Twitter’s throwback feature, Twitter Status, is expanding its list of potential status updates to choose from today, in a continuation of testing that began in July. The feature, which is sort of a cross between Myspace moods and a Facebook status, allows users to tag posts with an additional phrase outside of the tweet itself, such as “shower thoughts,” “spoiler alert,” or “photo of the day.” . Now the company is adding common Twitter jargon to its list, allowing users to tag their tweets with things like “Don’t @ me,” “Tweet into existence,” or “That’s it, that’s the Tweet,” and more.
The expansion was Spotted for the first time by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong and Twitter confirmed the addition began rolling out to Twitter Status testers on Monday.
Other new status options now available include ‘Breaking news’, ‘Games’, ‘Pet of the Day’, ‘So Healthy’, ‘Then and Now’, ‘To Whom It Concerns’, ‘Touch Grass’, ‘Twitter do your thing’, ‘Watch cricket’, ‘Watch football’, ‘Watch rugby’ and ‘Win’.
However, the experiment is not one of the “early access” features offered to paying Twitter customers as part of their Twitter Blue subscription.
Until now, the option to add a status to a tweet was available to a select group of users in the US. With the update, Twitter says it is now also bringing in users in Australia.
“As part of this expansion, those with access to the status feature will see a new set of potential statuses to choose from. In addition, today more people in Australia will also be able to access the experiment,” a Twitter spokesperson told londonbusinessblog.com. They added that with today’s update, the “majority of people in Australia” can now use the feature.
One group that doesn’t necessarily have the ability to use the Twitter status feature is the group of power users who pay for a Twitter Blue subscription. While Twitter marketed Blue to those who wanted an expanded range of features — such as a better news reading experience, personalization options, and early access to experiments — it hasn’t made all of its new product testing available to its paid subscribers.
For example, when Twitter started rolling out the addition of podcasts to the revamped “Audio” tab, Twitter Blue users weren’t the first group to gain access to the feature. Instead, Twitter made podcasts visible to a random group of its English-speaking mobile audience in August, only to roll out podcasts to paying subscribers later the following month.
Likewise, Twitter status is not currently listed among the experiments offered to Twitter Blue subscribers.
Asked why Twitter isn’t prioritizing its paid subscribers when it comes to trying out its new products first, as promised, a spokesperson clarified that it will only offer some of its experiments to subscribers, while others will be tested with the wider public.
This seems to be a bad strategic decision by Twitter as those who actually are paying because Twitter has to watch other users play with new features first – a benefit they were promised. While it’s understandable that some features may need to be tested on a larger group, paying customers should at least fall within that group.
The spokesperson clarified that Twitter Blue subscribers will first have access to what the company considers “higher impact” features, such as NFT profile pictures and most notably the new Edit Tweet option.
The latter also rolled out to Blue subscribers in Canada, Australia and New Zealand today following Twitter teased the edit function last week. But the launch doesn’t yet include Twitter Blue’s largest market, the US, which Twitter says is “coming soon.”
Again, this strategy doesn’t seem right. While it’s one thing to test a small experiment in certain regions, it’s disheartening to see Twitter prioritize certain markets and non-subscribers over its paying customers when it comes to some of the most fun and in-demand features.