Twitter confirmed on Tuesday that the tweetstorm feature we first heard about in September will be rolling out to all users. What Twitter more appropriately calls “threading,” or posting a series of comments one after the next to form longer thoughts, will soon become much easier.
Instead of publishing a post and replying to it with a comment, effectively stringing multiple posts into one messy story, users can now quickly put a series of drafts together and publish them all at once.
How to post a tweetstorm using the thread feature
To use the feature, create a new tweet as usual by pressing the circular feather icon. Once you’re done writing your first tweet, select the newly-added + icon to the right of the circle that’s meant to tell you how many characters you have left. This will create a new space for you to write a second tweet below the original. You can press the + icon to add up to 25 total tweets, which, with the newly expanded character limit, means you can now post 7,000 characters at one time. Twitter told the Daily Dot that number may change depending on how the feature is used.
We’re introducing an easier way to Tweet a thread! 👇 pic.twitter.com/L1HBgShiBR
— Twitter (@Twitter) December 12, 2017
Once you’re finished drafting your tweetstorm, select the “tweet all” button in the top right corner of the app. If you want to update a thread later, open it, and select “add another tweet.” Twitter says users will be able to tap “show this thread” to more easily find and read threaded tweets.
Another fundamental change shortly following the expansion of the 140-character limit to 280, threading gives users more flexibility than ever. It seems like it could be a useful tool for anyone covering an event, posting their complex thoughts on a topic, or wanting to vent with a raging tweetstorm, though it’s sure to be criticized by those who feel Twitter is undermining what made the app special: a restricted format that encouraged brevity. Whether it has a significant effect on how people use the app remains to be seen, but it’s clear Twitter is no longer afraid to change the stagnant formula that has defined the social platform over the last decade.
Threads will become available to iOS, Android, and Twitter.com in the “coming weeks.”