Twitter has been a solid player in the social media landscape for over a decade, but surprisingly little has changed since it first launched in 2006. However, this past week has been a tumult of activity for Twitter. Adding new features and testing others, not to mention dealing with the accounts of the inactive and the dead–it’s been busy lately in Twitter’s nest.
- Twitter: ‘My boyfriend died but I still like to read his tweets’ [BBC] “Earlier this week, Twitter revealed it was planning to remove inactive Twitter accounts and “free up” usernames. It led to a backlash from people like Adam who didn’t want the accounts of loved ones who had died being deleted. Yesterday, Twitter announced it was pausing the plan until a process for ‘memorialising’ users’ accounts was in place – which Adam says is ‘good news.'”
- Twitter launches a Privacy Center to centralize its data protection efforts [TechCrunch] ” The new site, the Twitter Privacy Center, will host information about Twitter’s initiatives, announcements and new privacy products, as well as other communication about security incidents. “
- Twitter begins testing Reddit-style nested conversations [Engadget] ” Following conversations in the din of Twitter isn’t the simplest of tasks, but it’s about to get easier. A new conversation tree feature with nested replies is being tested on the platform and is set to roll out in 2020.”
- Twitter makes global changes to comply with privacy laws [Reuters] “
The changes, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2020, will comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The California law requires large businesses to give consumers more transparency and control over their personal information, such as allowing them to request that their data be deleted and to opt out of having their data sold to third parties.
From the Ohio Web Library:
- Teen Fiction Twitter Is Eating Its Young ( SINGAL, J. (2019). Teen Fiction Twitter Is Eating Its Young. Reason, 51(2), 58. )
- Weathering the Twitter Storm: Early Uses of Social Media as a Disaster Response Tool for Public Libraries During Hurricane Sandy ( Han, S. (2019). Weathering the Twitter Storm: Early Uses of Social Media as a Disaster Response Tool for Public Libraries During Hurricane Sandy. Information Technology & Libraries, 38(2), 37–48 )
- Moments Without Truth ( FRIEDMAN, N. (2019). Moments without Truth. New Republic, 250(11), 22. )
