Twitter has introduced a new feature that asks users if they’ve read an article before they can retweet it. Obviously, you’re allowed to say no – but does that make it any less annoying?

The feature is supposed to help combat fake news – but instead it gives off more of a nagging mom vibe.

In a Tweet from their communications department, Twitter stated that the notification caused:

More reading – people open articles 40% more often after seeing the prompt.

More informed Tweeting – people opening articles before RTing increased by 33%. 

Some people didn’t end up RTing after opening the article – which is fine! Some Tweets are

best left in drafts.

Surprisingly, most of the reactions to the announcement seem to be positive.

https://twitter.com/jaydeipowell/status/1309202778179465217

https://twitter.com/Toadsanime/status/1309206459260039174

Twitter states that the prompt will get smaller after you’ve already seen it, and that they will be rolling the update out globally soon. It seems sad that Twitter feels it is necessary to remind users when decent people will be doing it already, and likely those who are already doing it won’t care. However, Twitter has shown a history of wanting to parent its users, with actions such as flagging Trump tweets as misinformation and policing coronavirus-related tweets, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.