Story by Melanie Leach
Twitter announced a mobile update on March 26 that allows users to upload more than one photo into a single tweet.
Instead of cramming photos into miniscule collages people can hardly see, users can now add four pictures to one tweet.
Once the tweet is submitted, it appears as a collage. Users are able to touch a photo and slide to the next, fully utilizing the new ability to view multiple photos in a larger form.
“I think the ability to post multiple pictures is very convenient,” said first-year Zachary Britton.
As this was released directly following spring break, students may have found the new feature a necessity in enabling them to post several pictures from their time off in one step..
An added bonus is the ability for users to tag up to 10 followers in the pictures they past to the Internet.
Cesar Puerta, who posted the change onto Twitter’s blog, wrote that the goal is to “make photos on Twitter more social.”
The benefits of this allow users to keep all 140 characters strictly for words instead of cutting down a tweet to mention those in the picture.
Drake student Stephanie Igielski said she finds the update encouraging because the tagging allows others to determine who is who in each photo. This distinction could not be made prior to the latest update.
“It’s good because it allows you to say more without wasting characters. I don’t post a lot of pictures, but if I do, it will allow me to not be as limited with my characters,” said Erik Nielsen.
People may think Twitter is integrating itself too quickly and is too similar to Facebook.
The differences that users enjoyed are frequently changing to accommodate a number of needs expressed by users.
Although some of these changes may be positive, many users, including Drake students, agree that they enjoy Twitter as a strict newsfeed of events. Britton said he believes that while Facebook tries to doo too much, Twitter is more focused on their goals.
Some Twitter users fear incorporating more pictures is too similar to the feature of having albums on Facebook.
However, students do not feel that the overall purpose of Twitter is shifting to the specific functions of Facebook.
Twitter still has its own focus and creates a different online environment for the energetic and demanding world of today.
“Right now, I like the way (Twitter) is,” Britton said. “There are still enough differences between the two. In the updates, I think it is a goal to stay as close to the original idea as possible.”
Twitter will continue to have its own, less-personal characteristics.
“I like that you don’t have to be mutual friends (as on Facebook),” Nielsen said. “You can follow someone, and they don’t have to follow you back.”
Although there were mixed reactions about Twitter’s new changes, the avid users seem the most willing to begin using features made possible through the update.
Only time will tell how popular each of these “benefits” prove to be.
