Twitter is the free-for-all social media platform where users are limited to expressing themselves in just 140 succinct characters. But on Instagram—which Twitter finally joined just last week—the text-friendly service is opting for a more visual approach to sharing opinions.
In the 11 posts Twitter has shared so far, Twitter has included the iconic hashtag as part of its picture in each one, perhaps as a sly reference to the fact that Twitter was the original home of the online hashtag. (Instagram co-opted the hashtag as an organizing principle as well, making the symbol ubiquitous on both pioneering platforms.) Twitter also recommends its Instagram followers “join the conversation” about everything from the new President to the Oscars to Fashion Week on its own site, which makes sense; its free-flowing format tends to provide a better set-up for dialogue, although Instagram has made efforts to improve user-to-user communications through direct messaging and in-thread replying.
Instagram, meanwhile, has had an official Twitter account since 2010—and boasts over 40 million followers. Looks like Twitter has some cross-media catching up to do.
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