2

I follow a corporate account that uses that channel to reply to users of their products.

Sometimes they reply to some user I am not following, and I see that tweet in my timeline, there is no space or any other character before the @ symbol, so I shouldn't be seeing it.

Example

Does anybody know if this is a bug in twitter, a known issue, or a trick used by that account to make their tweets more visible?

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

Because the tweet in your example is not a reply (note that it doesn't show the tweet they're replying to). A tweet is considered a reply when you click the "reply" function in the website or a Twitter client. This sets the in_reply_to_status_id parameter of the tweet, which is how Twitter knows it's a reply to a specific tweet. If you simply begin typing, even if there's a @username right at the start, the in_reply_to_status_id parameter is not set, so Twitter doesn't consider it a reply and people who follow you will see the tweet even if they don't follow @username.

I hope that clears things up.

Improve this answer
5
  • Really? Where can you see the parameters of the tweet?
    – juan
    Oct 26, 2010 at 18:55
  • You'd have to check out the XML or JSON representations of the tweet through the Twitter API, e.g. dev.twitter.com/doc/get/statuses/show/:id
    – Guillermo Esteves
    Oct 26, 2010 at 19:01
  • The Twitter API Console is a good way of checking out what the different methods do, but you'll need some programming knowledge to use it: dev.twitter.com/console
    – Guillermo Esteves
    Oct 26, 2010 at 19:01
  • So, if I start typing a tweet, and in the middle I hit the reply button to add the username, that counts as a reply too and nobody will see it in the timeline? (Eg:"Check out this link from [click reply on tweetdeck @zzzz")
    – juan
    Oct 27, 2010 at 20:22
  • I don't know, it depends on the client, I guess. In the ones I use (Itsy, Twitter for iPad), if you start typing and then click reply, it starts a new tweet and you lose what you typed before. But if you click reply, then type some stuff before the @username, I think it still works like a regular reply, i.e. only the people who follow @username will see it. I'm not 100% sure, though.
    – Guillermo Esteves
    Oct 28, 2010 at 1:06

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.