In another attempt to nuke fake news out of orbit and help you distinguish the real Elon Musk or Donald Trump from their false copies, Twitter is testing a new “Original Tweeter” tag.
The company yesterday confirmed the test to TechCrunch, saying that the new label has rolled out to a “small percentage” of iOS and Android users across multiple markets.
Sara Haider, Twitter’s Director of Product Management, said:
Twitter’s purpose is to serve the public conversation. As part of this work, we’re exploring adding more context to discussions by highlighting relevant replies—like those from the original tweeter.
Not only does this new feature make it easier to distinguish the person who started a thread, it also helps curb certain types of abuse on the platform.
Accounts masquerading as other Twitter users has been an annoying problem for sure. That being said, any effort to curb this kind of behavior deserves a thumbs-up, wouldn’t you agree?
Just be careful not to confuse the new “Original Tweeter” tag with Twitter’s existing blue verified badge which lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic.
As you probably know, Twitter’s somehow managed to botch the roll-out of verified badges.
At first, the little blue badge was exclusive to celebrities and well-known users with millions of followers. But when the company expanded the program beyond public figures, it found itself in trouble after it verified accounts belonging to conspiracy theorists and Neo nazi groups.
Because of those woes and missteps, the company’s verified account program is currently on hold and not accepting any new requests at this time.
On a related noted, we reported yesterday that Twitter’s Night Mode, which enables a darkened interface, might soon introduce a pure black setting following user complaints that the app’s Night Mode theme was too blue-ish and not dark or black enough.
So, has this new “Original Tweeter” tag appeared for you yet?
Let us know by leaving a comment down below.