Twitter wants writers to publish longform content with ‘Notes’

Twitter has finally shown off its long-rumored feature for long form writing. The company confirmed that it’s beginning to test a new “Notes” feature, which will allow writers to publish freeform content on Twitter without a character limit.

Notes are essentially blog posts that appear within Twitter without the typical limitations of a tweet. There are no character limits, and writers can embed photos, videos and other tweets within a Note. Writers can also share their Notes via tweets, and their published Notes will appear on their Twitter profiles.

Notes could significantly change how writers interact with their followers, and give them more flexibility than the typical tweetstorm. In a Note announcing the launch, Twitter’s editorial director Rembert Browne wrote that Notes are meant to give writers an alternative to the lengthy threads without having to publish writing elsewhere and share it back to Twitter. “Since the company’s earliest days, writers have depended on Twitter to share their work, get noticed, be read, create conversation — everything but the actual writing,” Browne wrote. “With Notes, the goal is to fill in that missing piece and help writers find whatever type of success they desire.”

For now, the feature is available to a “small group of writers” from Canada, Ghana, the United Kingdom, and the United States, though the company says it will eventually expand the test group as it gathers feedback. Notes is part of a broader push by Twitter to build features for writers. With the change, the company is also bringing Revue, the newsletter company it acquired last year, into its new “Twitter Write” group, which encompasses notes and newsletters. So far, it’s unclear how Revue newsletters may be incorporated into Notes.

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Instagram is testing a new full-screen TikTok-like feed

Instagram is testing a new full-screen version of Instagram’s feed that would make scrolling through posts look and feel a lot more like TikTok. Mark Zuckerberg shared a preview of the test on his Instagram Story, saying that the new look would be available to some people “soon.”

The app began testing a version of a “full-screen” feed last month, but in that test feed posts didn’t actually take up the entire screen of the app. But with the latest version shared by Zuckerberg, posts extend all the way to the top of the screen, much as they do on TikTok. The new look also tweaks the shortcuts for accessing your inbox and creating new posts.

Though still an experiment, the new look is in-line with Meta’s stated desire to make competing with TikTok a top priority. On instagram, that’s meant inserting more Reels and “suggested” content into users feed, as well as emphasizing video more than static images. “Photos are still an important part of Instagram, and we’re working on ways to improve the way they show up in a full-screen Feed too,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Meta is also planning a major revamp of Facebook’s app that would insert more “recommended” content in users’ feeds, rather than posts from friends and pages they follow. Zuckerberg has said the changes are part of broader pivot toward AI-driven recommendations rather than simply relying on users existing social graphs.

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Meta rolls out parental supervision tools for Quest VR headsets

Meta is introducing new parental supervision features for Quest virtual reality headsets and Instagram. The VR safety tools, which were announced in March, are rolling out worldwide. 

The parental supervision process needs to be initiated on a teen’s account (the minimum age to have a Facebook account is 13). A Parent Dashboard in the Oculus app will allow parents and guardians to block apps (including web browsers), see a list of apps on the teen’s account and view their friends list. A teen can ask to buy an age-restricted app, then their parent can approve or deny the request. Parents can also view headset screen time, receive alerts when an app is purchased and block the Link and Air Link features to stop teens from using PC content on their headset.

On top of that, Meta is debuting a parent education hub, which includes information about the VR supervision options. The company says it worked with industry experts, teens, parents and policymakers on these controls. It will refine the tools over time.

At the start of this year, the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK said it would hold talks with Meta over how Quest 2 complies with a children’s code that’s designed to protect young users. These new measures could go some way toward addressing the watchdog’s concerns.

Meanwhile, Instagram’s parental supervision tools, which launched in the US in March, will arrive in the UK, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Canada, France and Germany this month with some expanded options. Parents can now invite teens to set up supervision tools (rather than requests solely coming from teen accounts).

Parents and guardians can limit access to Instagram at certain times by scheduling breaks. They can view more details about an account or post their teen reports, including the person in question and the type of report. They can also see which users their teen follows and who follows them. Instagram plans to roll out the tools globally later this year.

In the UK and Ireland, Instagram is testing a nudge feature. Teens will be encouraged to look at different posts if they spend too much time with the same kind of content in the Explore tab. The aim is to prompt them to be more mindful of their Instagram use. As part of a different test, teens in certain countries may see a prompt to turn on the Take a Break feature after watching Reels for a while.

Elsewhere, Instagram is adding more resources to its educational Family Center. There’s a new page that provides teens with details about privacy settings for Quest, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger. Parents and guardians can access information about how to talk to kids about online safety issues.