Twitter Kills Quote Tweet Prompt, Returns Retweet Action to Original Behavior

Back in August, Twitter began calling retweets with comments Quote Tweets, and a couple of months later the social media platform changed the way retweets worked so that users were prompted to Quote Tweet a retweet first before deciding to share it.

twitterquotetweets
Users didn't have to type anything in the quote tweet prompt, and could still retweet with no added context. Still, the idea behind the small change was to encourage more thoughtful amplification of tweets, so that users didn't just mindlessly retweet something without due consideration.

However, it turns out that the tweak didn't have the intended effect, as Twitter explained on Wednesday in a blog post.

We hoped this change would encourage thoughtful amplification and also increase the likelihood that people would add their own thoughts, reactions and perspectives to the conversation. However, we observed that prompting Quote Tweets didn't appear to increase context: 45% of additional Quote Tweets included just a single word and 70% contained less than 25 characters.

Twitter said it also saw a 20% decrease in retweets and quote tweets while the automatic quote tweet prompt was active. As a result, Twitter is reverting the retweet action to its original behavior, and users will no longer see the Quote Tweet prompt when they tap the Retweet button.

Tag: Twitter

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iPhone 16 Pro Max 80% Charge Limit: One Year Later, Was It Worth It?

Wednesday September 24, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by
With the iPhone 15 series, I did an experiment and kept my iPhone's Charge Limit set at 80 percent for an entire year. It provided an interesting look at the impact of charge limits on battery longevity, so I decided to repeat it for the iPhone 16 line. Since September 2024, my iPhone 16 Pro Max has been limited to an 80 percent charge, with no cheating. As of today, my battery's maximum...
Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Thursday September 25, 2025 1:11 pm PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system codenamed "Charismatic," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple smart home hub concept based on rumors This is likely Apple's long-rumored "homeOS" operating system. In a report last month, Gurman said both Apple's rumored smart home hub in 2026 and tabletop robot in 2027 will run the new operating system. He said the software platform ...
AirPods Pro 3 Newsroom

Apple's 'Back to School' Offer Ends Soon, Now Applies to AirPods Pro 3

Wednesday September 24, 2025 7:20 am PDT by
Apple's annual "Back to School" promotion for students ends soon, so act fast if you want to score free AirPods with the purchase of an eligible new Mac or iPad. Until Tuesday, September 30, college students and qualifying educational staff in the U.S. can receive free AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. This is a $179 value. ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Update for iPhones Coming Soon — Here's What to Expect

Thursday September 25, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. MacRumors has also seen evidence of iOS 26.0.1 in its visitor logs in recent days. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple More Personal Siri Ad

Apple Responds to U.S. Class Action Lawsuit Over Delayed Siri Features

Friday September 26, 2025 6:57 am PDT by
In March, Apple delayed the launch of its personalized Siri features, and soon after the company was hit with multiple class action lawsuits over the situation. The plaintiffs said they never would have purchased an iPhone 16, or would have paid less, had they known Apple's marketing about the Siri features was false. In the U.S., all of the complaints were consolidated into one class...

Top Rated Comments

Rogifan Avatar
62 months ago
The problem with Twitter isn’t Twitter it’s human beings. They keep trying different tweaks to change human behavior and keep finding out that it doesn’t work.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Reason077 Avatar
62 months ago

Twitter said it also saw a 20% decrease in retweets and quote tweets while the automatic quote tweet prompt was active.
That sounds like a positive result to me. Requiring users to put slightly more thought into a retweet resulted in less mindless re-tweeting?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
62 months ago

How exactly is encouraging people to add their own thoughts to a quote they are sharing “stifling” their speech or “forcing them to speak in a way that they disagree with”?
Indeed, and the bigger picture is they’re talking about a private company that has no power to force anyone to do anything. There’s no Twitter Goon Squad who came to their house and forced them to (sign up for a Twitter account and) tweet specific things that they disagree with. Too many seem to think that Twitter is some sort of government-run public utility. It’s not.

If Twitter wanted to establish a new rule that, say, no one could post any new tweets that contained vowels, that’s entirely within Twitter’s rights - it might be a very unpopular decision, but it wouldn’t be an illegal one, and it wouldn’t be “Twitter forcing people to post only consonants”, it would be “people choosing to continue using Twitter and posting consonant-only tweets after Twitter enacts new rule”.

It feels sometimes like those who crow the loudest about capitalism and free enterprise and others being snowflakes, don’t really believe in what they've been spouting, the moment it affects them.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sdf Avatar
62 months ago

Twitter said it also saw a 20% decrease in retweets and quote tweets while the automatic quote tweet prompt was active.
This is a case of Twitter getting exactly the effect they wanted, then realizing they don't want it.

Or maybe I'm not being cynical enough. Maybe they just wanted it during the US election.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scottishwildcat Avatar
62 months ago

How exactly is encouraging people to add their own thoughts to a quote they are sharing “stifling” their speech or “forcing them to speak in a way that they disagree with”?
Almost word for word what I was about to say.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
calstanford Avatar
62 months ago
A product still looking for it's purpose and raison d'etre
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)