In a bid to curtail the rapid spread of misinformation that is often caused when people forward and share articles without reading them, Twitter is testing a new feature which asks users if they would like to open the article before retweeting it.
According to engadeget, the feature which is currently being tested on Android phones should “help foster informed discussion”.
The micro-blogging site added that it doesn’t have a timeline for bringing the feature to iOS.
“Sharing an article can spark conversation, so you may want to read it before you Tweet it,” a tweet read.
“To help promote informed discussion, we’re testing a new prompt on Android –– when you Retweet an article that you haven’t opened on Twitter, we may ask if you’d like to open it first,” it added.
“Headlines don’t tell the full story,” reads the prompt. “Want to read this before Retweeting?”
The prompt will appear if the user does not open the article on Twitter’s platform before clicking retweet. However, if they read the piece before or just want to share it anyway, nothing is stopping them from hitting the retweet button and sharing the tweet on the social platform.
“It’s easy for links/articles to go viral on Twitter,” tweeted Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour. “This can be powerful but sometimes dangerous, especially if people haven’t read the content they’re spreading.”
