Call it #WeirdTwitter or anything you want – it’s a whole different platform as of Tuesday. The social platform heralded for its micro bursts of news and updates just doubled-down on the visual web. Images once attached as pic.twitter.com now show up directly in people’s feeds. There is no more need to click on the tweet to reveal the image in the card.
In the short term, it’s anarchy:
What You Need to Know:
- Tweet previews (the name for images in timelines) do not require links anymore, saving character space in tweets.
- Tweet “actions” (reply, retweet, email) are now available directly from the home timeline.
Twitter’s update is here.
It’s also worth pointing out that there is now essentially display advertising on Twitter – but without the additional spend. Brands will still pay to promote but are getting a much bigger “bang for buck” on a tweet that now has an image embedded.
Smart brands need to take advantage of this sea change and think of how to utilize this new real estate. Good (and bad) content is going to be much more visible so plan accordingly. That means, start thinking about bulking up those visual assets including:
- Strong photography
- Infographics
- Compelling charts
- Vines that start with an interesting scene
- Playful uses of the new real estate (mazes, visual tricks)
Start your planning and content creation now and be one of the first to take advantage. But remember, do it well! People are sensitive to this change and bad content will get attention too.
Good luck to you in this brave new world.
