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

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Says U.S. Passport Feature on iPhone is Coming Soon

Monday October 27, 2025 7:41 am PDT by
You will "soon" be able to add a digital version of your U.S. passport to your iPhone, according to Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Bailey reiterated that the feature is coming soon during her keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas on Sunday. On its iOS 26 page, Apple says the delayed feature will be "coming later this year." Apple's...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

iPhone XX? 6 Features Rumored for Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday October 27, 2025 4:01 pm PDT by
For the 10th anniversary iPhone that came out in 2017, Apple introduced the iPhone X with Face ID, notch, and minimized bezels, providing more display space than ever before. The 20th iPhone anniversary is approaching and Apple wants to take the iPhone X design even further. We're two years away from the 2027 iPhone, but it's tough for Apple to keep major changes under wraps. We've rounded...

Top Rated Comments

Rogifan Avatar
64 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
64 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
64 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
64 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
64 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
64 months ago
A product still looking for it's purpose and raison d'etre
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)