As it was with the retweet, the @ reply and the hashtag before it, the tweetstorm has become an officially support part of Twitter, and not just a user-initiated workaround.
On December 12, Twitter unveiled a new feature for people to tether a number of tweets into what was dubbed as a tweetstorm, but what Twitter is titling a “thread.” These threads will be rolled out to users, on both the site and the apps “in the coming weeks,” according to a company blog post.
Before, users had to reply to their own tweets in order to create their own thread, but now, once they’ve created one tweet, they will be able to select a “+” button to create the next tweet in a thread, repeating the process until the thread is finished. Other users will also be able to add their own tweets to the already-published threads.
We’re introducing an easier way to Tweet a thread! pic.twitter.com/L1HBgShiBR
— Twitter (@Twitter) December 12, 2017
Threads will be tweaked how they’ll be shown in people’s feeds. Rather than users feeling like they have to write “1/x” to denote a thread, Twitter will add a “Show this thread” label to the tweets in a thread that people can select to see the complete yarn.
Last month, Twitter officially doubled the max length of a tweet from 140 to 280 characters. This length extension could be risky if people’s Twitter timelines start to resemble an issue of The New Yorker, turning others off who are interested in quick-hit content to help pass the time. But right now, it seems to be paying off. According to a BuzzFeed article published last week, 141-character-or-longer tweets receive more retweets and likes than those that remain within the 140-character confines. But you’ll never know, the novelty of the longer tweets may factor into their popularity and may fade over time.