Danny Sullivan says, “An experiment by Twitter to show content on iOS devices using Safari Reader dramatically changes the material, removing ads and reader engagement options and sometimes preventing the content from showing at all. Here’s an interactive tour. The Twitter/Safari Reader test Last week, Twitter began making use of Safari Reader for some people on iOS devices. Using this strips content of ads and many other things when people click from a tweet to the content, causing it to load within the Twitter app. This can be a nicer reading experience in some cases, but it can also... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Twitter is following Facebook into the automated customer service game. The social network just rolled out new welcome message and dropdown response features for advertisers that are reminiscent of Facebook’s recent branded bots push. The former allows brands to add an introductory message to any direct-message conversation that will set the terms of the customer service exchange before a user makes the first move. The latter feature, called “quick replies,” supplements those messages by giving customers a cookie-cutter list of possible responses when... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Twitter is following Facebook into the automated customer service game. The social network just rolled out new welcome message and dropdown response features for advertisers that are reminiscent of Facebook’s recent branded bots push. The former allows brands to add an introductory message to any direct-message conversation that will set the terms of the customer service exchange before a user makes the first move. The latter feature, called “quick replies,” supplements those messages by giving customers a cookie-cutter list of possible responses when... [...]

Tim Peterson says, “Twitter’s third-quarter earnings report and corresponding call with analysts on Thursday covered a lot of things you probably already knew about the company. Its ad revenue continues to grow, but slowly. Its monthly audience continues to grow, but slowly. It still hasn’t turned a profit. Its ads are getting more engagements, but it’s getting less money per engagement. But there were a few new things to learn about Twitter’s business. Every day, Twitter is winning millions of new users, but every day, Twitter is losing almost as many Twitter execs used to point... [...]

Tim Peterson says, “Twitter is shutting down Vine, the six-second video service, it announced in a blog post on Thursday. Vine launched in January 2013 and was Twitter’s early foray into digital video. When Vine debuted, mobile video wasn’t really a thing. YouTube’s audience was mostly on desktop, Snapchat was only a messaging app, Facebook’s autoplay video product was only a month old and Instagram was only for photos. Things have changed. As Facebook’s, Snapchat’s and Instagram’s video audiences grew, Vine’s homegrown stars, like King Bach, Lele Pons, Logan Paul and Amanda... [...]

Nathan Sinnott says, “Last week Twitter’s most enthusiastic and likely buyer —Salesforce — punctured the hopes of many Twitter users, and tech bods, when they formally declined to buy the social media business, saying Twitter is not the right fit for them. To make matters worse, and of course to be expected, Twitter shares took a beating following the announcement and interestingly, Salesforce shares rose. Chatter on the topic has been nothing short of epic, with reports Twitter is on the market, and talking with Microsoft, Google, Disney and Salesforce. The impact played... [...]

Reuters team says, “Twitter Inc. may cut 8 percent of its workforce or about 300 people,Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people it said were familiar with the matter. The job cuts could be announced before the company reports third-quarter earnings on Thursday, and the number of jobs affected could change, Bloomberg said. A company spokeswoman declined to comment. Last year, Twitter announced plans to lay off up to 336 employees, or about 8 percent of its workforce, a week after Jack Dorsey, its co-founder who had been serving as interim chief executive, took over as permanent CEO. Twitter,... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “For weeks, rumors have been swirling that Twitter is a buy-out target. The likelihood of a bidding war fizzled out yesterday after Disney and Google were ruled out as potential buyers, causing Twitter’s share price to drop by 20%. It leaves Salesforce as the most likely buyer, though it could mean that Twitter remains unsold. If a deal does finally materialize, Twitter’s future could be very different than the one it currently faces as an independent entity. Here are some quick thoughts on how it could affect marketers: Twitter will survive For a Twitter... [...]

David Moth says, “Twitter has just opened up its Moments feature to everyone, so I decided to take it for a test run. I will admit that I’ve probably only clicked into the Moments tab a handful of times, so I’m hardly a power user. Equally, I’ve not noticed many people sharing Moments within my feed. However, Twitter is persisting with this new feature and therefore so shall I. Here’s a quick overview of how to use Moments along with my initial thoughts. Getting started If you click into the Moments tab on a desktop client, you’ll notice a ‘Create new Moment’ button in the... [...]

Tim Peterson says, “Twitter is playing catch-up with Facebook once again when it comes to becoming brands’ favored social platform for customer service. Businesses’ Twitter profiles can now display the hours that a company is available to respond to people’s tweets — such as “24/7” or “4am-11pm” — and feature a button people can click to send it a direct message. Facebook rolled out similar features for Pages last year. Unlike Twitter’s version, Facebook lets Pages define how quick they are to respond — such as “within minutes” or “within a day” — and supplements... [...]