Taking screenshots of tweets is one of the most common ways to share tweets with other users of social media or to post them on other accounts you have. However, Twitter now displays a pop-up asking many users to share the message rather than take screenshots.
It appears that the social media app is taking steps to discourage users from taking screenshots of tweets and sharing them on other social media platforms, which may decrease the amount of traffic sent toward the microblogging service.
Twitter doesn’t want you to screenshot tweets anymore
It wants active users on platform viewing tweets INSTEAD of via screenshots on rival platforms
One of these now pops up when you take a screenshot 👇 pic.twitter.com/YY0GtF3lVb
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) October 7, 2022
When users take a screenshot, various pop-up windows appear before them. Some individuals see a button labeled “Copy Link,” others see a button labeled “Share Tweet,” and others see a dialog box with both controllers.
Twitter is trying to persuade me to Share Tweet or Copy Link instead of taking a screenshot of the Tweet pic.twitter.com/vwFYNsf003
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) October 6, 2022
It is unclear when the new pop-ups began appearing for some users, but it is evident that this is Twitter’s way of alerting people that they should not distribute content in a way that does not directly drive traffic to the service. The testing can now only be seen on the iOS version of the app; however, an implementation for Android is anticipated to follow in its footsteps shortly.
