Recent improvements to Twitter Birdwatch
Now that Elon Musk is taking over Twitter, we all know that we are in for surprises more often than before. There are already multiple speculations about several new changes expected based on Elon’s tweets. The last two years have been very entertaining on Twitter with an array of new features announced and a few of them are live now.
Twitter has officially changed its branding to X Twitter, marking a significant transition that has brought about considerable controversy, particularly regarding misinformation and hate speech.
Most of them will go through revisions after the new owner and his ideas. We look forward to bringing you all the recent developments on X Twitter. Keep following Tweetfull to learn more about marketing in Twitter.
In this blog, we bring you all the recent improvements on Twitter Birdwatch. When Twitter launched ‘Birdwatch’ last year, the feature was well-received as this is an important step to combat fake news. Twitter Inc. has also been making broader efforts in content moderation and combating misinformation across the platform, but X Twitter continues to face ongoing controversies and challenges in these areas, especially post-rebranding.
Of course, within a few days, it was evident that Birdwatch needed improvements in a few areas to be a successful feature.
Twitter listened to all the commentaries and now Birdwatch is in a better place. Here are the notable improvements in Twitter birdwatch to the earlier version (Click here to know how Birdwatch works),
Introduction to Birdwatch
Birdwatch is Twitter’s innovative, community-driven fact-checking program designed to tackle misinformation and provide users with more reliable social media news. Launched as a way to harness the collective knowledge of the Twitter community, Birdwatch allows users to add community notes to tweets they believe may contain misleading or false information. These notes offer additional context, helping others make informed decisions about the content they see on the platform.
The Birdwatch system is open to all users, including both iOS users and Android users, and can be accessed through the Twitter app or website. By enabling a wide range of contributors to flag tweets and provide supporting evidence, Twitter aims to create a more transparent and trustworthy environment for everyone. Community notes are visible to all users, making it easier to spot questionable claims and understand the broader conversation around trending topics.
With Birdwatch, Twitter is empowering its community to play an active role in content moderation, ensuring that the platform remains a valuable source of relevant information and discussion. Whether you’re browsing on your phone or desktop, Birdwatch provides an extra layer of insight, helping users navigate the fast-paced world of tweets and social media updates with greater confidence.
Understanding Engagement Data
Engagement data has become an essential tool for anyone looking to make the most out of their presence on X, formerly known as Twitter. The platform now provides users with a comprehensive suite of analytics designed to help track conversation volume, monitor tweet performance, and identify opportunities for growth. For social media managers and premium subscribers, access to advanced engagement data—including tweet impressions, audience demographics, and detailed engagement metrics—offers a deeper understanding of what resonates with their audience. Twitter recently launched a new analytics tool called Radar for premium users, allowing them to monitor conversation volume and identify emerging topics.
By analyzing this data, users can fine-tune their content strategies, ensuring that every tweet contributes to building a strong brand identity and fostering meaningful interactions. The analytics tab now displays the number of followers and non-followers engaging with content. The community notes system further enhances the platform by allowing users to add context and relevant information to tweets, helping to combat fake news and encourage more informed conversations. With these tools, the X community is empowered to provide users with accurate data, promote transparency, and create a more engaging and trustworthy environment for everyone.
Using Quote Tweets and Direct Messages
Quote tweets and direct messages are at the heart of how users interact and share relevant content on X. With quote tweets, both iOS users and Android users can easily add their own commentary to existing tweets, sparking new conversations and amplifying important messages across the platform. This feature not only increases engagement but also allows users to express their opinions and connect with a broader audience. In May 2025, Twitter introduced a thumbs-up feature with a downvote option for posts, enhancing engagement with post replies by allowing users to quickly express approval or disapproval and helping to surface the most relevant responses.
Direct messages, meanwhile, offer a private way to communicate, whether it’s one-on-one or in a group chat with up to 50 participants—the current group chat limit. Recent updates have made it even easier to share content, with link previews now available in direct messages, streamlining the way users access and navigate shared information. For those subscribed to Twitter Blue, exclusive features like auto-advanced mode and the ability to undo tweets provide even more control and flexibility, making it easier to manage conversations and stay on top of the latest social media news. In May 2025, Twitter also introduced video response capabilities, allowing iOS users to react with video to posts, which increases engagement opportunities and adds a new dimension to post replies.
By making the most of quote tweets and direct messages, users can foster stronger relationships, keep up with trending topics, and ensure their voices are heard in the ever-evolving world of social media updates.
Auto-generated Aliases Instead Of Contributor Name
Contributors are the key to Twitter Birdwatch. Twitter has insisted multiple times about protecting the interest of the contributors. In that pursuit, the Birdwatch feature will now use an auto-generated alias name with the note dropped by a Contributor instead of using his/ her real user name.
In the pilot version now, all the Contributor notes will carry an alias name instead of their real names. We have to wait and see if this will be carried to the live version or if the choice will be with the contributor.
For now, in the pilot version, though the alias name is auto-generated, the user will have a choice of an alias name to pick for him/ her.
Bringing ‘Diversity Of Perspectives’ Into Ratings
In our last blog on the ‘Introduction to Twitter Birdwatch’, we discussed how Twitter uses ‘Helpful scores’ to rank a note and display it to the users. Now, Twitter has improved the algorithm for ‘Helpful scores’ further.
