4 Recent Twitter Updates You Should Be Aware Of Right Now

By @TheMarkDalton

Moving on from Twitter’s recent bleak outlook, Twitter is still very much loved by the people who use it and it is one of the most well known social media platforms on the planet despite its troubles. Here are 4 new Twitter updates that you should be aware of.

Verified Profiles

Verified accounts were once something that only elite account holders could nab. The original idea for verified accounts was that they would help users distinguish genuine high profile accounts from the fakes. Verified accounts then trickled from celebrities to people who may be of a public interest. Until recently, you were selected by Twitter to be verified but now all that has changed.

Twitter recently announced a verification application process which is open to all users. You can find full details along with the form to fill out for verification below.

https://support.twitter.com/articles/20174631

Keep in mind that this application is a request for verification, there is no guarantee that you will receive a blue tick if your account does not meet the criteria.

Verified accounts offer more granular control over direct message settings and advanced notification filters which can help to reduce spam and cyberbullying. However for many it is simply a vanity move with little value. The value of the blue tick itself has been lowered by Twitter over time and while it is nice if you can get one, they are a lot more common now than they were before.

Sporting Events

Twitter has been hot on snapping up deals for sporting events recently. They have inked deals with the MLB, NHL and NFL. Yesterday it was announced that Twitter had reached a deal with Sky to show clips and highlights in near real time on the platform.

The NBA has also come to an agreement to broadcast exclusive content to Twitter and the more significant deal of them all is that Twitter will stream Thursday Night Football from the NFL. If you are a massive NFL fan like I am then you will know how significant that deal is.

New iOS Tweet Composer

Twitter is also testing a redesign of the tweet composer in iOS to make it more user friendly. The new look will cause the app to behave more like the website and the composer will be pushed to the top of the timeline along with a camera icon.

This is still in the experimental stage so there is no word if or when it may make it out to the public however the change could help people share on Twitter more often and easier than before.

Android Night Mode

For Android users, Twitter now has a night mode. Night mode for Twitter will shift the white background to a deep navy and turns all the text white. There is no option to automatically toggle due to time of day or lighting conditions, it is all manual at the moment but it is great to see the feature being implemented none the less.

Simply grab the latest version of the app from Google Play to be able to make use of the new night mode feature on Android.