Skip to main content

    Twitter introduces 'expanded Tweets' with extra headlines, video and audio embedded

    Twitter introduces 'expanded Tweets' with extra headlines, video and audio embedded

    /

    Twitter expands the possibilities for publishers to include far more than 140 characters in each tweet.

    Share this story

    Twitter expanded tweet image
    Twitter expanded tweet image

    As it continues to expand its role as the default global newswire, Twitter is partnering with big media companies to expand what can be shared in a single Tweet. In an announcement today the company introduced expanded Tweets, which lets companies like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal embed a headline and even the introduction to an article within a single tweet.

    Part of Twitter's strength has always been its 140 character limit, the arbitrary architecture that gave the service its unusually fast metabolism. But in recent months Twitter has been expanding what users can do within a Tweet, allowing them to embed YouTube videos and Instagram photos that can be viewed within Twitter or one of its clients. Today it's adding more content for media partners, new sources for video, and even embedded audio from Soundcloud links.

    The expanded Tweets will be rolling out on Twitter's website and mobile site today, and coming soon for iOS and Android. The company's CEO, Dick Costolo, recently said that Twitter's mobile revenue is equal to and on some days greater than its web-based ad revenue. That compares favorably to Facebook, which has struggled with mobile monetization. These new expanded Tweets show there will soon be room for advertising in far more than 140 characters.