Twitter grabbed the spotlight Wednesday at SXSW, the annual meeting of tech minds and people who hold themselves in high esteem, with a new prototype version of its app that would change the game entirely.
The new prototype app, called “twttr”, is Twitter, but designed towards making the site a place for healthier conversations, led by CEO Jack Dorsey’s year-long emphasis on what he calls civility.
- MORE CULTURE
- Gritty, and many other Philadelphians, head to SXSW this weekend
- Twitter reacts to the whole Cassie and Colton thing on 'The Bachelor' season finale
- Philly artists' work featured on Collective Arts Brewing new cans
Twttr’s biggest change is a doozy: the prototype removes the displays of retweet and like counts on individual replies to tweets, according to NBC News.
At least, it removes the numbers at first.
The interactions can still be found with an extra tap on an individual tweet, but as you scroll down the replies to a given tweet, you won’t immediately know whether the tweet you just laughed at has already gone viral, or if it’s gone un-shared.
The company is still accepting applications for its prototype program, it tweeted Wednesday, which means it’s not too late to try and get your hands on these crazy features. This is still a prototype, after all. Twttr’s features might never actually reach the public in a full release – like that time Instagram messed around with horizontal scrolling.
The company is also rolling out a revamped camera feature in its flagship Twitter app:
It looks like 2019 will be a weird, and evolving, time to use the social media service we all love to hate.
Follow Adam & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @adamwhermann | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Add Adam's RSS feed to your feed reader
Have a news tip? Let us know.