Twitter will now not only consider the number of ratings a note receives, but also take into account the diversity of the owners of the ratings to build better credibility to the note.
For instance, if there is a note about the ‘Advantages of going vegan’, Twitter will value the rating of an ardent vegan supporter and a general audience’s rating differently. If both rated the note as 3 stars, each of their rating will have a different weight in evaluating the note.
Twitter has also clarified clearly that the diversity of rating will not value ratings based on demographic, gender, or political affiliation and it will be purely based on a user’s profile activity evaluation. User profiles are analyzed to ensure a range of viewpoints are represented in the ratings.
A New ‘Needs Your Help’ Tab
Twitter has added a ‘Needs Your Help’ tab to the pilot version recently. If you have used ‘Quora’, then you will be aware of a similar tab there and you know how it works.
Essentially, ‘Needs Your Help’ tab on Twitter will have a set of tweets where your feedback will be more valuable. Twitter will monitor the nature of the topics you contribute and will bring questions of the same nature into the ‘Needs Your Help’ tab.
There are two advantages to this. One, when you see a notification in this tab, there are more chances for you to contribute than you naturally contribute to a tweet in your timeline. Second, quality contributions will increase as more people who are aware of the topic in discussion will be answering.
Encouraging Mentioning Sources And Explanations
Contributors will be encouraged to cite sources supporting their added note on any tweet. Mentioning authentic sources will make life very easy for someone with lesser knowledge of the tweet’s information to have a clear idea if he intends to.
This will not be a requirement for any note added or reviewed by a contributor. Instead, Twitter will send notifications and have labels mentioning how a source or a clear explanation adds value to the note.
Twitter is looking further to improve these areas by collaborating with some popular press and media agencies. Options to prompt a contributor with possible accurate sources for his note are also being discussed. This prompt feature is not a part of the pilot versions yet.
In addition, Twitter has introduced identification labels for parody and fan accounts, as well as state affiliated media, to help users distinguish between official, unofficial, and government-affiliated sources.
Verified accounts, indicated by the blue tick, play an important role in establishing credibility and combating misinformation, especially when contributors reference or cite them as sources.
Birdwatch’s Purpose and Content Moderation
Birdwatch is designed to support content moderation by allowing contributors to add notes to tweets that may contain misinformation. High profile accounts can play a significant role in the spread of hate speech and misinformation, making Birdwatch’s content moderation even more important. It helps address questionable claims and hate speech on the platform. For example, Birdwatch can be used to flag tweets that spread antisemitic or transphobic slurs, providing context and corrections to many users who might otherwise be misled. The platform has seen an increase in hate speech since Elon Musk’s acquisition, according to multiple organizations, and has been criticized for allowing the spread of misinformation related to significant global events, such as the war in Gaza.
Contributors and Note Management
Contributors play a central role in the Birdwatch system, and post authors can benefit from more control over replies and notes attached to their tweets, helping them manage interactions and improve the quality of discussions. The ‘hide replies’ feature allows post authors to control the visibility of responses to their tweets, making it easier to manage abusive or distracting replies.
Additionally, Twitter has implemented a system to label parody and fan accounts, helping users distinguish between official and unofficial content. To learn more about how people create unauthorized posts for fun or satire, see this fake tweet generator guide.
Twitter Under Elon Musk
Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, the platform has seen a wave of new features and updates aimed at enhancing user experience and engagement. Twitter launched a dedicated video tab, making it easier for users to discover and enjoy video content directly within the app. The introduction of group chat limits and expanded direct messages functionality now allows users to connect in larger groups and send messages to anyone, regardless of follower status—features available to both iOS users and those on Android devices.
Premium subscribers, including those with Twitter Blue, benefit from exclusive tools like auto advanced mode, which streamlines navigation and content consumption. These updates are designed to give users and social media managers more control over their interactions, brand identity, and engagement data, helping them stay ahead in the ever-evolving landscape of social media updates.
However, not all changes have been met with universal approval. The removal of link previews and the rollout of a new developer agreement have sparked debate among many users and developers, raising questions about access to external links and the future of third-party integrations. Content moderation remains a hot topic, with ongoing discussions about how effectively the platform addresses hate speech, fake news, and questionable claims.
Despite these challenges, Twitter continues to be a go-to platform for news, entertainment, and conversation. The introduction of the community notes system and other new features reflects Twitter’s commitment to providing users with relevant content and more ways to contribute to a safer, more informed community. For social media managers, staying updated on these changes is crucial for managing campaign performance, analyzing engagement data, and maintaining a strong brand presence in a rapidly changing digital environment.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned features are the major improvements in Twitter Birdwatch. There are also a few other minor upgrades happening in the feature. Twitter is trying to devise a feature that will make the Contributor understand the value of his/ her contribution.
With the pilot version in very good shape, we can expect the feature to go live in a month or two. Twitter has already started to extend the number of Contributors to Birdwatch.
Balancing content moderation and free speech remains a challenge, and many users have expressed mixed reactions about these changes as Twitter continues to evolve. Will Twitter Birdwatch reduce fake news on Twitter and make Twitter a better place? Tell us what you feel!
The Community Notes program has also faced criticism for failing to effectively combat misinformation.
