Twitter Changes March 2018—It’s a Whole New World for Writers

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

I know, the thought of yet another huge shift in an online network makes me tired too. But all these recent changes are in response to dissatisfaction of the network users. And I truly believe that once the dust settles, we’ll all be much happier with the way things work.

We’ve talked at length about the recent changes on Facebook.

Now, as of March 23, Twitter has virtually reinvented itself. 

It really had no choice. Things had gotten out of hand in ways most people weren’t even aware of. For example, they have estimated that approximately 15% of the active twitter accounts weren’t even real people. They were bots, designed to artificially increase visibility, affect trends, and hijack the newsfeed. 

That is the foundational reason that Twitter has now instigated some stringent new rules. Rules that pertain to everyone, even if we weren’t part of the initial problem. So let’s get down to the list of what has changed on Twitter.

Twitter Changes

1. Automation Changes. 

The biggest change has come along the path of automated programs, such as Hootsuite, Buffer, and yes, Thunderclap. Twitter is no longer allowing the programs to post the exact same tweets to multiple accounts. 

Let me give you an example. I have two Twitter accounts that I manage that are very similar in audience type: Edie Melson and BRMCWC. Both accounts are places that I share valuable writing and publishing information. 

Because of this change, I cannot compose a single tweet about a link I find valuable and schedule it to send to both accounts. Even if I send it at different times or on different days, it’s not allowed. 

What I can do:

I have two options open for this change. 

• I can retweet the information shared on Edie Melson from the BRMCWC account. 
• I can compose a different tweet about the same link. 

2. Simultaneous actions.

We also are no longer allowed to simultaneously perform the same action (likes, retweet or follows) from multiple accounts. This isn’t something I’ve ever done, but I want to be thorough. 

We can leave our scheduling program, sign in and out of accounts, and do this. But that’s extremely labor intensive and I’m uncertain that it would ever be really worth the effort.

3. Sending the same tweet over and over again. 

A lot of accounts do this. They find a tweet that performs well and send it out several times over the course of a month or so. I have never recommended doing this, simply because if the same person sees it multiple times, they can be irritated or just begin to ignore that account because of the lack of fresh content. 

That said, I don’t consider this behavior—within moderation—to be a spammy use of Twitter. It builds on the fact that less than 16% of our audience is online at any given time. But Twitter didn’t ask me, so we’re stuck with abiding by their rules. 

What I can do:

I can rephrase the tweet I want to send and use the variations to abide by the rules while still reaching a larger portion of my online audience.

Twitter has been vague about when and if a tweet can ever be repeated. It may come out that it can’t be repeated within a certain time frame, but Twitter has been quiet on that point. We’ll just have to take a wait and see attitude.

4. Change in the Twitter Newsfeed

This change actually occurred some time ago (the end of last year). But it’s so subtle that a lot of people haven’t noticed. 

Twitter now organizes your newsfeed in a very specific manner. 

First, there are several popular tweets from accounts you follow.

Next, there’s a section of “in case you missed it” tweets that have been recently popular from the accounts you follow.

Finally, there is the orderly list of current tweets—in the order they were sent out. 

Once you realize how your newsfeed is organized, you can move through the sections that don’t interest you and on to the things you wish to see. 

At the foundation of these changes is the outcry from users to get rid of advertising and return us to person-to-person connections. That is only a positive move for us as writers. The more real our connection with our audience, the more loyal they’ll be and the more we can cement our relationship. 

Now it’s your turn. What is your opinion about all these changes? What questions do you have? Leave your comments in the section below and let’s learn together!

Don’t forget to join the conversation!

Blessings,

Edie

TWEETABLES

Twitter Changes March 2018—It’s a Whole New World for Writers (and everyone else too) - @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Twitter has also made some major changes as of March 23, how writers can continue to connect with readers - @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)