Twitter tests CoTweets, co-authored tweets

Twitter is testing a new feature, called CoTweets, that lets any two users collaborate and expand their reach beyond their own followers.

It is a limited test, available to select accounts in the U.S., Canada and Korea.

Share a Tweet, share the cred.

Now testing CoTweets, a new way to Tweet together. pic.twitter.com/q0gHSCXnhv

— Twitter Create (@TwitterCreate) July 7, 2022

Why we care. Marketing is all about getting in front of your target audiences. If CoTweets roll out to more accounts, expect to see many brands and businesses experimenting with it in an attempt to gain additional engagement, visibility/brand awareness and new followers.

What is a CoTweet. A CoTweet is a tweet that has two authors’ profile pictures and user names. A CoTweet appears on both users’ profiles and is shown to all of their followers. 

Only the first tweet in a thread can be a CoTweet. A CoTweet can include:

• Polls.
• GIFs.
• Images.
• Videos.
• Links.

How it works. Here’s what Twitter has revealed about how it works:

• One author creates the tweet by selecting the CoTweet icon, then invites a co-author, who receives it via direct message (DM).
• A co-author must follow you and have a public account.
• If the co-author accepts the invitation, the CoTweet is published to each account’s profile and in the timelines of their followers.
• You can’t edit a CoTweet once the invitation is sent. You have to delete the tweet and start over.
• If the co-author declines the invitation, the CoTweet invitation will be deleted.
• There is no limit on how many CoTweet invites you can send.
• You can block any accounts from sending you a CoTweet request.

If you author a CoTweet but no longer want to be associated with it for some reason, your only option is to delete the tweet.

If you are the co-author of a CoTweet and want to remove yourself, you would select the three dots on the CoTweet, then Revoke CoTweet. 

You can read more in Twitter’s Help Center.

All CoTweets could go away. Twitter warned that “At the end of this experiment, we may turn off this feature and any CoTweets that were created may be removed.” 

So, assuming Twitter considers this experiment a failure, any content that people in the test group may simply be deleted. 

This warning seems odd, given their argument that an edit button would “alter the record of the public conversation.” Wouldn’t Twitter deleting CoTweets alter that record as well?

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