Yeah, a picture’s worth a thousand words… but sometimes you need more than one snapshot to get your point across. With Twitter’s latest update, it’s now possible to share multiple images in a single tweet — and tag the people in it.
No ad to show here.
In a move reminiscent of Facebook to make the service “more social”, Twitter’s upgraded its mobile apps to allow users to select up to four images to include in a tweet, and tag up to ten accounts in each photo. The team has layered in the functionality over its existing photo upload options, which means tagging people or including multiple images won’t count towards your 140 character limit.
To use the new tagging feature (which began rolling out yesterday to Android and iPhone users), you simply need to select images like normal, then tap the “Who’s in this photo?” bar underneath the image to tag users. While there are some privacy options — you can opt to only approve tags from people you follow, for example — the default option is to allow any other Twitter user to tag you in their image. You will get a notification if you’re tagged in a tweet though… which should be fun for the celebs.
According to the Twitter team, only iPhone users have the ability to upload multiple images at this stage. They need to simply tap the images they’d like to use from a photo grid, then sit back while Twitter automatically creates a collage of their snapshots with a single URL. Their followers (on Twitter.com, Android or iPhone) will then be able to tap or click on the collage and scroll through the individual images. The feature also works for embedded tweets, like the one below:
This is a little test using some @AgentsofSHIELD pictures of the new Twiiter collage feature pic.twitter.com/768DA5PYkt
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) March 26, 2014
The update comes weeks after Twitter revamped its photo display options to make images more prominent in your timeline by automatically expanding them. It’s also been testing various redesigns and conversation options recently, in a bid to make the service more engaging and friendly for newcomers at a time where its user growth appears to be slowing.