Is Twitter planning on ditching it’s tried and tested people tagging system by dropping the @ symbol from its social stream? Some sources are suggesting this could be possible, as the friendly network is currently working on trials and a new ‘@-free’ tweet feed has been seen for Android.
Yes, it’s a really surprising move considering Twitter has used the @ symbol to allow its 200 million-plus active worldwide users to reply to and mention one another in their 140 character messages or tweets since the very beginning of the micro-blogging social network in 2006. The unexpected change is supposedly designed to ‘streamline’ the tweets and make them less confusing for newcomers who may be inexperienced in the realm of @ symbols and hashtagging.
With very little detail to go on at the moment we don’t think Twitter would remove tagging altogether and perhaps may look to take a page out of Facebook’s book and present interpersonal mentions without the unsightly pigtail at the start. Will we see the demise of the trendy hashtag next? #WeHopeNot