Twitter taps into its roots with Status feature test

Source: Twitter

The latest Twitter experiment allows users to assign one of several pre-written labels to tweets. In theory, it would seem to replace the emojis users typically add to tweets regarding topics they're talking about and saves them a few characters. Like a spool of thread emoji signifies "A thread" is coming, a warning sign emoji is a label for spoilers, and a mic is used for "AMAs."

According to a Twitter spokesperson, the feature is designed to give a bit more context. They said, "whether you are about to drop a hot Tweet thread, share your shower thoughts, or have a bad case of the Mondays, your Tweets can better convey what you are up to." The status labels are predetermined, so you can't make your own.

App researcher Jane Manchun Wong spotted the feature within Twitter's code. It showed then that Statuses could be attached to a tweet or profile. But the latest test only links it to specific tweets. You can click on a status to find other tweets that contain the same words.

As The Verge pointed out, this feature is reminiscent of what Twitter was when it started. The social site's co-founder Biz Stone highlighted in a blog post from over a decade ago that it was initially conceived as a "mobile status update service" that lets people share what they were up to at any time. Stone admitted in 2009 that Twitter has outgrown this and has become a more general-purpose information network. This new experimental feature feels like a nod to that past. 

It is unclear if Twitter plans to roll this out to more users. But it is one of the many features the social media site is trying out.