Twitter Is Expanding Beyond 280 Characters by Testing “Notes”

Have more to say on Twitter than you can fit in 280 characters? Twitter is testing a new way to let you do that, and your followers won’t have to leave the app to read it.

Twitter is testing the Notes feature for writers who want to produce longer content. So, what are Notes all about, and how do they work?

Twitter Is Testing the Notes Feature

Twitter is testing the Notes feature among a small group of writers. Notes allow you to share longer content with your followers, similar to how you’d retweet or quote a tweet. The best part is that you can create and publish your notes without leaving Twitter, and readers won’t be redirected to a different platform when they open them.

This is significant because thought leaders and writers take to Twitter daily to share their expertise and advice on topics their audiences care about. Notes will allow them to do that more efficiently and organize their content better, as they will have a dedicated place for their followers to find it.

If you follow someone whose tweets you never want to miss, consider adding them to a Twitter List, so you can isolate and check their latest tweets when you want to. Find out how to use Twitter Lists to organize important tweets and unclutter your feed.

How Twitter Notes Work

Writers create notes in Twitter’s composer tool, Twitter Write. When a writer shares a note, it will appear as a Note Card, which is a preview of the Note, similar to how shared article links appear on Twitter. Unlike tweets, writers can edit their Notes after publishing them.

The card will show you the image of the Note, the writer’s handle, and the Note’s title. You’ll have to click on the card to read the Note. You can access a writer’s Notes by clicking on the Notes tab on their Twitter profile on the web platform, but only if you’re in a country where Twitter is running the test.

If you are, you might run into Note cards on your Home timeline if you follow someone who’s a part of the test. You might also come across them if your followers retweet, quote, or share the link to a Note Card. If you’ve taken Elon Musk’s advice and switched to a chronological feed, consider switching back to an algorithmic feed. This will allow you to see tweets that Twitter believes are relevant to you.

Participants can also share the links to their Notes with friends outside of Twitter who can read them even if they don’t have a Twitter account. Don’t want to miss out on what’s happening on Twitter? Here’s how to use Twitter without an account.

Who Can See or Use Twitter Notes?

As Twitter Notes are still in the testing phase, they are only available to a limited group of participants and can be viewed by users in participating countries. Users in non-participating countries will not be able to see Note Cards on their timelines. Twitter has not advised which countries are included or excluded at the time of writing.

Twitter Notes Encourage Creative Expression

Like many social media apps, Twitter is used by writers and public figures with a lot to say. Notes allow them to organize their thoughts and share them with followers better than they can through tweets and Twitter threads.

They also allow more people to express their creativity through words. This means Notes could give rise to a new set of creators in addition to those who produce visual content.