Renowned microblogging giant Twitter recently launched live testing of its new voice-message feature to users in India, Brazil and Japan. This new update is an extension of its voice tweet feature that was rolled out last June – which allowed users to post audio messages as tweets – with or without accompanying text.
This upgrade will allow users to send voice notes as direct messages. Like its predecessor – each voice note will not exceed more than 140 seconds. Voice memos will add an additional layer of personality and humanity to the platform: while static text and captions can sometimes feel devoid of emotion, voice notes will add additional complexity – making users feel more like real people with real emotions.
Manish Maheshwari – Managing Director of Twitter India – explains why India was chosen as one of 3 locations for the feature’s beta-launch:
“India is a priority market for Twitter and that is why we’re constantly testing new features and learning from people’s experience on the service here. We’re excited to bring the voice messages in DMs experiment to the country and give people a new way to express themselves and help them connect through the nuances, emotion, and empathy built by hearing someone’s voice”.
The desire to make social media a more human experience is evident in audio messaging’s rise in popularity over the past year – with many social networking platforms introducing new audio-based features. From Whatsapp to WeChat – a popular instant messaging application in China – audio messages make it easy for people to stay in touch in their own time in a more personable way.
To further support this trend, new, experimental apps such as Cappuccino and Clubhouse have emerged and have made audio the focal point of their product experience: the former provides users fun ways to share audio stories, life updates, and jokes with close friends and family while Clubhouse – which is one of social media’s newest and buzziest apps – provides an invite-only audio experience where users can join celebrity or expert hosted discussion rooms on a wide range of topics.
Twitter’s latest update shows that it’s keeping up with its competitors. Although the new Voice-Message feature is currently only available on iOS, Twitter stated that it has plans to roll it out on Android and on the web towards the end of this year.