There’s a good reason these platforms are choosing not to stand still. Up-and-coming sites like TikTok are dominating the charts, and if Facebook and its ilk can’t compete, they can’t sell the moneymaking ads that make the platforms free in the first place. Tap or click here to see our guide to TikTok. Out of all the social networks, one stands apart for having fewer features than its competitors: Twitter. The last major update merely increased the character limits of tweets and gave users the ability to hide certain replies, which is why many are thirsty for new features. And now, they’re finally getting their wish with a new option that lets you tweet with your voice.
Twitter finally gives its users an option to voice their ideas
In an unexpected update to the platform, Twitter announced it was adding a new feature that lets you tweet with nothing more than the sound of your voice. Dubbed “Voice Tweets,” the feature allows for a 140-second clip to be recorded within the app itself, which is then shared with all your followers just like a regular text or image tweet. If you go over the time limit, you’ll simply get the option to continue your audio clip in a thread. The idea, according to Twitter, is to “create a more human experience for listeners and storytellers alike.” Unfortunately, no word has been said about whether voice tweets will be moderated or checked for threats or abuse, which violate the platform’s terms of service. Twitter already has a hard enough time keeping an eye on text tweets, which has some worried about how the feature could be misused. Tap or click to see how trolls on Twitter operate. As of now, the feature is only available to a select amount of people with the iOS version of the app. Twitter expects to roll the feature out to everyone else within the coming weeks, so if you don’t have access yet, you won’t have to wait much longer.
I have the feature available in my app! How do I use it?
Tweeting by voice is just as easy as typing out a text tweet. All you need to know are the icons to look for, and the process will become second nature. Here’s how to do it:
Tap the Compose icon in the bottom-right-hand corner of the app.Look for the Audio icon on the left-hand side of the screen. It looks like a cluster of soundwaves and should be next to your photo gallery preview. If you don’t see the icon for whatever reason, that means the feature isn’t fully unrolled for you just yet.Tap the Audio icon and press record. You’ll have 140 seconds to record your voice tweet. If you go over, a thread of multiple voice tweets will be automatically created.Once you’re finished, hit Send Tweet to post to your profile.
Voice tweets add yet another unique way to express yourself online. And for a platform like Twitter, which has been lagging behind its competitors for some time now, it needs all the new features it can get. Otherwise, you might start seeing more people migrate elsewhere for their social entertainment fix.
