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Aug. 29, 2022, 12:35 p.m.

Twitter is letting some news publishers post customizable cards

Tweet Tiles are “a new, customizable way to expand the creative surface area of a tweet” that could give news publishers a way to stand out in feeds.

Have you noticed that some news article cards on Twitter are looking a little different lately? The social media company rolled out Tweet Tiles — “a new, customizable way to expand the creative surface area of a Tweet” — to three news publishers last week, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed.

The change is one of the biggest tweaks to article preview cards since summary cards appeared on the scene back in 2015. The customizable image, format, and interactive elements could help news orgs distinguish themselves in feeds and, ultimately, drive more engagement.

For the experiment, Twitter partnered with The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. (The three news publishers were selected for their “highly engaged and trusted audiences,” according to Twitter.) Tweet Tiles will be visible to half of people on iOS and Web, with the other half seeing standard summary cards.

Twitter plans to make the feature available through the Twitter API in the future, giving more newsrooms the ability to create their own publisher-specific cards.

Sarah Scire is deputy editor of Nieman Lab. You can reach her via email (sarah_scire@harvard.edu), Twitter DM (@SarahScire), or Signal (+1 617-299-1821).
POSTED     Aug. 29, 2022, 12:35 p.m.
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