Twitter polls launched

Now everyone can create polls on Twitter in just a few taps, people can weigh in on all the topics they care about.

It is now easy to get the public’s opinion on anything – what to name your car, which issue when it comes to elections, people care about the most – there is no better place to get real time answers than on Twitter. For poll creators, it’s a new way to engage with Twitter’s massive audience and understand exactly what people think. For those participating, it’s a very easy way to make your voice heard.

Previously, Twitter has offered a few ways to participate in polls — Tweeting questions and tracking replies, tallying hashtag votes, or asking followers to favorite or Retweet to vote. Now, you’ll be able to create your own two-choice poll right from the compose box and it will remain live for 24 hours. You can vote on any poll, and how you voted is not shared publicly.

Over the next few days, Twitter will be rolling out the ability to create polls on iOS, Android, and on desktop at twitter.com. Once you see the poll icon shown above in the compose box, give it a try and create your own poll!

Direct message no longer has a 140-character limit

If you’ve checked your Direct Messages today, you may have noticed that something’s missing: the limitation of 140 characters. 

You can now chat on (and on) in a single Direct Message, and likely still have some characters left over.

While Twitter is largely a public experience, Direct Messages let you have private conversations about the memes, news, movements, and events that unfold on Twitter. Each of the hundreds of millions of Tweets sent across Twitter every day is an opportunity for people to spark a conversation about what’s happening in your world. That’s why Twitter made a number of changes to Direct Messages over the last few months. Today’s change is another big step towards making the private side of Twitter even more powerful and fun.

You may be wondering what this means for the public side of Twitter. In a word, nothing. Tweets will continue to be the 140 characters they are today, rich with commentary as well as photos, videos, links, Vines, gifs, and emoji. So, start working on those sonnets.

Twitter will begin rolling out this change today across our Android and iOS apps, on twitter.com,TweetDeck, and Twitter for Mac. It will continue to roll out worldwide over the next few weeks. If you can’t wait to try out longer Direct Messages, be sure you’re using the latest versions of our apps so you get the update right away. 

Sending and receiving Direct Messages via SMS will still be limited.

How Kenyans on Twitter reacted to @POTUS’ visit

This past weekend saw Kenya host the President of the United States Barack Obama who is also known by his Twitter handle @POTUS. He arrived into the country to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (@GES2015Kenya) and the excitement was felt through Twitter. Prior to his arrival, Kenyans had begun Tweeting about his arrival using various hashtags that all became top local trends on Twitter.

Some of the top hashtags that many users on Twitter engaged with were ; #ObamaHomeComing, #ObamainKenya, #ObamaReturns and #GES2015 all Tweeting about Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya. In addition to the buzz, our President @UKenyatta also warmly welcomed @POTUS as he made this historic visit to Kenya.

Here is how #GES2015Kenya unfolded on Twitter http://reverb.guru/view/493017493897456002

Below is a sample of some of the tweets from this past weekend:

Upon the US Presidents arrival, #ObamainKenya trended with Kenyans Tweeting away and sharing moments of Obama’s visit to Kenya with his speech being the climax.

President Barack Obama @POTUS expressed joy upon arrival in Kenya by Tweeting how happy he was to see family and friends.

This did not end there, upon @POTUS departure, Kenyans kept the conversation going with the hashtag #NowthatObamaIsGone, which begun to trend immediately after the @GES2015Kenya.

Kenyans were on the international spotlight for the two days that President Barack Obama was in Kenya. As illustrated, Twitter was the one place where Kenyans could get real time updates as they expressed their excitement and extended their warm welcome to the US President.

#HBD: You can add your birthday dates to your Twitter Bio

Every day, millions of people celebrate the important events in their lives on Twitter — from public events to more personal ones like a friend’s birthday. Twitter is excited to make sharing these personal celebrations even easier — starting today, you’ll be able to show your birthday on your Twitter profile.

Kicking off the festivities is the one and only Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real), who happens to be celebrated his birthday this week. Take a look at his profile to see what yours will look like on your day.

 

To add your birth date to your Twitter profile, choose the “Edit profile” option on Twitter.com. Your birth date is a completely optional part of your profile and you have full control over who can see it. The visibility setting for your birth year is separate from the setting for your birth month and day, giving you the flexibility to share as much (or as little) as you want.