Twitter testing removal of public like, retweet counts

March 14, 2019

Twitter has recently rolled out their latest prototype to its first batch of testers and now, thanks to TechCrunch, we have our first look at what the future of Twitter could hold for us. The biggest change we could see? The removal of public like and retweet counts on tweets, allowing only the user to see that data.

Find out more about the potential Twitter changes, below.

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Today’s version and the prototype build called “Twttr” share many similarities, with the most noticeable changes involving conversations threads with the hope of making longer threads easier to read.

Users wishing to engage with a tweet within the “Twttr” test version are required to take an extra step, needing an extra tap in order to bring up the like, retweet, and reply options.

With the removal of the like, retweet, and reply option, responses to tweets are given a more rounded, bubble-like appearance.

Responses to tweets within a thread are also indented in an attempt to make it more visually appealing and attempting to make it clear when users are branching off into other conversations.

People you follow with have a blue line on the left side of their “chat bubble” reply, while the original tweeter will have a gray line.

Everything within the “Twttr” prototype is still being tested and changed based on feedback, meaning there’s a chance none of these changes could ever see the light of day.

But should these changes pass the focus-group testing phase, then we could very well see a few Twitter changes in the near future.

To see some side-by-side comparisons of Twitter and “Twttr”, head over to TechCrunch.

How do you feel about these possible Twitter changes? Sound off in the comments below!