementary element as an expanded canvas for longer content.
On that note, Twitter CTO Elon Musk confirms that reformed ‘Articles’ are coming, and they will have no limit. Would that facilitate the creation of more super-long content in the app? It is too early to say. There is no guarantee whether or not Musk and Co. can reform usage habits, making Twitter more universally valuable. Moreover, if Musk and his team do end up reshaping Twitter, it can improve its viability for more applications. Without a doubt, Twitter is trying. Highlighting its efforts, Twitter added new elements like job listings, long-form videos, in-stream payments, and dating profiles.
Musk’s penultimate vision is that Twitter becomes the ‘Everything App’ that facilitates a wide range of varied functionality. For that to happen, it needs to add more options as a starting point to get the ball rolling on each front. It is a tall order, but if anyone can do it, Musk has the best chance. However, cramming years’ worth of backlog development in a few months will have chaotic results.
The Wrap
Whether or not long-form content fits in the app is a question, but that suitability is likely relative to monetization. Whether Twitter can provide an equitable revenue share is another question. If Twitter wants to motivate creators to share more exclusive content in the app, it has to provide better incentives. If Twitter can cross that barrier and host more exclusives, it could be a pathway to building its value. Reformed ‘Articles’ is another element in this broader push.
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