Twitter Inc. will prompt some users to click links to other websites before retweeting them, part of an effort to discourage the spread of misinformation and foster more thoughtful communication on its social network.
"Sharing an article can spark conversation, so you may want to read it before you Tweet it,” the company said in a tweet Wednesday. The prompt will only apply to Twitter users on the Android mobile operating system for now.
The San Francisco-based company is experimenting with other ways to improve user interactions on the service — it’s also running a test where it will ask users to reconsider before they send vulgar tweets.
Sharing an article can spark conversation, so you may want to read it before you Tweet it.
To help promote informed discussion, we're testing a new prompt on Android –– when you Retweet an article that you haven't opened on Twitter, we may ask if you'd like to open it first.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) June 10, 2020
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey promoted the feature with a tweet of his own. "Did you read the article you’re about to spread?” he posted along with the announcement.
At least one high-profile user likes the idea: Tesla Inc. and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whom Dorsey has said is his favorite tweeter. "Great point,” Musk tweeted Wednesday in response to Dorsey’s post. "Many articles are retweeted based on headlines that don’t match the content.”
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