In the wake of Facebook NewsFeed change, Twitter News Alerts gain momentum

For the unacquainted, Twitter news alerts aren't exactly new, but are gaining prominence now. According to reports, Twitter has been testing these push notifications from a little over a year ago.

A number of Twitter users woke up to notifications of various news happenings relevant to them. One of them was Peter Kafka of Recode who shared a screenshot of Twitter news alert, which has been going viral.

Haven't seen this from Twitter before: They just shoved a news update into my mentions. pic.twitter.com/9ET4VmA5sl

— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) January 22, 2018

For the unacquainted, Twitter news alerts aren't exactly new, but are gaining prominence now. According to a report by Recode, Twitter has been testing these push notifications from a little over a year ago.

Now the question is why Twitter is sending news alerts to users who didn't ask for it.

Well, "a Twitter spokesperson says that while, yes, these alerts have been around for a while, the company recently increased the group of users who may see them. So if you’re noticing it today, like us, that might be why."

Interesting. Got my first news alert directly from Twitter just now. pic.twitter.com/wSGCC1Yka3

— David Harris (@davharris) January 22, 2018

These Twitter news alerts are said to be personalized; thus every user will get a Twitter news alert basis their likes and preferences to understand which, the micro-blogging platform is using a algorithm and a human team.

Clicking on the notification will take the user to that particular Twitter moment, which is a curation of all the tweets around that particular news.

Twitter is sending news alert to boost the traffic and communicate with users more in the same way the other publishers create a space to convey with readers.

Also Read: Facebook NewsFeed update for Publishers: The India perspective

It is interesting how the Twitter is amplifying their news alert at a time when publishers are struggling to cope up with the latest Facebook Newsfeed update that impacts the dissemination of news drastically. This could also be a significant push to Twitter Moments, that the platform is trying to build as the one stop spot for all that's happening around a particular news or topic.

While the Twitter news alert holds potential, the social media platform will have to be immensely careful and not fall prey to the fake news fiasco like Facebook.