Twitter’s testing a new format for publisher links, with what it’s calling its ‘Tweet Tiles’ display.
As you can see in this example, Tweet Tiles will facilitate new visual formats for tweeted links, with larger images, variable fonts and prominent CTAs to drive more clicks.
Here’s an example of how they look in-stream:
As explained by Twitter:
“Right now, people on iOS and web may see and interact with Tweet Tiles that include text, images, videos, or other elements like a button from people in the initial test group. These formats are designed to easily engage with content and make your timeline more dynamic and visual.”
The option could provide new ways to stand out in the fast-moving tweet feed, helping to drive better performance based on these updated link-preview displays.
Twitter’s been working on various, updated tweet formats, including a ‘Quote Tweet with reaction’ option, which looks to take some of the key elements of its now retired Fleets process, an updated text editor option for tweets, which would enable you to add more color and visual presence to your comments, and integrated support for various content formats within a single tweet.
This updated publisher link-preview format, which is part of Twitter’s new developer tools options, adds another consideration in this respect, though it’s limited to certain publishers only at this stage.
Twitter also notes that this is still an experiment, which means that not all users will see the new tile format, while if you Retweet a Tweet Tile or share a Tweet Tile URL, it may not show up in the original display (hence the above screenshot as opposed to a tweet embed).
It could be a helpful addition for publishers, and it’ll be interesting to see if it helps drive more referral traffic from tweets as a result.
Because Twitter has never been great, comparatively, for most websites, at referring people through. Despite the platform driving a lot of real-time discussion, Twitter users are, in general, less likely to tap on a link – but maybe, with improved CTA presentation, that could change to some degree.
We’ll wait and see. The new Tweet Tiles are being tested with selected partner publishers.
