It seems like Twitter is slowly turning into Facebook, especially with its new update featuring article previews auto-expanding on mobile devices.
Twitter now lets publishers put a large image, an introductory text, and the link of the full article. This auto-expanding feature in your timeline is Twitter's latest update and it is available on Android and iOS devices. This new feature will make Twitter more visually richer. It may appear busier for people with low tolerance to autoplay and GIFs.
The update will automatically show content previews to outside sites by sharing the links on Twitter. It is almost identical to how Facebook does it. This new feature is not for everyone, however.
Only publishers who have Twitter's summary cards can display these auto-expanding feature. Summary Card with Large Image allows publishers to include a large, full-width prominent image with a tweet.
If the auto-expand goes platform-wide, it will signal a new era for Twitter. It will transform from a text-focused site to a more visual platform. Twitter started its auto-expand feature in 2013.
Recently, it introduced its autoplay video. Why did they do this? Advertisers will pay more money if images and video contents are shown to customers. This new feature will engage more users, but its timeline will net less useful information as people browse it.
It is expected that more publishers will avail this new feature. Advertisers will also be taking advantage of it. Publishers and advertisers found out that by adding images to their links the engagement metrics go up drastically. It is clear that this move is all about the money.
Not many users will be happy about this though, because they know that there will be less useful information as they scroll down their timeline. What they will see will be big, dumb pictures, instead of texts and vital information.
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