Twitter is making it easier to figure out who's who in a conversation by labelling tweeters in relation to a conversation thread. The micro-blogging service says it will be adding labels to tweet to show users if a person tweeting in a thread is part of the original conversation or a random person chiming in.
The new labels are “Mentioned” and “Following”, which respectively refer to a person mentioned by the original tweeter and tweets by users that the user is following.
The “Mentioned” label would make it easier to communicate with the person a user initially spoke to, especially given Twitter is often used as a platform to call out others.
Twitter had earlier introduced an “original tweeter” label to mark who started the conversation, in reference to how a forum topic starter is called original poster or OP. The practice persists in most Reddit apps.
However it changed the label to a more universal “Author” label to make it accessible to those not familiar with Internet forum terminology.
Techcrunch notes that similar features are being tested on Twitter's invite-only twttr prototype, though in a different way.
There, the original poster is highlighted with a thin grey line next to their tweet, while those the user is following are marked a brighter blue.
The tech website speculates that these features would make long conversations easier to follow while also reduce confusion when trolls or parody accounts – who may seem similar to the original poster – jump in to the conversation.
Source:
TheStar