Twitter wants you to retweet with TikTok-like reaction videos

Everybody wants a little of that TikTok magic.

To that end, Twitter is rolling out a new test feature that invites people to post video reactions to tweets instead of quote-tweeting the old-fashioned way. It’s a very un-Twitterlike choice, but the company has been actively experimenting with new products for a while now, including the now-retired disappearing tweets known as Fleets, may they rest in peace.

We want to give you more creative ways to join the conversation and express yourself on Twitter. Starting today, we’re rolling out a test on iOS that gives you the option to Quote Tweet with a reaction video (or photo) with your very own Tweet Take.

Here’s my take https://t.co/RLolp062GA pic.twitter.com/21qlYk2hh5

— Sam Haveson (@samhaves) January 6, 2022

The test is limited to iOS for now and lets users opt to “Quote tweet with reaction” right from the retweet menu. Twitter is calling these reaction vids “Tweet Takes” and they play with the tweet embedded, which is fun if entirely derivative of TikTok’s own video replies. TechCrunch reached out to Twitter to hear more about how wide the test is and how likely Tweet Takes are to make it into the final product.

Twitter says it’s only running the test with a small subset of iOS users for now and will monitor feedback from the group to see how the feature goes. The company says it wants to give users “more creative ways to express themselves” which tracks with its generally experimental vibe lately.

Last month, Instagram added its own version of TikTok’s video replies to encourage people to reply to comments on posts through Reels. Given how video replies make TikTok feel more interactive and alive, it makes sense that Instagram would integrate the option into its existing TikTok clone. It might make less sense on Twitter, but we much prefer the see-what-sticks product approach to the company’s prior strategy of making no changes in the app for years on end and hoping for the best.