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

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
duolingo ad live activity

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Friday January 2, 2026 1:36 pm PST by
Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines. According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option. Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that...
Clicks Communicator Feature

'Clicks Communicator' Unveiled — Will You Carry This With Your iPhone?

Friday January 2, 2026 6:35 am PST by
The company behind the BlackBerry-like Clicks Keyboard accessory for the iPhone today unveiled a new Android 16 smartphone called the Clicks Communicator. The purpose-built device is designed to be used as a second phone alongside your iPhone, with the intended focus being communication over content consumption. It runs a custom Android launcher that offers a curated selection of messaging...
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Low-Price 12.9-Inch MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Reportedly Launching Early This Year

Friday January 2, 2026 9:08 am PST by
Apple plans to introduce a 12.9-inch MacBook in spring 2026, according to TrendForce. In a press release this week, the Taiwanese research firm said this MacBook will be aimed at the entry-level to mid-range market, with "competitive pricing." TrendForce did not share any further details about this MacBook, but the information that it shared lines up with several rumors about a more...
Apple Fitness Plus hero

Apple Announces New Fitness+ Workout Programs, Strava Challenge, and More

Friday January 2, 2026 6:43 am PST by
Apple today announced a number of updates to Apple Fitness+ and activity with the Apple Watch. The key announcements include: New Year limited-edition award: Users can win the award by closing all three Activity Rings for seven days in a row in January. "Quit Quitting" Strava challenge: Available in Strava throughout January, users who log 12 workouts anytime in the month will win an ...
Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature Pink

Apple's 2026 Low-Cost A18 Pro MacBook: What We Know So Far

Friday January 2, 2026 4:33 pm PST by
Apple is planning to release a low-cost MacBook in 2026, which will apparently compete with more affordable Chromebooks and Windows PCs. Apple's most affordable Mac right now is the $999 MacBook Air, and the upcoming low-cost MacBook is expected to be cheaper. Here's what we know about the low-cost MacBook so far. Size Rumors suggest the low-cost MacBook will have a display that's around 13 ...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

What's Happening With the Mac Pro?

Wednesday December 31, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2023, and according to recent rumors, there's no update coming in the near future. In fact, Apple might be finished with the Mac Pro. Bloomberg recently said that the Mac Pro is "on the back burner" and has been "largely written off" by Apple. Apple apparently views the more compact Mac Studio as the ideal high-end pro-level desktop, and it has almost...

Top Rated Comments

Rogifan Avatar
66 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
66 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
66 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
66 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
66 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
66 months ago
A product still looking for it's purpose and raison d'etre
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)