The benefits of new Twitter quote tweet feature

Early in April Twitter launched a retweet with a comment feature and in adding this functionality it took away the edit tweet option.

If you are a mobile user then the new Twitter quote feature is a welcome improvement. Previously on Twitter for mobile if you wanted to quote someone’s tweet the app placed quotes around the tweet which was ugly and annoying, and it didn’t leave much room for you to add a comment.

If like me, you hated the “quotes” you’d have to do some backspacing and fiddling about to add the traditional RT: to the tweet. If you used Hootsuite or Tweetdeck you could still quote a tweet the usual way by clicking the ‘Edit tweet’ button. The RT: would be automatically placed, all you had to do was add your text although there was still a limit to how much you could say.

With this new feature, the tweet you wish to quote remains intact including static and animated images. The quote is simply embedded in a new tweet allowing you to post a 116 character response. It’s a great feature, it really is.

Say more with revamped quote Tweet! Rolling out on iPhone and web, coming soon to Android. https://t.co/Bcl3E859ne pic.twitter.com/fioAPPi0nW

— Twitter (@Twitter) April 6, 2015

Being able to add more characters should see an increase in engagement and you can track your analytics, as this is a new tweet.

You can’t have layers of embedded tweets, however. If someone links to a tweet that has a tweet in, users will have to click through to the post to see the original tweet. And if your tweet is quoted you will get a notification in the normal way.

If you are in the habit of linking to someone’s tweet to talk smack about them be warned; links are now transformed into quotes so the person whose tweet you linked to will get a notification.

This new feature will also see more users getting credit for their tweets. In the past, someone could click to edit or quote a tweet and completely remove your Twitter handle. Now if someone wants to steal your original thoughts, they will have to copy and paste them into a new tweet.

One drawback is that if you’ve quoted a tweet and the person goes on to delete the original message, your conversation is left looking a little one-sided. No matter how many times a tweet is quoted or retweeted, it will disappear from everyone’s timeline. All you will see is a message that says this tweet has been deleted.

I imagine celebs will find this feature a welcome change, as now if they delete a tweet unless there is a screen capture of said tweet, little proof remains.