Twitter adds option to share spoken tweets

FILE – This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. A tech-focused civil liberties group on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, sued to block President Donald Trump’s executive order that seeks to regulate social media, saying it violates the First Amendment and chills speech. Trump’s order, signed in late May, could allow more lawsuits against internet companies like Twitter and Facebook for what their users post, tweet and stream. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

SAN FRANCISCO–Twitter on Wednesday said it is adding an option to speak tweets of up to 140 seconds in length instead of just writing posts.

Voice tweets will be rolled out for the Twitter application tailored for Apple mobile devices in the coming weeks, according to a post by product designer Maya Patterson and senior software engineer Remy Bourgoin.

“Sometimes 280 characters aren’t enough and some conversational nuances are lost in translation,” Patterson and Bourgoin said.

“So starting today, we’re testing a new feature that will add a more human touch to the way we use Twitter — your very own voice.”

Twitter users can already add photos and videos to posts at the one-to-many messaging platform.

Tapping on a “wavelength” icon added to the Twitter user interface will lead to a record button to speak tweets which will be posted as audio files to be clicked on.

Each voice tweet will be no longer than 140 seconds of audio. If people speak longer, what they record will be parsed into a series of tweets posted as a threaded message, according to Patterson and Bourgoin.

“People will see your voice tweet appear on their timeline alongside other tweets,” the pair said.

“There’s a lot that can be left unsaid or uninterpreted using text, so we hope voice tweeting will create a more human experience for listeners and storytellers alike.”

Twitter did not indicate when voice tweets might be available in the version of its application tailored for Android-powered mobile devices.