In its continuing bid to make itself look even more like Facebook, Twitter is rolling out a photo-tagging feature for its mobile app.
Users can now tag other people they know on Twitter without having to use up their 140 character tweet limit, which was previously the case. Users who have been tagged in the picture will receive a notification, just as if they were mentioned in a tweet with an “@’ reply.
As we’ve reported earlier, Twitter’s facing a bit of a crisis when it comes to gaining new users and retaining people who sign up for the service. It does have a core audience of devoted followers who “get” Twitter and use it everyday, but it’s mostly restricted to media and pop-culture enthusiasts. In order to get the masses, Twitter has been rolling out features that may make it more attractive and less confusing to use. However, this could fundamentally change the personality of the service, as it’s starting to get rid of the things that made it unique. There’s already talk of getting rid of its iconic “@” replies so that newbies will find it easier to understand how everything works.
Photo-tagging is also a smart engagement tool, and it could potentially bring back low frequency users to the platform, especially if they start getting tagged in other people’s pictures. It’s a welcome addition, but it also shows that Twitter’s playing catch up to a lot of other social media sites that are already offering this service. It might just be better off innovating or adding something completely different to its product to get more people onboard, rather than looking like everyone else.
