First off, on the new WhatsApp button – given WhatsApp is by far the most used messaging app in India (487+ million users), Twitter’s looking to lean into that embedded usage, by testing out a new, dedicated WhatsApp share button in the lower tweet function display.
As you can see in this example, some Indian Twitter users are now seeing a WhatsApp icon in their tweet engagement options, which enables users to quickly share a tweet with their WhatsApp contacts.
I mean, kind of. Apparently, Twitter hasn’t fully ironed out the functionality of the button as yet – but theoretically, what it will eventually facilitate is more streamlined tweet sharing in your WhatsApp chats.
Twitter provided this statement on the test (to TechCrunch):
“Starting today, we are rolling out a new experiment exclusively in India – an important market for us. We are replacing the share icon on Tweets with the WhatsApp icon for the majority of people who use Twitter on Android in the country, so sharing their favourite or noteworthy Tweets is easy even beyond Twitter, making the experience more open, accessible, and holistic for them.”
Again, WhatsApp is the key messaging platform in the region, and really, the key connective tool linking Indian users into the digital economy, so it makes sense for Twitter to lean into this where it can, with a view to maximizing tweet reach and engagement.
On another front, Twitter has also enabled tweet sharing to Snapchat and IG Stories on Android (previously only available on iOS), along with a new option to share a tweet to LinkedIn.
That’ll provide more ways to share relevant tweets across all of your favourite platforms, while also helping to ensure that Twitter can keep tabs on such activity - as opposed to people sharing screenshots of tweets instead, which are still very common, and can’t be attributed back to the app itself.