Twitter unveils new Notes feature

Twitter is planning to debut a new feature that will permit the direct posting of long-form content on its network, in what might be one of the company's most important developments since increasing the character limit from 140 to 280 characters. Users will be able to compose long articles which will then be tweeted and shared with followers once published, thanks to Twitter Notes.

According to TechCrunch, the functionality is now being tested with a small group of users ahead of a public introduction.  Twitter has declined to comment on the matter, but promised to provide updates on the functionality as soon as possible.

If widely embraced, Twitter Notes may alter how user use the network to convey more in-depth information.

Users frequently create several Twitter threads to join a series of tweets together as a way of narrative or to clarify any subject that exceeds Twitter's permitted character count. Twitter formally adopted threads in 2017 with the development of a new feature that enabled multitweet postings — or tweetstorms as they're sometimes called — easier to construct and publish as a function of user engagement. According to the company, hundreds of thousands of posts were uploaded per day at the time. That number is likely to have increased since then.

However, while Twitter threads boost engagement by allowing users to explore linked tweets and responses, they can be difficult to navigate, especially for lengthy material. This has led to the creation of useful bots like Thread Reader App, which converts these threads into links with the individual postings written like an article for ease of reading.

Users have also used the Notes app on their smartphone to write long-form text and then sharing a snapshot of their note to get past Twitter's character count restrictions. This is useful for swiftly spreading a message to a wide audience, but it isn't beneficial to Twitter because the text in the image isn't searchable, and hashtags aren't clickable like text submitted directly to the platform.

By enabling users to create long-form content directly on the social network, Twitter Notes might potentially offer a solution to both concerns. This allows people to contribute their opinions like previously, while also allowing them to benefit from the viral diffusion potential that comes with publishing to the site. The Notes would have their own URL and can be tweeted, retweeted, sent in direct messages, liked, and bookmarked, much like tweets.

App researchers like Jane Manchun Wong and others discovered the functionality while testing earlier this year. Researchers discovered that Notes was once known as "Twitter Article."

The feature provided formatting tools in a bar at the top of the screen such as bold text, add italics or strikethrough, ordered lists, insert links, insert media and embedded items, track word count, and more, as seen in images Wong posted in May. The samples revealed that users could add one GIF, one video, or up to four photographs to their post, as well as integrate tweets through links or their own bookmarks.

Wong also mentioned that there was a "Focus Mode" option that would enlarge the content to full screen and hide Twitter's sidebars. She stated that the feature appeared to be well-polished, implying that it was nearing completion.

The Notes feature will be available via users' profiles just to the right of the "Tweets & replies" link and before "Media", app researchers stated.

Watchful.ai, a mobile product intelligence startup, was also able to corroborate the creation of Twitter Notes, which it discovered to be ready for release in the latest edition of the Twitter app. The company also stated that the function was next to "Tweets & Replies," giving it a leading place on user profiles.

Whereas this link allows visitors to browse an account's published Notes, a link added to Twitter's main navigation allows users to create new Notes.