These days, it feels as if Twitter announces a new feature every other week – some that are better than others. But the latest addition to the microblogging site is one that has been popular with other social media apps, especially Snapchat, for years: stickers.
When the feature is launched, Twitter says users will be able to “select from the library of hundreds of accessories, emoji, and props to make your photos more fun.” You’ll be able to rotate and resize the stickers before attaching them to your images, and can add as many or as few as you like to a photo.
The stickers will cover a number of categories, such as emoticons, sports, and animals. Some special items will be created for specific events, times of year, and causes.
While adding stickers to photos isn't groundbreaking, Twitter is giving the feature a unique spin of its own by making them searchable. The company is calling this function “visual hashtags.” Essentially, tapping on a sticker inside a tweet takes you to a new timeline, where you can see how people across the world are using the same sticker in their images.
Coming soon! Unleash your creativity by adding fun #Stickers to your photos on Twitter: https://t.co/Ph92Oivyhy pic.twitter.com/NZoM6nHenD
— Twitter (@twitter) June 27, 2016
Stickers are the latest update to Twitter’s suite of photo editing features, which includes filters, tags, cropping, and accessibility options for users who are visually impaired.
Adding stickers may not be the thing that turns around Twitter’s ailing fortunes, but it brings the platform's photo capabilities in line with its competitors, and it's a feature that tends to appeal to younger users.
Twitter said the stickers will be arriving on both the Android and iOS apps over the next few weeks. It will also be available on Twitter.com.
