WordPress recently introduced a feature allowing users to publish blog posts to Twitter as tweetstorms. Initially, the publishing community welcomed this announcement, but enthusiasm waned as the potential downsides of the feature became evident.
This functionality seems to be associated with the Jetpack plugin, although the announcement did not explicitly confirm this.
Engage with a New Audience They Said…
The feature aimed to present content to a new audience by promoting it on a platform or site with the hope of driving traffic back to the originating site. However, the WordPress announcement indicated a different intent.
The end goal appeared to be providing Twitter with free content:
"By publishing your quality content on Twitter, you can open new lines of engagement and conversation."
There was no mention of direct benefits to the publisher’s site itself.
Anyone reading the official WordPress announcement wondering, “What’s in it for me?” would not find an answer.
WordPress Tweetstorms Enable Endless Content Republishing
One significant issue with the new feature is that it enables others to republish your content on their sites. Moreover, it may be challenging to file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint if someone embedded your content via Tweets, due to Twitter’s embedding policies.
Lack of Content Canonicalization
Another drawback is the absence of a cross-site canonical tag, which tells search engines who the original content publisher is. A cross-site canonical tag is an HTML meta tag indicating that the indexed content is not original to the site and identifies the original publisher, important for article syndication.
Webmaster Response
The WebmasterWorld community quickly identified problems with tweetstorming entire articles from WordPress to Twitter.
The first response on the WebmasterWorld discussion (by NickMNS) was drenched in sarcasm:
"Wow that is awesome, now you can post your entire content on Twitter and your users will have all of it there, available to them without ever needing to leave the platform.
As a result, your likes will go up, and your follower count will rise too, what more could anyone ever ask for…!"
WebmasterWorld member Lucy24 remarked:
"I was going to say it sounds absolutely dreadful, since nothing makes you look more of an idiot than overflowing to multiple tweets, as if you’re too stupid to be able to count to 140 and edit accordingly."
Others commented on how it provided free content for Twitter, worrying that a similar feature might be replicated for platforms like Pinterest, which already dominate Google’s search results.
WordPress Community Reaction
Matt Mullenweg tweeted about the feature, receiving an initially positive response. However, the tone became more critical over time.
Tweets offered varied feedback:
"Respectfully, absolutely not lol" – Alex Danco
Others were more blunt:
"gross" – Chase
Michele Neylon shuddered at the idea:
"shudder"
David Stehle added:
"If you’re even thinking of doing this, please delete your account immediately."
SocialMediaToday Inspires More Opinions
The negative sentiment grew after a social media news site highlighted the issues.
The author of the article, Andrew Hutchinson, began with:
"I want to start this post by noting that we do not endorse this activity, and we take no responsibility for people flooding Twitter with ridiculously long tweet threads which would have been better left as blog posts."
WordPress Tweetstorm Feature Can Be Useful?
Despite the backlash, it is possible to use the feature positively. If WordPress had better articulated how the feature benefits users, it may have avoided some criticism.
The tweetstorm feature can be used to publish shorter, Twitter-specific content designed to engage users, potentially building a following that will later support content on the original site.
The key is to create content expressly for gaming Twitter for more followers and traffic, possibly using a noindex meta tag to prevent search engines from indexing it.
Takeaway
While the new WordPress feature has potential benefits, a thoughtful strategy is essential. Publishers need to consider practical implications like Twitter outranking them in search engines with their own content.
Citations
Official WordPress Announcement
A New Way to Publish Your Blog Posts Simultaneously as Twitter Threads
News Report of WordPress Tweetstorm Feature
WordPress Adds Option to Publish Entire Blog Posts as Twitter Threads
